HS1868: Class, Protest and Politics: South Wales, 1918-39

School History
Department Code SHARE
Module Code HS1868
External Subject Code 100310
Number of Credits 30
Level L6
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Dr Stephanie Ward
Semester Double Semester
Academic Year 2013/4

Outline Description of Module

The years between the two World Wars was one of the most tumultuous periods in Welsh history. Socially, economically and politically Welsh society faced upheaval and transformation in an era marred by industrial strife and economic dislocation. This module will explore the nature of class, politics and protest in south Wales during the interwar period. It examines how the working-class responded to the industrial and economic situation. Emphasis will be placed upon primary source analysis and historiographical debates. Students will use their own skills as historians to draw conclusions about a period that remains hotly contested. They will question why the General Strike began and the impact of industrial lockouts; why so many unemployed people volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War; why the Labour Party grew to prominence; and, whether the Depression was as bad as contemporaries perceived it to be. Issues of race, including the 1919 race riots, gender and instances of mass protest organised by the Communist Party will form part of key topics the course examines. Exploring the effects of the Depression helps determine whether parallels can be drawn with the current economic situation and to question, more broadly, how government and journalists have portrayed the interwar depression. 

On completion of the module a student should be able to

Knowledge and Understanding:

Upon the completion of the advanced option, the typical student will be able to:

  • demonstrate a critical and systematic knowledge of society in south Wales in the interwar period and an understanding of protest movements, industrial action, and the effects of economic depression and mass unemployment. 
  • critically identify the main trends in the response to and effects of the aftermath of the First World War and depression.
  • demonstrate an in-depth and critical understanding of the debates about the key concepts of class, protest, gender, race and nationalism within the historiography of both Welsh and British social history.
  • Analyse key themes and issues in the social and economic history of south Wales in the light of these ideas, contexts and frameworks
  • demonstrate a critical understanding of key primary sources on working-class men, women and children, including the unemployed and immigrant populations, and key political parties in south Wales and their significance

Intellectual Skills:

Upon the completion of the advanced option, the typical student will be able to:

  • identify the nature and scope of the issues raised bystudying the working-class, mass unemployment, race riots and strikes in modern Wales
  • discuss in a critical and informed manner the history of society in south Wales in the interwar period
  • summarise and critically evaluate the relative merits and demerits of alternative views and interpretations about the nature of the interwar depression and evaluate their significance
  • identify problems, assess evidence, and reach conclusions consistent with them on the social and economic history of Wales in the interwar period
  • devise and sustain arguments about class, protest and politics in working-class communities using ideas or techniques including the ability to critically examine a range of documents, oral histories, photographs and films.
  • present, accurately, succinctly and lucidly, and in written or oral form their arguments in accordance with appropriate scholarly conventions

Discipline Specific (including practical) Skills:

Upon the completion of the advanced option, the typical student will be able to:

  • express their ideas and assessments on the social and political history of south Wales in the years between the First and Second World Wars
  • discuss in a critical and informed manner the effects of the interwar depression and how the government, working class and labour movement responded to it
  • identify strengths, weaknesses, problems, and or peculiarities of alternative conclusions within the historiography including the ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ interpretations of the impact of the interwar depression
  • apply a critical approach to the nature of primary sources in the assessment of historical interpretations and methodologies about class, gender, race and protest
  • use and evaluate primary sources and demonstrate an appreciation of how historians have approached them

Transferable Skills:

Upon the completion of the option, the typical student will be able to:

  • communicate ideas and arguments effectively, whether in speech or in writing in an accurate, succinct and lucid manner
  • formulate and justify their own arguments and conclusions about a range of issues
  • demonstrate an ability to modify as well as to defend their own position
  • possess a range of information technology resources to assist with information retrieval
  • organise their own study methods and workload
  • work as part of a team in seminar or tutorial discussions
  • independently organise their own study methods and workload

How the module will be delivered

The course will be taught and students will learn through

  • A series of formal lectures will introduce students to the main factual and conceptual issues to be discussed and analysed during the course
  • Seminars in which key texts are analysed will enable students to further develop analytic skills
  • Document Workshops in which primary sources are analysed will enable students to develop discipline specific methods of approaching and analysing primary historical sources
  • Presentations through which students will develop their presentation and team work skills and understanding of specific topics

Skills that will be practised and developed

Transferable Skills:

Upon the completion of the option, the typical student will be able to:

  • communicate ideas and arguments effectively, whether in speech or in writing in an accurate, succinct and lucid manner
  • formulate and justify their own arguments and conclusions about a range of issues
  • demonstrate an ability to modify as well as to defend their own position
  • possess a range of information technology resources to assist with information retrieval
  • organise their own study methods and workload
  • work as part of a team in seminar or tutorial discussions
  • independently organise their own study methods and workload

How the module will be assessed

Students will be assessed by means of a combination of one essay relating to primary sources [20%], an assessed essay [30%] and an examination paper [50%].

Course assignments:

  1. The essay relating to primary sources will contribute 20% of the final mark for the module and must be no longer than 1,000 words.
  2. The Assessed Essay will contribute 30% of the final mark for the module. It is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to review evidence, draw appropriate conclusions from it and employ the formal conventions of scholarly presentation. It must be no longer than 2,000 words.
  3. The Examination will take place during the second assessment period [May/June] and will consist of an unseen two hour paper that will contribute the remaining 50% of the final mark for this module. Students must write 2 answers in total.  

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Exam - Spring Semester 50 Class, Protest And Politics: South Wales 1918-39 2
Written Assessment 20 Coursework 1 N/A
Written Assessment 30 Coursework 2 N/A

Syllabus content

1. Introduction: Historians and the Interwar Period

2. From Boom to Bust: Welsh Society at the End of the First World War

3. A Forgotten Episode? The 1919 Race Riots in South Wales

4. Votes For the Workers! Votes For Women! Politics, Class and Gender in the Early 1920s

5. 1926: The General Strike

6. 1926: The Lockout

7. The Making of a Labour Stronghold? Local and National Politics in the Later 1920s

8. Educating the Masses: The Adult Education Movement in South Wales

9. The Great Depression and Society in South Wales

10. ‘We Refuse to Starve in Silence’: The Response to Mass Unemployment

11. Why Not Trust The Tories! Labour Men and Labour Women in the Depression

12. An International Proletariat: The Communist Party in the 1930s

13. A Welsh Issue? Nationalism and Welshness in the Twenties and Thirties

14. Class War? The Settlement Movement, Charity, Class and Society

15. Concerned and Curious: Social Investigators and Documentary Makers in Depressed Wales

16. Stand Up to Live: 1935 and Mass Action

17. Fighting Fascists: Welsh Volunteers and the Spanish Civil War

18. Protest in Print: Literature, Culture and Class in South Wales

19. Back to Work? Stay Down Strikes, Scab Unions and the South Wales Miners’ Federation

20. Conclusion and Revision Session

Essential Reading and Resource List

Alan Campbell, Nina Fishman and David Howell (eds), Miners, Unions and Politics 1910-47 (Aldershot, 1996)

Trevor Herbert and Gareth Elwyn Jones (eds), Wales Between the Wars (Cardiff, 1988).

Angela V. John (ed.), Our Mothers’ Land: Chapters in Welsh Women’s History 1830-1939 (Cardiff, 1991)

John McIlroy, Alan Campbell and Keith Gildart (eds), Industrial Politics and the 1926 Mining Lockout: The Struggle for Dignity (Cardiff, 2004).

Kenneth O. Morgan, Rebirth of A Nation: A History of Modern Wales (Oxford, 2002)

John Stevenson and Chris Cook, Britainin the Depression: Society and Politics 1929-39 (London, 1994).

Matt Perry, Bread and Work: The Experience of Unemployment, 1918 – 1939 (London, 2000).

Steven Thompson, Unemployment, Poverty and Health in Interwar South Wales (Cardiff, 2006).

Carol White and Sian Rhiannon Williams (eds), Struggle or Starve: Women’s Lives in the South Wales Valleys Between the Two World Wars (Dinas Powys, 2002).

Chris Williams, Capitalism, community and conflict: the South Wales coalfield, 1898-1947 (Cardiff, 1998)


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