The 1919 Railway Strike: the Government’s Response

Abstract

This study aims to rethink the 1919 national British rail strike from the perspective of Lloyd George’s Coalition Government. This dissertation argues that the government were willing to use all in their power to defeat the strike. Prior historians have touched upon how the government combatted the strike, but this study will give a more thorough examination of the emergency measures which were implemented. It draws from government and railway company reports on the strike which became available after 1970. There has been sparingly little research on the 1919 rail dispute since Philp Bagwell’s study in 1963. Bagwell’s classical approach to the strike will be rethought in the light of the newly accessible government and Railway Company records. A new regional approach is included, assessing the local and regional newspapers in the northern Home Counties and the north east of England.