Business, Politics and International Relations: Steel, Cotton and International Cartels in British Politics, 1924-1939

by Clemens Wurm, Patrick Salmon (Translator)

Overview

This is a study of commercial diplomacy, which investigates the responses of British industry and government to foreign competition, sectoral depression and decline. It examines the attitude of the British iron and steel industry towards the cartel of the continental steel industries, and the attempt of the Lancashire cotton industry in 1932–4 to reach a market-sharing agreement with Japan. Using a wide range of primary sources the author provides an analysis of the role of the state in British industrial policies and in the management of industrial decline. He shows that the outcome of international negotiations in the steel and cotton industries was not determined by economic factors alone, but was decisively influenced by political and diplomatic considerations and by the role of the state.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521108768
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/16/2009
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	420
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction; Part I. Great Britain and the international steel cartel 1924–1939; Part II. Commercial diplomacy during the great depression: Great Britain, Japan and the division of the world cotton market; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

' … a massively researched … a carefully worked out analysis of the role of the state in British industrial politics, and in the management of industrial decline.' Economic History Review

'The book treats an important subject thoroughly and convincingly, stimulating new discussion on wider fields of research.' Das Historische-Politische Buch

' … a book of real interest to all kinds of historians working in the interwar period …' English Historical Review

' … a careful and persuasive analysis …' The Historical Journal

From the Publisher