Winter of Discontent

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The term Winter of Discontent (English for winter of discontent ) for the winter of 1978-79 in the United Kingdom goes on the opening lines of William Shakespeare's drama Richard III. back: “ Now is the winter of our discontent ” (in the classic translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel “Now the winter was our displeasure”.)

It was first used by Larry Lamb , then editor-in-chief of The Sun newspaper , in an editorial on that winter's strikes .

At the beginning of 1977, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer Denis Healey could not avoid accepting tough economic policy conditions from the IMF in Washington in return for a $ 3.9 billion loan in order to avoid the financial ruin of his country . The austerity course imposed in this way was controversial within the ruling Labor party, since the left wing of the party in particular demanded its abandonment after profits from newly discovered oil fields in the North Sea appeared to solve the problem.

Cooperation between the Labor government and the trade unions at that time with the aim of combating problematic inflation - it was 17 percent in 1977 - consisted of a social contract, the second phase of which, which was supposed to keep average wage growth at 4.5 percent, expired in July 1977 and should actually be extended. Union leader Jack Jones could not, however, even with a serious appeal to the common sense of the organized, prevent calls for wage increases of up to 90 percent in the room again. Prime Minister James Callaghan had to admit: "The social contract is broken."

For the first time since the Second World War , the standard of living fell in 1977, and in the winter of 1978–79 there were extensive trade union strikes, demanding wage increases and the introduction of a 35-hour week . The strikes were in response to continued attempts by Prime Minister James Callaghan's Labor Party government to keep wage increases below 5 percent. Workers at automaker Ford stopped work for more than two months, bringing the company to a standstill - which ultimately resulted in a 16 percent wage increase. Moss Evans , a man with a rather limited understanding of larger economic or political issues, succeeded Jack Jones as general secretary of the powerful transport workers' union in 1978 and had campaigned for it mainly by calling for completely free collective bargaining without government interference. From the public point of view, the trade unions increasingly became the “real rulers of the country and the economy”. With the so-called " secondary picketing ", blockade of port exits, company premises and warehouses also affected areas that could hardly be drawn into a labor dispute. Even the gravedigger went on strike for several weeks, making funerals impossible. The garbage disposal strikes resulted in large dumps in public parks.

Ultimately, these strikes resulted in the resignation of James Callaghan and the election victory of Margaret Thatcher on May 3, 1979 . This change of government heralded a conservative era (Thatcher until November 1990; John Major until May 1997 ). The change of government in 1979 is generally seen as the end of the so-called “ post-war consensus ”.

Web links

References and comments

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Full coffers . In: Der Spiegel . No. 41 , 1977 ( online ).
  2. ↑ To the devil . In: Der Spiegel . No. 29 , 1977, pp. 92-94 ( online ).
  3. ↑ Lewis Baston et al. Anthony Seldon: The end of the conservative century , in: Hans Kastendiek u. a. (Ed.): Great Britain. Campus Verlag, 2nd edition Frankfurt / New York 1999, ISBN 3-593-36193-0 , p. 269
  4. ↑ Kenneth O. Morgan: Britain Since 1945. The People's Peace . 3. Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford u. a. 2001, ISBN 0-19-280225-9 , p. 415
  5. ↑ Wilfried Kratz: When the dams break , Die Zeit, January 19, 1979, No. 04 zeit.de
  6. ↑ Sick England . In: Der Spiegel . No. 6 , 1979, pp. 167 ( online ).
  7. ^ Rudolf Walter Leonhardt : England in Need, Callaghan helpless . In: Die Zeit , No. 5/1979

Remarks

  1. ↑ This is what Stefan Heym referred to when he referred to the time between Wolf Biermann's expatriation from the GDR on November 16, 1976 and Christmas Eve of the same year as The Winter of Our Displeasure and described it in his book of the same name. (Heym: The winter of our dissatisfaction. From the records of the OV Diversant . Munich 1996, ISBN 3-442-72366-3 .) Heym presented his own records and Stasi documents , mainly on the discussions of GDR intellectuals and their spying the Stasi. In retrospect, after 20 years, he interpreted the experiences of those weeks as the first signs of the turning point in 1989 and the end of the GDR:

    “And yet - that winter of our displeasure something new had arisen. A rupture had appeared in the apparently so firmly established system, a rupture that could no longer be concealed, an internal resistance […] heralding the end of the real existing socialism […], the end of this failed revolution, this republic without own legitimation. "

    - Heym : Winter ..., p. 14.