State-fuelled imperial giants: How businessmen shaped government support for the formation of British industrial giants, 1914–1930

This article examines the formation of large British businesses in the First World War and the early interwar period. It shows that, driven by conflict, Britain aimed to catch up in the new industries and created state-backed industrial giants comparable to its German counterparts. In the non-ferrous metals, chemical and electrical industries, the cutting edge of ‘tech’ at the time, the state provided substantial support encompassing import duties, government contracts and loan guarantees. These measures were often justified as critical to warfare; however, they primarily served as industrial policy that was largely initiated by industry leaders through their positions in wartime state bodies. The businessmen’s aim of forming state-supported industrial giants in a protected national or imperial market, as argued here, was largely successful in the new industries. State support was fundamental to Britain’s early interwar steps away from laissez-faire and free trade towards economic nationalism and imperialism.