Following a lockout of coal miners on April 30th, the Trades Union Congress called a “general strike” of printers, iron and steel, gas and electricity, and building workers from midnight of May 3rd. Engineering and shipbuilding workers came out in support on May 11th bringing the total on strike to around 3m workers (out of the 5m who were affiliated to the Trades Union Congress). The government of Stanley Baldwin used the armed forces and civilian volunteers to maintain essential services, and hostility to the strike was both widespread and evident so it was called off after a mere nine days on May 14th. The miners, however, stayed on strike through the winter of 1926-27.

Many histories represent the General Strike as an instance of working-class folly; the story told by the

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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "General Strike". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 April 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=461, accessed 25 April 2024.]