Immigration in the Modern era 1900 - present overview - OCR A1919 to 1948

The period between World War One and Word War Two was one of low immigration and high unemployment as immigration laws and restrictions on merchant seamen were tightened.

The rise of the anti-Semiticfascist Blackshirts in Britain culminated in their attempted march through East London’s Jewish area. This was prevented by anti-fascist protesters at the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. The fact that Jews and non-Jews came together to defend their streets from an attack showed that a united community response to racism was possible and could succeed.

Some Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany were accepted in Britain, but many were refused at a time when immigration was highly restricted and anti-Semitism was on the rise. In 1938 and 1939, however, about 10,000 Jewish children came to safety in the UK on what became known as the Kindertransport.

During World War Two, ‘enemy aliens' including many members of the large Italian community, were again interned.

As was the case in World War One, during World War Two large numbers of colonial troops fought for Britain. The merchant convoys had a large proportion of African, Arab and Indian seamen, many of them from port cities such as Cardiff and Liverpool.

After the war, Polish servicemen living in the UK were allowed to stay and be joined by their families.