Editing History of Guyana (section)

=== Political and social changes in the early twentieth century ===
1905 [[Ruimveldt Riots (1905)|Ruimveldt Riots]] rocked British Guiana. The severity of these outbursts reflected the workers' widespread dissatisfaction with their standard of living. The uprising began in late November 1905 when the Georgetown [[stevedores]] went on strike, demanding higher wages. The strike grew confrontational, and other workers struck in sympathy, creating the country's first urban-rural worker alliance. On November 30, crowds of people took to the streets of Georgetown, and by December 1, 1905, now referred to as Black Friday, the situation had spun out of control. At the [[Plantation Ruimveldt]], close to Georgetown, a large crowd of porters refused to disperse when ordered to do so by a police patrol and a detachment of artillery. The colonial authorities opened fire, and four workers were seriously injured.{{sfn|MacDonald|1993|pp=13}}

Even though [[World War I]] was fought far beyond the borders of British Guiana, the war altered Guyanese society. The Afro-Guyanese who joined the British military became the nucleus of an elite Afro-Guyanese community upon their return. World War I also led to the end of East Indian indentured service. British concerns over political stability in India and criticism by Indian nationalists that the program was a form of human bondage caused the British government to outlaw indentured labour in 1917.{{sfn|MacDonald|1993|pp=13}}

In the closing years of World War I, the colony's first trade union was formed. The [[British Guiana Labour Union]] (BGLU) was established in 1917 under the leadership of [[H.N. Critchlow]] and led by [[Alfred A. Thorne]]. Formed in the face of widespread business opposition, the BGLU at first mostly represented Afro-Guyanese [[dockworkers]]. Its membership stood around 13,000 by 1920, and it was granted legal status in 1921 under the [[Trades Union Ordinance]]. Although recognition of other unions would not come until 1939, the BGLU was an indication that the working class was becoming politically aware and more concerned with its rights.

The second trade union, the British Guiana Workers' League, was established in 1931 by Alfred A. Thorne, who served as the League's leader for 22 years. The League sought to improve the working conditions for people of all ethnic backgrounds in the colony. Most workers were of West African, East Indian, Chinese and Portuguese descent, and had been brought to the country under a system of forced or indentured labor.{{sfn|MacDonald|1993|pp=14}}

After World War I, new economic interest groups began to clash with the Combined Court. The country's economy had come to depend less on sugar and more on rice and [[bauxite]], and producers of these new commodities resented the sugar planters' continued domination of the Combined Court. Meanwhile, the planters were feeling the effects of lower sugar prices and wanted the Combined Court to provide the necessary funds for new drainage and irrigation programs.

To stop the bickering and resultant legislative paralysis, in 1928 the [[Colonial Office]] announced a new constitution that would make British Guiana a [[crown colony]] under the tight control of a governor appointed by the Colonial Office.<ref name="ucabrgy">{{cite web|url=https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/western-hemisphere-region/british-guiana-1928-1966/|title=British Guiana (1928-1966)|website=[[University of Central Arkansas]]|access-date=July 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230712183659/https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/western-hemisphere-region/british-guiana-1928-1966/|archive-date=July 12, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> The Combined Court and the Court of Policy were replaced by a [[Legislative Council]] with a majority of appointed members.<ref name="bocthis" /> To middle-class and working-class political activists, this new constitution represented a step backward and a victory for the planters. Influence over the governor, rather than the promotion of a particular public policy, became the most important issue in any political campaign.

The [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s brought economic hardship to all segments of Guyanese society. All of the colony's major exports—sugar, rice and bauxite—were affected by low prices, and unemployment soared. As in the past, the working class found itself lacking a political voice during a time of worsening economic conditions. By the mid-1930s, British Guiana and the whole British Caribbean were marked by labour unrest and violent demonstrations. In the aftermath of riots throughout the [[British West Indies]], a royal commission under [[Lord Moyne]] was established to determine the reasons for the riots and to make recommendations.

In British Guiana, the [[Moyne Commission]] questioned a wide range of people, including trade unionists, Afro-Guyanese professionals, and representatives of the Indo-Guyanese community. The commission pointed out the deep division between the country's two largest ethnic groups, the Afro-Guyanese and the Indo-Guyanese. The largest group, the Indo-Guyanese, consisted primarily of rural rice producers or merchants; they had retained the country's traditional culture and did not participate in national politics. The Afro-Guyanese were largely urban workers or bauxite miners; they had adopted European culture and dominated national politics. To increase the representation of the majority of the population in British Guiana, the Moyne Commission called for increased democratization of government as well as economic and social reforms.

The Moyne Commission report in 1939 was a turning point for British Guiana. It urged extending the franchise to women and persons not owning land and encouraged the emerging trade union movement. However, none of the Moyne Commission's recommendations were immediately implemented because of the outbreak of [[World War II]].{{sfn|MacDonald|1993|pp=14-15}} The country's rice industry, which had stagnated between the two World Wars, expanded, with Guyana gaining a "virtual monopoly of the West Indies market" by the war's end.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://grdb.gy/history-of-rice-in-guyana/|title=History of Rice in Guyana|website=Guyana Rice Development Board|date=14 September 2016 |access-date=July 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220724160848/https://grdb.gy/history-of-rice-in-guyana/|archive-date=July 24, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref>

With the fighting far away, and the country as part of [[Allies of World War II|the Allies]] due to British colonial rule,{{sfn|Black|2005|pp=104-105}} the period of World War II, in British Guiana, was marked by continuing political reform and improvements to the national infrastructure. The governor, Sir [[Gordon Lethem]], created the country's first Ten-Year Development Plan, reduced property qualifications for office holding and voting, and made elective members a majority on the Legislative Council in 1943.<ref name="bocthis" /> Under the aegis of the [[Lend-Lease Act of 1941]], a modern air base (now [[Timehri Airport]]) was constructed by United States troops. By the end of World War II, British Guiana's political system had been widened to encompass more elements of society and the economy's foundations had been strengthened by increased demand for bauxite.<ref name=":62">{{Cite journal |last=Spackman |first=Ann |date=1975 |title=The Role of Private Companies in the Politics of Empire: A Case Study of Bauxite and Diamond Companies in Guyana in the Early 1920s |journal=Social and Economic Studies |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=341–378 |jstor=27861568 |issn=0037-7651}}</ref>