Economic hardship
What Economic hardship means in History GCSE, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Economic hardship
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
Check what you remember
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Reference: Pearson Edexcel
The difficulty caused by inflation worsened by poor harvests and the debasement of the coinage, which increased prices and hit the lower classes.
Low wages, long hours and severe food shortages caused by wartime inflation and transport breakdowns worsened the discontent of town workers.
Topics that use Economic hardship
- Option 30: Key topic 1: The revolutions of 1917 - 1 The growth of opposition to the tsar in early 1917 (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Option B4: Key topic 3: Elizabethan society in the Age of Exploration, 1558–88 - 2 The ‘problem’ of the poor (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
Related terms
- Agricultural transformation
- Deserving poor
- Economic collapse
- Opposition to autocracy
- Political instability
- Urbanisation
- Able-bodied unemployed
- Commander-in-chief
Using Economic hardship in the exam
Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.
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