 At the start of the First World War , the economic prospects in South Wales were good . Although production fell after the 1913 high , demand was still strong enough to push the coalfields to their limit . In February 1917 coal mining came under government control and demand increased as the war intensified , ensuring a market for sufficient supplies of coal . After the war the picture began to change . Initially the British coal industry was buoyed by a series of fortuitous economic events , such as the American coal miners ' strike , and by 1924 , unemployment for miners was below the national average . But the belief that the mining industry would experience a permanent demand for coal was shattered by the Depression , and the Rhondda experienced a massive upturn in unemployment . The situation worsened in 1926 when , in response to coalowners reducing pay and lengthening working hours of miners , the TUC called a general strike in defence of the miners who had been locked out following A.J. Cook 's call ' not a penny off the pay , not a minute on the day ' . The TUC called off the strike just nine days later , without resolving the miners ' cut in wages . The miners disagreed and stayed on strike for a further seven months until they were starved into surrendering . The Rhondda saw many schemes set up by miners to aid their plight , such as soup kitchens and fêtes and ' joy ' days to support them ; while in Maerdy the local miners set up a rationing system . By the time the miners returned to work there was little desire for further action through strikes , which saw a decline in the popularity of ' The Fed ' and greater emphasis on solving problems through political and parliamentary means . 
