The period of unrest was labelled "great" not because of its scale, but due to the level of violence employed by both the state and labourers; including deaths of strikers at the hands of police and sabotage on the part of the workers.
[4][5] French anarchist and syndicalist thought had taken root in Britain over the past three decades and had inspired radicals such as Tom Mann with ideas about the proper course of action for workers.
[6] The period leading up to the unrest also was one in which labour laws in Britain were significantly altered by court cases that were not well received by union members.
[4][5] Additionally, by 1911, a Liberal government had been in power for years and was generally supported by the small Labour Party but had not accomplished enough to satisfy trade unions.
[7] The period of the unrest coincided with other social upheavals reshaping Britain, including the Irish Nationalist struggle, the Unionist backlash and the women's suffrage movement.
The events led later historians to argue (scholars now tend to agree their conclusions were overstated) that without the outbreak of World War I in 1914, there may have been a massive revolt in Britain.
Women strikers were emboldened by the example of militant suffragettes, the latter engaging in actions as extreme as mass window-smashing campaigns and serial arson.