1950s Britain Flashcards
Who won 1951 election and who became PM?
Conservatives won with 321 seats, majority of 17 and Churchill PM for 2nd time
Why were the Tories able to win 1951 election?
Liberal Party were in decline since ’20s and Labour hadn’t had majority govt until ‘45. People were sick of rationing under Attlee’s govt. and devaluation in ‘49 and large debts to US.
Also, Tories reorganised their party
Why was there a ‘swing to the left; after the war?
Ppl wanted basic welfare leading to reforms from the Labour govt.
What reforms did the Labour party introduce after the war?
NHS, nationalisation of industries, building new houses + abolition of Poor Law (workhouses)
What happened with Labour in the 1950 election?
They won with a small majority of 6 so called another election in 1951 to increase majority but ended up losing to tories. Labour actually received more votes but due to FPTP tories got more seats
What caused the 1951 split in the Labour Party?
The Korean War (‘50-‘51) meant money was spent on rearming, Attlee invested money in nuclear weapons, resulting in prescription charges being reintroduced, causing Bevan (NHS founder) to resign
Consensus politics in 1951
Largely a two-party system, Labour and Tories agreed on most things e.g nationalisation. Political extremism was unpopular after the war.
How much did the UK borrow from the US?
£270,000 million so had massive debts
What was the economic state in Britain in ’50s?
Rationing continued until ‘54 and very slow growth compared to Japan and US
How successful were the programs introduced to increase economic productivity?
Mostly unsuccessful but B had become key exporter in cars, electrical goods + industrial machinery, stronger economically than Germany.
Estimated 2/3 of Britain’s trade had disappeared after the war.
What technology did Britain have in the 50s?
Few ppl owned TVs, films etc were in b&w
What was transport like in 1950s Britain?
No motorways, railways covered all of Britain and most cities had trams
What were the roles of men and women in 1950s?
Most men worked Monday-Friday + Sat morns and women usually stopped work after marriage to have families
Religion and holidays in the 1950s
Sundays were day of church and no shops were open, few ppl had passports so holidays were 2 weeks at the seaside
North - south divide in the 1950s
Property owning middle classes tended to live in the south and vote conservative and working classes lived in cities and voted Labour
British empire after the war
Still had empire but Attlee had to give up India in ‘47
Empire still source of national pride
British international situation after the war.
Still had one of the best navies in the world and no an independent nuclear power
reluctant to get involved with European coal+steel community and focused more on relationship with US
couldn’t compete with US and USSR
Refusal of EEC joining showed the lack of power
Who set up the post-war consensus?
Attlee govt. with the idea of a better, fairer Britain
What were the key principals of the post-war consensus?
National unity and cooperation
Full employment after mass unemployment in ’30s
Importance of TUs
Popularity of welfare reforms (NHS)
Nationalisation of industries e.g coal, railways
What was ‘Butskellism’?
The idea that the new Conservative govt. was sticking to the post-war consensus and was a mixture of Rab Butler, Tory chancellor of Exchequer and Hugh Gaitskell, Labour’s shadow Chancellor
Why did the Tories stick to the post-war consensus?
Labour actually received more votes than Tories so lack of mandate to change policies
In order to win next election, imp to keep welfare policies and employment promises as popular among the ppl
Limits of the consensus
Nationalisation was the least popular Labour achievement because it hadn’t solved any problems so tories denationalised industries such as iron, steel and road haulage
Who was Rab Butler?
Was a ‘One Nation Tory’ and showed this through Industrial Charter on ‘47
MP and cabinet minister during Churchill’s wartime govt
Then became Chancellor of the Exchequer
How many unemployed in 1951?
367,000
Full employment under Churchill’s govt.
When unemployment began to rise further in ‘52 govt. quickly responded with work schemes e.g tidal barrage scheme. Unemployment did decrease.
Housing under Macmillan
‘51 Tory manifesto promised 300,000 new houses per year and kept his promise between ‘52 and ‘54
Slowed in ‘54 but 1.7 million built in total
What was the Rent Act?
1957 limited govt. control of rental market allowing landlords greater freedom to set rent-exploitation, reflecting Tory view that free market was best for ensuring affordable housing
What was the Tory approach to the NHS?
Continued to support NHS, butler’s first budget inc. charges of 2 shillings per prescription (not radical as Gaitskell had done similar thing). They showed commitment by stating it has value for money
What was the Tory plan to improve the NHS?
Built 90 new NHS hospitals, remodelled 134 existing hospitals and improve 356 hospitals in 1962. Biggest expansion of NHS since its creation.
Conservative’s and education
Continued model of education that Butler Act had introduced but the tripartite system was criticised saying it hindered social mobility so govt. felt pressure to introduce a non-selective education model
What was operation ROBOT?
Free market policy advocated in ‘52 by senior ministers (inc. Butler) proposing to solve the balance of payment difficulties by ending the sterling’s role as a reserve currency, allowing it to float freely.
Right-wing alternatives to consensus
A minority of Tory MPs believed in a more free-market approach replacing consensus politics.
What would have been result of operation ROBOT if it had gone ahead?
Would have opened economy to foreign markets, forcing more competition among British firms meaning firms would have cut jobs to reduce their costs and ended full employment
Eden and operation ROBOT
Eden led cabinet majority in rejecting the plan but was seen to be sacrificing economic efficiency to preserve full employment
What was the tripartite system and what were people’s opinions of it?
Grammar schools, technical schools and a secondary modern. By beginning of 60’s people started to question if the system was fair.
Clean Air Act and Housing and Factory Acts
1956 and aimed to prevent the smog of the early ’50s
Aimed to improve living and working conditions
What was Churchill like as Prime Minister?
Strong war leader but second term he was old and suffered from strokes - less dynamic
Often absent and Eden stepped up a lot of the time
What was the relationship like between Churchill and Eden?
Quite strained as Eden was impatient and wanted Churchill to step down but Churchill didn’t want to
What did men’s weekly wages increase from?
Was £8.30 in ‘51 and rose to £15.35 in ‘61
When did rationing end and why was this good for farmers?
Ended in 1954 and good because farmers received generous state subsidies
Why was an increase in private savings made possible?
Because people could access cheap mortgages and Macmillan had been successful in building 300,000 new houses per year
When was ITV launched and what grew immediately?
Launched in 1955 and advertising grew immediately.
What consumer goods were being bought more frequently and why did this happen?
TVs, washing machines, refrigerators etc.
All could be bought on hire purchase
How did Butler boost Tory chances in the 1955 election?
He gave £134 million in tax cuts to the middle classes
When did Churchill retire and what did Eden do?
He retired just after his 80th birthday and Eden called a general election
What were the results of the 1955 general election?
Conservatives won with majority of 70 seats, but Labour still received a fair share of the votes
Who was Bevan?
Nye Bevan (more left wing) was the architect of the NHS and resigned after Gaitskell (more right wing) introduced prescription charges to pay for Korean war
When did Clement Attlee resign and who took over as Labour Party leader?
in 1955 after losing the ‘55 general election and Gaitskell took over as leader, appointing Bevan as shadow foreign secretary
What was Bevan and Gaitskell’s relationship like?
In Oct ‘52, Gaitskell made speech saying communists had entered the party (dig at Bevan)
Radical claim as many feared communism due to Russia
Gaitskell had backing of TUs and tried to expel Bevan in ‘55
When did Britain test for their first atomic bomb?
in 1952 then hydrogen bomb in 1957
When did Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament launch and what was it?
CND launched in ‘58 and was the idea of getting rid of nuclear weapons, regardless of if other countries do the same (associated with Labour left)
What was Gaitskell’s view on CND?
Was against it and tried to rally his party against it at Labour Party conference in Scarborough, ‘60 but was defeated on the issue.
What happened with the issue of nuclear power the following year in 1961?
The outcome of the Scarborough conference was reversed as the the cold war scared people into feeling as though they should be protected
Labour Party and Trade Unions in early 1950s
Labour Party formed out of TUs and until late ‘50s unions had been happy with post-war policies
Trade Unions and Frank Cousins
‘56 Frank Cousins (very left wing) became leader of TGWU and opposed nuclear weapons and Gaitskell
Led London bus strike but was crushed by Macmillan
How did TUs prevent Labour losing votes?
‘59 Labour conference Gaitskell wanted to abolish clause IV but TUs inc TGWU persuaded Gaitskell not to as he didn’t want to lose votes from TUs
What was Clause IV and who supported it?
Clause in Labour’s constitution that committed it to public ownership of major industries
Left of the party wholly supported it
State of British economy in early 50s
‘51 govt. inherited fragile economy with deficits at £700 million but by ‘52 reduced to £300 million, this period was sometimes know as the age of affluence
What policies did Butler put in place which allowed for economic development?
Imposed credit restrictions Reduced imports Interest rates increased from 2% to 4% to restrict demand Minister salaries cut Govt. food subsidies cut
What was included in the 1955 budget?
Just prior to general election, tax cuts inc. 6d reduction to income tax and higher personal allowance
1950s economy quote and summary
‘a mixture of good fortune, no confrontation and inactivity’
Increased taxes meant the ‘stop’ in ‘stop-go’ economics
End to Korean War aided a reduction in spending
In reality, not as strong as other countries
What were people’s opinion of Eden when he came into power?
Had high hopes for him when he became pm in 1955, was younger and popular among Tory housewives
Claimed to be an expert in foreign affairs
Was indecisive and prone to mood swings
What was the Suez Canal and what was its importance to Britain?
Controlled by Britain and France and was a key port to East Africa, India and the Middle East
80% of Britain’s oil imports passed through the canal
Who was Colonel Nasser?
Nationalist Egyptian dictator
Why did Nasser nationalise the Suez Canal?
He had to because Britain + America stopped funding the building of a dam so Nasser needed the money so was forced to nationalise on 26th July 1956
What was Eden’s reaction to the nationalisation of the Suez Canal?
Very angry, called Nasser an ‘evil dictator who could not be allowed to get away with unprovoked aggression’ Most of his cabinet (inc. Macmillan) agreed with him
What happened in the later part of the Suez Crisis?
Was supported by France and Israel so Eden held secret meeting in Paris where Eden drew up plan
Israel would invade Egypt the British and French forces would intervene using excuse of enforcing peace on Israel and Egypt but really it was to reclaim the canal
The plan was concealed from US and UK parliament
What actually happened with the Suez Canal plan?
Plan put into operation on 29th October 1956, military invasion didn’t go smoothly and caused lots of political protests in B and especially the Labour Party
Public opinion split on need for intervention
US strongly opposed the action + B not strong enough to survive without US’s support so realised they needed to pull out
Consequences of the Suez Crisis
Eden resigned the following year due to poor health
challenged B’s reputation as a force for good and highlighted the support needed from the US
Made people doubt B’s status as a major world power
Who would succeed Eden? Rab Butler
Lots of experience, responsible for wartime education reforms
Kept quiet during Suez + supported avoiding war
Many thought he’d become PM but classed as ‘too clever by half’ and lacked killer instinct
Who would succeed Eden? Harold Macmillan
Confident, success with housing, one of first to forceful dovecote pulling out of Suez
Lots of support from cabinet
Safe choice with few enemies
How was Macmillan remembered?
Remembered as political master, calm and dry sense of humour, was secretly sick and prone to depression
Classed as ‘Tory toff’ but had radical views on social justice
Economy under Macmillan
Suez prompted ‘run on the pound’
Rising wages meant prices were rising and inflation was setting in
Decline in jobs + production in traditional industries e.g agriculture, shipbuilding
Taxation remained high to try and control excessive spending
What was the balance of payments crisis?
Although high consumer demand, manufacturing didn’t increase their export trade causing balance of payments crisis
Orthodox economics
Thorneycroft was minister
Idea was to limit wage increases and cut spending to stop inflation increasing, but would lead to increased unemployment and cutbacks in housing (‘Monetarism’)
Resigned over ‘58 budget where he wanted to cut £50 million from budget but Macmillan refused
Keynesian economics
Basis of welfare state and post-war consensus, new approach which saw increased public spending to keep economy growing through full employment
Introduced after Thorneycroft resigned
What was Stop-Go economics?
Times of ‘go’ when economy expanding with low interest rates and increased consumer spending, inflation
Times of ‘stop’ when economy overheated when wages increased. Imports greater than exports prompting spending cuts + higher interest rates, economy deflating
Good and bad about inflation
Some inflation helps economy as encourages manufacturers to expand their business
Too much can lead to economy overheating
Macmillan in 1958 and 1959
Shrugged off Thorneycroft calling it a ‘local difficulty’
Economy started to pick up again and sterling regained its value against the dollar
April ‘59 budget allowed £370 million tax cuts + called election in Oct getting 100 seat majority
Why did Macmillan win the 1959 election?
Economic recovery, rising living standards
Suez well managed
Divides in Labour Party (Bevanites vs Gaitskellites)
Rising popularity of ‘Supermac’
Modern forms of campaigning
Despite B’s loss of Empire, clearly domestic issues that mattered to voters
