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britain > 1951-1964 > Flashcards

1951-1964 Flashcards

1
Q

who were the 4 prime ministers over this time period and their years

A

churchill-51 55
eden 55 57
macmillan 57 63
home 63 64

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2
Q

why did the conservs win the 1951 election

A

-1950 election saw influx of younger and eager MPs/they reformed their finances and organisation, thanks to lord woolton
-policy against iron and steel nationalisation was popular
-electors liked their resistance to state control, promoting individualism

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3
Q

why did labour loose 1951 election

A

-ministers exhausted after 6 years in office
-trade unions angry with economic policies
-tight majority after 1950 election made governing difficult
-had image of rationing, austerity and high taxation
-internal divisions eg NHS, foreign policy made them weak

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4
Q

how were conservs benefitted by first past the post in 1951

A

-conservs had more seats so a higher majority but they gained less votes
-321 seats vs labour 295 seats
-13,717,538 votes

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5
Q

3 facts about churchill

A

-77 when he came to power, ran a fairly loose office
-had been PM during ww2
-had a strong reputation of being a statesmen

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6
Q

name 6 developments under churchill

A

-rationing ended 1952, 1953 sugar, 1954 meat
-steel industry was denationalised
-party committed themselves to building 300,000 houses a year
-gov continued with keynesian policies
-detonated 1st atomic bomb 1952
-end of korean war 1953

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7
Q

when did queen elizabeth II introduce Elizabethan age

A

1952

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8
Q

what was macmillan during churchills time

A

minister of housing

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9
Q

who was churchills chancellor of the exchequer and what did he present in 1947

A

R A Butler 51-55
-wanted to modernise conservative attitudes and policies with the doc the Industrial Charter which suggested a mixed economy (where private and public sectors both operate)

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10
Q

why is a mixed economy good

A

nationalised companies- gov get the profits and can re-invest them
private companies-benefits individuals

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11
Q

what 4 labour policies did butler want to continue under churchill

A

-maintain full employment with economic growth
-expand welfare state
-heavily committed to military defence programme
-continuing nuclear weapons

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12
Q

what was butskelism and who introduced it

A

the idea of a post war consensus, butler representing conservative left and gaitskell labour right met in the middle to form a consensus
the journal ‘the economist’

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13
Q

what economic policy did R A Butler adopt

A

Stop go (avoided extreme inflationary or deflationary swings)

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14
Q

what was the balance of payments deficit and what did this mean in 1951

A

£700 million, had to put economy in a STOP to tackle debt by cutting imports, credits, travel allowances and rations = low inflation, economic boom

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15
Q

who was minister of labour and how did he treat unions 51-64

A

Walter Monckton, in a conciliatory manner, didn’t want to anger them, non-confrontational stance, maintained industrial peace

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16
Q

why was this labelled the post war boom

A

-1955 only 1% workforce was unemployed
-end of rationing
-public spending rose from 39% to 43%
-real wages 4x more
1953 300,000 new houses reached

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17
Q

when did churchill retire and what did eden do

A

6th april 1955, called an early general election for may because he thought he should’ve been PM sooner, ‘man in a hurry’

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18
Q

what was anthony eden previously

A

foreign secretary 1940-5 and 1951-5

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19
Q

name 5 facts about eden

A
  • right wing conservative, happy to continue churchills welfare and labour policies
    -epitome of an English gentlemen, educated at Eton
    -had many achievements in FP but lacked domestic knowledge
    -got off to a bad start as PM, displayed indecisiveness over cabinet making and press attacks that they need a ‘smack of firm government’
    -his popularity went from 70% in 1955 to 40% in 1956
    -HATED APPEASEMENT
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20
Q

what were the results of the 1955 election

A

conservative votes-13,286,569
labour-12,404,970
conserve seats- 344
labour-277
- first time in 90 years party in power increased its majority

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21
Q

name 3 facts about the suez canal

A

-opened in 1869, britain was heavily involved in controlling and protecting the canal
-it provided britain with a shorter route to its empire eg asia, australia and a short sea route to the middle east (TRADE)
-by the 1950s 80% of western europes oil imports passed through the canal

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22
Q

who was egypts president

A

1952- Colonel Nasser

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23
Q

what was the relationship between us/uk and egypt like at first and why did it deteriorate

A

-him and western leaders had good relations, usa and britain promised loans for construction of Aswan Dam
-became apparent Nasser was approaching Soviet bloc countries for aid, angered usa and Britain so withdrew loans
-july 1956 nasser announced he was going to nationalise the canal and would charge foreign ships to pass through

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24
Q

what was the 1st course of action to fail in suez crisis

A

britain and france referred issue to UN security council but soviets used their Veto to block proposals in the council to have egypt condemned internationally

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25
Q

why was eden furious of nasser and the canal

A

-deadly blow to britains economic and strategic position
-nasser using anti-imperialist policies to threaten western interests
-eden convinced nasser was a fascist dictator like former leaders eg hitler, mussolini

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26
Q

who supported eden and why

A

-french, resentful of egypts support of arab nationalists in French algeria
-israelis eager to attack as egypt had become a major base for terroist attacks on them (jewish/muslim tensions high)
-Us initially supported by applying pressure to egypt by creation of canal users association

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27
Q

what did eden then do to plan suez

A

orchestrated a secret plan in october 1956 with france and israel, held a secret meeting at Sevres in paris
-israel would invade egypt across Sinai then britain and france would intervene as ‘peacekeepers’ with the real aim of seizing the canal
-didnt tell US or parliament

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28
Q

when was the suez attack

A

israel invaded- 29th october
allies invaded-31st october

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29
Q

what were the consequences of their invasion of suez

A

-storm of political protest in britain eg labour Mps gaitskell + bevan, 4 november 1956 in trafalgar square bevan addressed 30,000 protestors
-over special telephone hotline between US and britain eisenhower swore at eden then called UN emergency debate, britain used its VETO for the 1st time to defeat immediate ceasefire
-Eisenhower furious, put financial pressures eg withdrawing marshall aid on britain to withdraw, outflow of gold and silver reserves was reaching $300 mil, Britain asked the Americans to support an IMF loan but they refused
-US threatened Britain shoudlnt be part of the UN peacekeeping force and forced UN to deploy an emergency force into egypt to halt conflict
-soviets threatened anglo-french action with rocket strikes to defend egypt on 5 november in a formal note to britain

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30
Q

when did britain withdraw from suez and why

A

6th november 1956
2nd November britain was out voted 65 to 5 at the general assembly in a call for ceasefire

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31
Q

what were 5 general consequences of suez

A

-humiliating , declining world status, began considering closer relations with europe
- hugely depended on US, weakened relations with commonwealth and special relationship and NATO (failed to gain international backing)
-edens reputation damaged,
-Isrealis and france bitter for half done job
-looked like old style imperialism, internationally condemned
-before this USSR was distracted in cold war by their personal issues eg Hungarian crisis and were appearing to give their satellites more freedom but this invasion ruined their moral high ground

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32
Q

who succeeded eden and who was he previously

A

harold macmillan, was chancellor of exchequer 55-57

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33
Q

name 5 facts about macmillan

A

-had been an MP for stockton-on-tees during the wars and served in ww1, working class respect
-had a sharp political sense
-wrote a book called ‘the middle way’ expressing his unorthodox conservatism in 1938
-married into influential cavendish family in 1920 and was then related to 16 MPs
-as chancellor of exchequer he made a rallying call to cabinet on 3 jan 1957 saying they must learn lessons from suez not be overwhelmed by it, helped his bid for leadership

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34
Q

why was mac elected differently

A

he was brought in by the opinions of MPs and Conservative party workers rather than an election

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35
Q

who did macmillan make home secretary and why was he good

A

R A Butler, took a liberal approach to legal and social issues, made party look willing to modify its traditional attitudes

36
Q

who were macmillans 4 chancellor of the exchequers

A

peter thorneycroft-1957 1958
derick heathcote amory 1958-60
selwyn lloyd 1960 1962
Reginald maulding 1962 1964

37
Q

what economic policies did mac continue

A

-mixed economy
-keynesianism
-stop go (budgets)

38
Q

what was used as a short term measure in mac economy

A

budget politics

39
Q

what budgets were used in macmillans time and what was their consequence

A

-summer 1957 thorneycroft economic crisis (wages ahead of productivity, run on pound, danger of devaluation)=STOP eg limit wages, cut money supply, growing fears of unemployment and housing cut backs=GO, thorneycrofts spending cuts overruled by Macmillan who preferred expansionist - 1958 resigned pound increased

-1959 budget by derick heathcoat amory by introducing tax cuts 370mil, resulted in higher consumer spending, more popularity in election but further increased inflation and a bigger trade gap so worry of overheating

-1961STOP lloyd introduced way pause, keep wages down, IMF loan, tried to join eec 1961, set up NEDC 1961 for long term economic planning and National incomes commission 1962=failed

-1962 night of the long knives-llyod sacked, major cabinet reshuffle to conceal sacking, moral panic beeching report 1963 proposed massive cuts to rail network caused outrage

-1963 maulding returned to expansionist budget to regain lost popularity from the restrictive measures, lower tax/interest, boom in consumer spending but increase imports from foreign manufacturers when british stock didn’t meet demand
B OF P DEFECIT 800mil

40
Q

what was the balance of payments by the end of 1964

A

deficit of over £800 million

41
Q

what is stagflation

A

where unemployment rose and industry declined but inflation was still high

42
Q

what was britains GDP like and why 51-64
what was their growth rate compared to italy

A

-lowest GDP growth rate in western europe
-spent too much on R&D and defence eg costly military and naval bases around the world and nuclear arms programme, by 1964 they were spending £1.7 billion (10% of their GDP)
-uk had 2.3% growth rate vs italy had 5.6%

43
Q

what speech did macmillan make and why did he warn of

A

july 1957- ‘never had it so good’ but warned of the problem of rising prices/inflation and whether the prosperity was too good to last

44
Q

what is evidence of prosperity 51-64 in britain name 5 facts

A

-wages rose ahead of prices (REAL WAGE INCREASE), average weekly wage of the adult male worker more than doubled from £8.30 in 1951 to £18.35 in 1964
-better availability of FINANCIAL CREDIT /hire purchase, could borrow larger amounts with repayment over years on ‘easy terms’ = CONSUMER BOOM
-1950-65 sales of private cars 1.5mil to 5.5mil, more holidays, clothes, mod cons/washing machines=7.5% to 66.9% tv ownership-4 mil etc…
-1951-1964 1.7mil new homes built by conservs-easier borrowing meant easier to get mortgages so people could own their own homes=PROPERTY OWNING DEMOCRACY, 1957 RENT ACT abolished rent control and put 6mil properties on the market (but rents rose considerably)
-1951-1973 economy grew at 2.8% per annum
-increase in oversees trade, could afford 13% more imports

45
Q

what were factors opposing economic prosperity 51-64

A

-unemployment,1951=367,000 vs 1963=878,000
-stagflation,inflations lowest rate was 3.8%
-industry wasn’t modernising, no invest in industrial research, one of poorest growth rates
-low GDP, relied on imports, run on the pound
-balance of payments deficit
-wouldve always been affluence after the war?
-stop go, budgets, no plan
-north, working class didn’t benefit?

46
Q

who was the minister of education under macmillan and what did he do

A

-edward boyle 1962-1964
-urged the abolition of the 11+exam and the tripartite secondary education system in favour of comprehensive schooling
-published robbins report 1963 to extend comprehensive schooling into higher education

47
Q

name a comprehensive school that was built under the conservatives

A

-kidbrooke school in south london 1951
-sandfields school in wales 1958

48
Q

who was mary whitehouse and name 3 facts

A

campaigned against fifth of tv/radio/music of the permissive society eg sex/violence as she was staunch christian
-taught sex ed in school until profumo affair pupils started to mimic sex after a show was televised of christine keeler-she was scandalised filifth and quit to become a full time campaigner
-launched ‘clean up tv campaign’ 1964-first meeting in birmingham gained thousands of people
-1965 founded national viewers and listeners association eg attacked shows involving swearing
-sued bbc for libel for calling her a racist-sir hugh greene hated her

49
Q

why were class divisions starting to blur 51-64
what was the main influential group in the 1960s and how would you describe them

A

-ww2 eg hardships and rationing showed class divisions were artificial
-creation of welfare state = whole pop was of national concern
-growing affluence=spread of wealth/credit=more class mobility/posessions not a guide to social status
-THE ESTABLISHMENT-a self perpetuating ruling elite, condescension characteristic!!

50
Q

what was the empire windrush

A

1948-jamaica to britain, ship carried hundreds of west indian workers who had full right to british citezenship
-encouraged further emigration from the west indies to fill job vacancies eg hospital/transport services/textiles

51
Q

how did racism begin to show in 1950s

A

-‘no coloured’ notices on windows/factory gates
-people believed they were at fault for housing shortages and just wanted benefits eg in poorer urban areas they’d buy/rent the cheaper properties which made it harder for british poor
-they were at fault for taking jobs as they accepted lower wages

52
Q

what was the percentage of non-european residents britain had never exceeded 51-64

A

6%

53
Q

what were the race riots and who were most of the ringleaders 51-64

A

1958-1959, riots in urban areas eg nottingham, bristol, london
august 1958 over 600 white males gathered in notting hill trying to batter their way into black owned properties, police, fire services struggled to control black and white mobs and the blazes started by petrol bombs
-many belonged to the ‘white defence league’ that was formed in 1957

54
Q

what were the consequences of the growing racial prejudice (51-64)

A

-gov set up inquiry into the reasons under lord salmon=the salmon report showed sexual jealousy, anger of them working for lower wages, teddy boys used violence to become ‘local heroes’ of protecting white fearful residents
-gov introduced commonwealth immigrants act 1962 to limit numbers
1960-1962 over 230,000 new commonwealth citizens entered before the law

55
Q

who were the mods and rockers

A

mods-jazz/beatnik/soul culture,hung out in coffee bars, wore sharp suits/working class (‘modernists’)
rockers-leather clad (brand triumph) motorcycle riders, styles themselves on americas hell angels(scruffy/offensive looks), refused to conform and saw themselves as outsiders, dominated roadside cafes eg ‘ace’ at stonebridge in north london where they’d meet and ride
^clash between cultures

56
Q

what happened with the mods and rockers 51-64

A

-1964 many riots in seaside towns eg clacton/margate/brighton/hastings=symbols of uncontrollable/rebellious youth
-may 18th/19th bank holiday weekend hundreds of mods and rockers went to coasts for a weekend off (cheap, abroad holidays hadnt taken off yet), (the rolling stones were performing at hastings) and they ended up fighting (49 arrested in margate(3-6 month sentences) and many fined)
-first riots in years that gained attention of cinema newsreels and press photographers eg daily express quoted a magistrate in margate calling an 18year old ‘one of the dregs of vermin’ who had invaded the town

57
Q

what showed the emerging influence of the youth 51-64

A

-the ‘angry young men’- group of young novelists, gave an output of culture from the youth view
-1960 there were around 5mil teenagers, a lot of time on their hands
-1954 rock and roll hit britain, 1963 ‘beatlemania’, dominated record buying public
-‘teddy boys’, group of teenagers causing widespread alarm, increasing crime
-mods and rockers

58
Q

why was an antisocial ‘youth subculture’ emerging name 5 reasons 51-64

A

-unwilling to accept standards/values of their elders
-growing affluence gave many more independence to ignore traditional ways=’hooliganism’
-those in poverty felt alienated
-first youth not to live during war or the great depression, industries encouraged the concept of ‘teenagers’ with fashion and pop music to make them special and different
-boom time for satire undermined notions of respect eg ‘beyond the fringe;
-end of national service in 1960=lesiure time

59
Q

what was womens role in society at this time 51-64

A

-indispensable in the war but within months after 3/4 of women left their jobs to the returning men
-married women found employment hard, worked for ‘pin money’ for the household to afford little luxuries
-growing consumerism gave them more leisure time
-1960 only 1/3 of workforce was women and 2/3 of those jobs were in low paid secretarial work
-many politicians eg stafford crisps said it was responsible for women not to seek new freedoms
-average wage was 2/3 less than mens
-women in workforce did increase 26% to 35%

60
Q

what were opposing views of decolonisation 51-64

A

-macmillan thought the age of imperialism had passed (consensus with Attlees gov who granted independence to India 1947)- showed in his ‘winds of change’ speech in Feb 1960 that it was going to happen
-needed economically to be done, after war britain in debt £454 mil to its colonies, couldn’t fund their economic and military needs anymore
-right wing of the party opposed eg ‘league of empire loyalists’
-suez sped up the process

61
Q

which colonies were granted independance and why 51-64

A

1952-mau mau rebellion KENYA, nationalist uprising led by jomo kenyatta against British colonial rule since 1945, britain was critiqued for how they handled prisoners of the revolt at the hola prison, led to over 13,000 deaths, highlighted they couldn’t control colonies anymore-gained independence in 1963
1957-ghana, 1st of african colonies
1960-nigeria and cyprus
1961-south africa

62
Q

what made the EEC

A

international conference held at messina in 1955
treaty of rome-1957 by ‘the six’

63
Q

what were the EEC’s aims

A

-establish a common market with a customs union to monitor trade
-adopt a CAP (common agricultural policy, fair provision for farmers and poor areas of the EEC were to be subsidised by the rich areas)
-operate a protectionist policy against non member nations(make it harder for them to trade eg tariffs)

64
Q

what is a federation

A

an organisation where members surrender individual sovereignty to share power

65
Q

what were attitudes towards the EEC
-germany
-france
-italy
-labour
-macmillan
-the party

A

germany-re-establish iteself
france-fear of a resurgent germany
benelux countries+italy-extract economic gains from germany within the federation
labour eg gaitskell-party conference 1962 dismissed the idea, loose british sovereignty
Macmillan-failing economy and failure of EFTA made joining the EEC attractive and failure of suez strained special relationship and their world status
Conserve party-the traditional agricultural body who were initially hostile was replaced by a younger city orientated element who were pro-european eg Heath

66
Q

what was the EFTA

A

the european free trade association-created in 1959 as a free-trade counterbalance to the EEC, by 1972 most members had joined EEC

67
Q

when did they 1st apply for the EEC and why did it fail

A

-july 1961
-1963, french president de gaulle used veto to block britain from joining because of mamcmillans clear intentions to protect existing trade agreements to the us and the commonwealth

68
Q

what is evidence of the special relationship/ Britains reliance on the US 51-64

A

-Britain and US allies during cold war, macmillan close with Eisenhowers successor Kennedy (kept Macmillan informed with the Cuban missile crisis)
-US helped Uk economy eg marshall aid
-when US started sharing info again in 1958 it had to rely on the US Polaris missiles that could launch weapons from submarines as they couldn’t do it on their own
-Korean War

69
Q

what key events strained the special relationship 51-64

A

-The Burgess and Maclean affair, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean were high officers in british intelligence defected to the soviets in 1951 and leaked intelligence-worried US/ stopped sharing info eg nuclear secrets
-Suez
-EEC

70
Q

when did britain detonate its first atomic bomb and hydrogen bomb

A

1952 (3rd country in world)
1957(behind US and USSR)

71
Q

what was the CND and what was one event that happened

A

campaign for nuclear disarmament-1958
pressure group of middle class intellectuals who wanted britain to reject nuclear weapons and follow a policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament
-8000 people protested at the weapons research base at aldermaston in 1958

72
Q

what happened during the Korean War

A

1950-1953
soviets controlled the north
us controlled the south
1950 north troops with china invaded the south so the US sent forces to combat and over 20 countries including 90,000 british soldiers helped them
over 1000 troops died, around 2500 injured

73
Q

what was the vassal inquiry and when was it

A

1963
the government had to have an official investigation into john vassal who was a civil servant in the admiralty who got caught spying for the soviets in 1962
-there was talk of other members helping cover him up
-kim philby also not spotted who was a senior official running a spy network/recruiting agents to the ussr

74
Q

what was the argyll divorce case and when was it

A

1963
-the duke of argyll sued his wife for divorce on the grounds of adultery, he provided the public with many details eg the list of men at various times and numbers shed had sex with 2 rumoured to be gov ministers

75
Q

what was the profumo affair and when was it

A

1963
-john profumo (minister for war) had a liaison with christine keeler (a model) who was having an affair with a member of the soviet embassy (captain ivanov)
-in march he declared it was false in the house of commons but admitted 3 months later he had lied and resigned
-he met her at a famous country house in Buckinghamshire used as a brother by dr Stephen ward (a popular doctor who knew many conservatives) who used his contacts to procure girls for upper class men
-ward charged then killed himself
-keeler imprisoned for 9 months for perjury

76
Q

what was the effects of the scandals

A

-macmillan looked out of touch (believed promos denial)
-badly reflected on the character of the public institutions and government(couldn’t spot traitors)
-posed a risk to national secuirty
-media took advantage
-party damaged for association with these people

77
Q

who was alec douglas home during macmillans time

A

foreign secretary

78
Q

why was douglas home a surprise

A

-chosen not voted for
-he was a late runner, people expected it to be butler or lord hailsham
-renounced his peerage to be able to sit in the house of commons (was previously a lord) due to 1963 peerage act
-enoch powell and iain macleod declared to not sit in his cabinet (seen as part of the ‘old-boy network’ establishment)

79
Q

when did macmillan announce his successor

A

-wrote a letter to the queen, 16th oct 1963

80
Q

who were the 2 labour leaders during this time 51-64

A

gaitskell in 1955 (beat bevan) until death in 1963 succeeded by harold wilson

81
Q

why were labour struggling to win

A

-growing affluence under conservs caused a revisionist approach
-cons gained popularity for being the party of freedom not austerity
- the consensus of the welfare state and mixed economy were hard to tamper with

82
Q

what were the 3 main labours disunity during 51-64

A

-IDENTITY PROBLEM- left of the party wanted MORE SOCIALIST POLICIES eg bevan (minister of health in attlee government, minister of labour at this time) wanted greater state control, wanted unions to have a voice in shaping policies, many were unilateralists and joined the CND in 1958 VS gaistkell rejected all these policies (centre-right), he believed the fact he beat bevan meant he could steer away from these policies which would alienate the electorate
-bevan, wilson, freeman all resigned over PRESCRIPTION CHARGES which gaitskell introduced in 1951 as chancellor of the exchequer
-1962 gaitskell declared labour against joining EEC, not forward-looking?

83
Q

what were the results and consequences of labour loosing the election in 1959

A

-1959 election conservs gained 21 seats and labour surprisingly lost 19, was a surprise, unsure on future of the party?
-at the 1959 blackpool conference gaitskell put forward the idea of abolishing clause IV, heavily opposed by left, gaitksell backed down
-at the 1960 scarborough conference gaitskell gave emotional speech trying to reject nuclear disarmament ‘we will fight, and fight, and fight again’ but he lost the vote because the left relied on block votes of unions voting on behalf of their members eg left winger Frank Cousins became leader of TGWU in 1956 and was pivotal in opposing gaitskell and making unions take a more hostile approach to government (forced their decisions on the party)

84
Q

what was clause IV

A

the clause that committed the party to nationalisation of industry

85
Q

5 reasons why labour lost the 1959 election

A

-labour failed to be an effective opposition
-disagreements over true character of the party, how far they should push for socialist policies, unilateralism, common market
-outmanoeuvred by the conservs ‘don’t let labour ruin it’
-public thought their policies would mean higher taxes
-some of the right of the party formed the CDS (campaign for democratic socialism) to distance themselves from the left and trade unions (led to the social democrats)

86
Q

when was unilateralism dropped

A

1961

britain (8 decks)

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