1951-1964 Flashcards
Churchill strong leadership
-Promised to build 300,000 homes per year
-Ended rationing in 1954
-War-hero, so was extremely popular with the public
-Ended the Korean War in 1953
-The denationalisation of the coal and steel industries
-Britain detonated its first atomic bomb in 1952
Churchill weak leadership
-Was growing old, and became gradually more weak and ill
-A stroke in 1953 limited his speech
-He was used mainly as a figurehead
Churchill foreign policy
-Very pro-European, due to his involvement in the Second World War
-Annoyed the USA with his nostalgic views of a special relationship at the Bermuda conference in 1952
-Helped to end the Korean War in 1953
Anthony Eden’s strong leadership
-Was highly experienced in politics, and had been chief whip under Churchill
-The Clean Air Act of 1956
-The Housing and Factory Act of 1956
Anthony Eden’s weak leadership
-The Suez Crisis of 1957. This event overshadowed his whole political career and was a huge embarrassment for Eden, who was forced to resign as a result of this. The event also caused a run-on-the-pound, and generally weakened Britain’s position in the world
-Eden was highly hot-headed and short-tempered
Harold Macmillan’s strong leadership
-Was nicknamed ‘Supermac’ by the electorate
-Highly skilled with the media, and was witty and charismatic
-Homicide Act of 1957
-Wolfenden Commission of 1957
-The Clean air Act of 1956
-The Housing and Factory Act of 1956
-The introduction of comprehensive schools in 1958 (Kidbrooke School)
Harold Macmillan’s weak leadership
-Give-away budgets damaged the economy on a macro-scale (£350 million in 1959)
-£800 million balance of payments deficit by 1964
-Unemployment was at 800,000, and rising, by 1964
-Rejected by the EEC in 1963
-‘Night of the Long Knives’ in 1962 (Full cabinet re-shuffle)
-The Beeching Report of 1963 (Spending cuts to Britain’s rail network)
The Special Relationship from 1951-1964
-Britain sent 90,000 troops to the Korean war, and helped to end it in 1953
-Macmillan had good relationships with Eisenhower and J.F.K.
-The Suez Crisis in 1957 damaged Britain’s relationship with the USA, who were angered by Eden’s decision to deploy troops in Egypt
-Kennedy kept Britain closely informed during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963
-The Mutual Defence Agreement of 1958 meant that Britain and The USA shared information regarding nuclear weapons
-Britain adopted the USA’s ‘Polaris Submarine’ project in 1961, replacing their ‘Blue Streak Rockets’
Decolonisation and Defence from 1951-1964
-10% of G.D.P. was spent on defence by 1960
-Ghana 1957
-Nigeria 1960
-Cyprus 1960
-Sierra Leone 1961
-Uganda 1962
-Kenya 1963
-Harold Macmillan’s ‘Wind of Change’ speech in 1960
-Decolonisation symbolised Britain’s rapid global decline from 1951-1964
European Relations from 1951-1964
-The E.E.C. was launched in 1957, by the Treaty of Rome
-Britain helped to form the E.F.T.A. in 1959, but it was only moderately successful in comparison to the EEC
-Harold Macmillan applied to the EEC in 1961
-The French President, De Gaulle, rejected Britain’s EEC application in 1963, as they refused to abandon their ‘Special Relationship’ with the USA, and their trade links with EFTA
Labour weaknesses from 1951-1964
-Could not escape their ‘cloth-cap’ image
-Linked to austerity, which did not resonate well with the voters, due to the growth in the middle class
-Internal divisions over unilateralism and the CND
-Divisions between Gaitskellites and Bevanites
-The 1960 Scarborough Party Conference was important in healing these divisions
-Divisions over clause IV and the idea of nationalisation
Class and the ‘Establishment’ from 1951-1964
-There was growing criticism of the ‘establishment’
-The creation of the Welfare State under Attlee
-Class divisions had been weakened after The Second World War
The position of women from 1951-1964
-Women were seen as mostly housewives during the 1950’s
-The average age of marriage in the 1950’s was 21
-75% of women were married in the 1950’s
-Only 1/5 women worked in 1951
-Equal pay for teachers in 1952
-Equal pay for civil servants in 1954
-Trade unions were against women at work
-New labour-saving devices, such as the refrigerator and the washing machine
-Women made up 1/3 of the workforce by 1960, however most of these women were in low-paid, secretarial positions
Race and Immigration from 1951-1964
-The Empire Windrush arrived in Britain in 1948, carrying 492 migrants from the West Indies
-Notting Hill Riots in 1958
-The Commonwealth Immigration Act of 1962 was condemned as racist, as it limited the inflow of migrants based on their ethnic origin
-72,000 immigrants came from India and Pakistan between 1951-1960
-132,000 immigrants came from the West Indies between 1951-1960
-Britain recieved 676,000 immigrants during the 1950’s, and saw 1.32 million people leave Britain during this time
-Inward migration was 1.25 million people during the 1960’s, and outward migration was 1.92 million people
Youth culture from 1951-1964
-The ‘teenager’ sub-group emerged due to the growth in free time, and the post-war baby boom
-The decline in deference from the youth
-‘Teddy Boys’ emerged in the early 1950’s, and were replaced with the ‘Mods and Rockers’ soon after
-Riots in Margate, Clacton and Brighton in 1964, which saw clashes between the mods and rockers
