1951-64 specific information and key terms

Question 1

individualism

Answer 1

emphasis on the rights and freedoms of each citizen as opposed to collectivising power of the state

Question 2

mixed economy

Answer 2

a system in which the private and public sectors of the economy both operate

Question 3

real wages

Answer 3

the purchasing power of the earnings when set against prices

Question 4

mod cons

Answer 4

short for modern conveniences: central heating, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators and washing machines

Question 5

property owning democracy

Answer 5

a society in which people are encouraged to become homeowners on the principle that the ownership of the property is a necessary part of democracy

Question 6

common market

Answer 6

a trading system between equal states with the minimum amount of regulation

Question 7

special relationship

Answer 7

Churchill’s term to describe the common values that the US and Britain had which made them natural allies

Question 8

unilateralists

Answer 8

those who believed that Britain should give up its atomic weapons without waiting for a multilateral agreement between the nuclear powers to do so

Question 9

CND

Answer 9

campaign for nuclear disarmament

Question 10

rise in the average weekly wage of the adult male

Answer 10

from £8.30 in 1951 to £18.35 in 1964

Question 11

rise in sales of private cars

Answer 11

from 1.5 to 5.5 million between 1951-64

Question 12

how many houses did the Conservative’s commit to building each year in this period

Answer 12

300 000

Question 13

how many new houses were built between 1951-64 and how many were private dwellings

Answer 13

7 million, 60% were private dwellings

Question 14

what did unemployment peak as in 1963

Answer 14

878 000 unemployed

Question 15

what was Italy and Britain’s industrial growth rate

Answer 15

Britain: 2.3% and Italy: 5.6%

Question 16

principles announced in the Conservative’s 1947 ‘industrial charter’

Answer 16

• Kensyian economics
• mixed economy
• need for a welfare state

(shift to the left after their landslide defeat in the 1945 election)

Question 17

how much was spent on defence by 1964

Answer 17

10% of GDP, £1.7 billion

Question 18

key features of Butskellism 1951

Answer 18

• mixed economy
• cooperation with unions
• welfare state
• commitment to defence
• keynsian economists

Question 19

who was housing minister at the start of the period

Answer 19

Harold Macmillan

Question 20

how much did real wages increase by in this period

Answer 20

from £8.30 to £18.35

Question 21

what was the tripartite system

Answer 21

all children took the 11+ which allocated themi a place within the three school system (grammar, technical and modern)

Question 22

where did the series of race riots in 1958 break out

Answer 22

London, Nottingham and Bristol most notably

Question 23

what was the name given to the groups of violent white youths that recalled the fashions of King Edward VII

Answer 23

Teddy Boys

Question 24

what were the names of the two rival groups of youths that began a series of affrays from 1964 onwards

Answer 24

mods and the rockers

Question 25

1960-62 were the peak years for immigration. how many entered

Answer 25

230 000

Question 26

which two countries did Britain ally with in the Suez affair

Answer 26

France and Israel

Question 27

why was Britain's growth rate lower than other European countries post war

Answer 27

due to high spending on defence and the military

Question 28

racist reactions to windrush | two reactions

Answer 28

- 'no coloured' notices on boarding houses and factory gates - fears they were taking jobs and housing

Question 29

what proportion of the population has non-europeans never exceeded

Answer 29

6%

Question 30

till what decade did net emigration exceed net immigration

Answer 30

every decade until 1970

Question 31

what was the natural competition between immigrants and poor Britons and what did they believe was happening | two things

Answer 31

- believed immigrants were taking their jobs as they accepted lower wages - since Britain's inner cities suffered a severe shortage of affordable housing there was natural competition

Question 32

what was the White Defence League

Answer 32

a racist organisation set up in 1957 in Notting Hill which a number of the white rioters in the 1958 riots belonged to

Question 33

what was an unwanted affect of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962

Answer 33

a rush of immigrants came into Britain before its terms came into force

Question 34

how many immigrants came into Britain between 1960-2

Answer 34

over 230 000 - a peak in immigration

Question 35

what was the 'youth subculture'

Answer 35

the unwillingness of some young people to accept the standards and values of their elders and their wish to asser their own seperate identity - this could easily descend into antisocial behaviour, holliganism e.g. mods and rockers

Question 36

the affect of the second world war on women's role in society

Answer 36

- during the war their status was elevated - after the war though they were forced to give up their jobs - Cripps let it be known that in the austere economic climate, women should behave with extra responsiblity should not seek extra rights e.g. equal pay and play their custom role as home makers

Question 36

what affect did the end of rationing have on women

Answer 36

queuing for food no longer dominated house wive's lives

Question 37

what percentage of women left work to return to traditional work in the months following the end of the war

Answer 37

75%

Question 38

what other advancements improved women's lives

Answer 38

- growing availability of consumer goods such as domestic appliances gave them greater leisure time

Question 39

by 1960, what proportion of the workforce did women make up

Answer 39

1/3

Question 39

evidence women did not have their rights advanced in this period

Answer 39

- 2/3 of the jobs they held were low paid secreterial work and as primary school teachers - barely 1/10 of the higher posts in the legal profession, civil service and the univeristies were held by them - tax authorities continued to classify them as dependents of their husbands and fathers

Question 40

what did the failure of Suez suggest about the UK's world position

Answer 40

that they were no longer global leaders and could not act alone

Question 41

how did Britain's involvement in the world wars contradict their imperialism

Answer 41

it contradicteed their fighting for people's rights and freedoms and against countries imposing themselves on another

Question 42

what does Gaitskell firmly dismiss joining at a 1962 conference

Answer 42

the EEC

Question 43

what satirical nickname was given to Macmillan by the press

Answer 43

'supermac' as he could solve everything!