A Changing Political And Economic Environment

Question 1

What social reforms did the Liberal party develop from 1906 onwards?

Answer 1

-1906- Free school meals
-1907- School medical inspections
-1908- Children’s charter
-1908- Pensions introduced
-1909- Labour exchanges set up
-!911- National Insurance Act passed

Question 2

What government was set up during WWI?

Answer 2

A coalition ; Liberal and conservative

Question 3

After 1918, where did a large portion of the conservative party’s votes come from?

Answer 3

-Newly enfranchised property-owning women

Question 4

What did the Representation of the People Act do?

Answer 4

-Enabled nearly all British men over the age of 21 could vote.

-Women over the age of 30 were enfranchised if they owned property or member of a local government register or married yo a man who was.

Question 5

Why did votes for the Labour party increase after the Representation of the People Act?

Answer 5

-Labour Party was formed from the Trade Union Congress. Wanted to advance working men’s pay.

-Enabled working class men over the age of 21 to vote.

Question 6

Why did the Liberal Party decline in support?

Answer 6

-Rise of the Labour Party (Representation of people Act)
-Increase in Conservative votes
-Continuation of war
-Split of the coalition parties

Scandals of LLoyd George ;

-Sold knighthoods
-Put criminals onto the honour list
-Decided to go to war with Turkey without much backing

Question 7

Who led the first Labour government and when?

Answer 7

Ramsay MacDonald 1924
-It was a minority government

Question 8

What was one of the main problems faced by Ramsay and his first government?

Answer 8

-Strained relations with the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party.

The party criticised him for not being more radical because he was forced to make harsh economic choices that affected the poorest voters and had to manage the threat of industrial action.

However, because he was head of a minority government, dependent on Liberal support, and attempt to introduce a more radical programme would have decline in support and the collapse of the government

Question 9

What Act did Ramsay’s first Labour government pass and when?

Answer 9

-1924- The Housing Act.
Increased the amount of money available to local authorities to build homes for low income workers

Question 10

When did the first Labour government collapse and why?

Answer 10

-1924- Only last 9 months
-Collapsed following a motion of no confidence
-MacDonald accused of having secret communist sympathies
-A second motion was then passed against the government calling for an enquiry into the withdrawal of charges against a communist.
-MacDonald was forced to resign and call an election

Question 11

Which party won the General Election in October 1924

Answer 11

Conservatve (412 seats)
-Gained a majority

Question 12

Who led the Conservative government from 1924-1929?

Answer 12

Stanley Baldwin

Question 13

Reasons why the Conservatives gained a majority in the 1924 General election?

Answer 13

-Presented itself as an alternative to the Labour party and the ‘threat’ of socialism in Britain
-Baldwin wanted to be seen as a moderate politician who could appeal to all social classes and discouraged the Conservatve Party from attacking Labour as secret agents of the USSR.
-Baldwin was more concerned with political stability than conflict between parties ( opposed the Private members bill 1925)

Question 14

What was the Private Members Bill 1925? Why did Baldwin oppose it?

Answer 14

-Many Conservative MPs believed the governments should try to weaken the Labour party and its trade unions.

The Private members Bill aimed to prevent the Labour party from recieving financial support from the trade unions.
Baldwin opposed this because he was more concerned with political stability than conflict with parties.

Question 15

Why did the Labour party’s finances decrease in 1927?

Answer 15

-General strikes of 1906 caused Baldwin to yield to the pressure of the other Conservative MPs who wanted to weaken the Labour party and introduced an act to deduct the amount that trade unions could fund to the Labour party.
-Finances decreased by 35%

Question 16

What were the results on the March 1929 General Election?

Answer 16

-Conservatives won the largest share of votes, however, did not gain a majority and so Ramsay MacDonald returned to power

Question 17

What Social reforms did Ramsay introduce in his second ministry? (1929-1931)

Answer 17

-The Housing Act 1930- Cleared three-quarters of a million slum houses and replaced them with modern homes by 1939

-The Coal Mines Act of 1939- Attempted to ensure workers had better pay and more efficient pits. However, the weakness of the legislation ensured workers could ignore this.

-Ammended the Unemployment Insurance Act- This gave the government the powers to create public work schemes to alleviate unemployment .

Question 18

What caused the collapse of Ramsay’s second government?

Answer 18

-Strikes
-Wall Street Crash
-Great Depression
-Rise of Facism

Question 19

When did the National Government win the election?

Answer 19

October 1931

Question 20

Who first led the National Government?

Answer 20

Ramsay MacDonald

Question 21

What problems did the National Government face?

Answer 21

-Rise of Fascism in Europe and in Britain
-The Great Depression
-Strikes

Question 22

What was the Economic Policy that the National Government introduced to attempt to deal with the economic crisis?

Answer 22

-Implemented spending cuts
-Public sector pay cuts of 10% (so harsh it led to a mutiny in the royal navy)
-Removed gold standards and introduced tariffs to help boost the economy

The National Governments popularity began to increase

Question 23

When and who was Ramsay MacDonald replaced by?

Answer 23

1935- Stanley Baldwin becomes PM

Ramsay became unwell and was forced to step down from his position

Question 24

What did the Labour Party focus on doing throughout the first half of the 1930s?

Answer 24

-Reorganising itself, resulting in it becoming the official opposition to the National Government

Question 25

Who became leader of the Labour party in 1935?

Answer 25

Clement Atlee

Question 26

How many seats did Labour gain in the 1935 General Election?

Answer 26

154

Question 27

Why did support for extremist groups increase during 1930s?

Answer 27

-People were becoming convinced that liberal democracy no longer had the answers to solve the economic crisis.

-The set up of the National Unemployed Workers movement- Set up by the British communist party. Represented hundreds of unemployed men

-Intellectuals on the left who visited the USSR, believed that communism was an economic success.

Question 28

How many members did the BUF have by 1934?

Answer 28

50,000

Question 29

Who was Oswald Mosley?

Answer 29

-Labour MP before he resigned due to frustration at the National Government and created the New Party.
-Leader of the BUF
-Became inspired by the economic policies of Mussolini’s Italy

Question 30

What did Mosley do in 1932?

Answer 30

Drew all the facist organisations in Britain together with the New Party to form the BUF. He became the leader.

Question 31

What act did the National Government pass in 1936?What effect did it have on the BUF?

Answer 31

• Public Order Act-
  This banned groups from wearing uniforms and requiring permission for marches and demonstrations.

-The BUF began to decline after 1936.His movement never became a real threat to the National Government.

Question 32

What reasons were there for rearmament in Britain?

Answer 32

-Fear of fascism and its rise
-The Peace Ballot-1934- organised to gain people’s opinions.11 million agreed they wished for ‘collective security’
-The World Disarmament Conference failed when Germany withdrew in 1933.

Question 33

What reasons were there to remain disarmed in Britain?

Answer 33

-Many people were attracted to this after the experiences of WW1. The people did not want WW2
-The League of Nations- Offered peaceful resolutions to conflict.
-The World Disarmament Conference ran for 2 years (1932-1934). Many countries were willing to disarm too
-By the 1930s, the idea that Germany was responsible for WW1 was rejected.

Question 34

What did Baldwin suggest instead of disarmament?

Answer 34

-Baldwin argued for agreements limiting arms so that nations could have ‘parity’

Question 35

When did Britain start to rearm and how?

Answer 35

from 1934 onwards;
-RAF increased in size to 40 squadrons
-The British Army was re-organised
-The Royal Navy was expanded
-The munitions industry was developed in partnership with private capital

Question 36

Why did the Labour party remain divided on the question of peace and security?

Answer 36

-The Left of the party- Believed rearmament made war more likely, not less
-The centre of the party- Led by Clement Atlee, believed collective security would make war impossible. Rearming= unnecessary
-The Right of the party- Many had left the party and moved towards supporting other parties

Question 37

Who became PM in 1937?

Answer 37

Neville Chamberlain

Question 38

Who was Neville Chamberlain?

Answer 38

-PM of Britain under the conservative party 1937-40
-Resigned in 1940 after losing the support of mps and died later that year.
-Known for following the Policy of Appeasement of Hitler in an attempt to prevent war with Germany. However, this failed when Hitler broke the Munich agreement. Chamberlain declared war on Germany 1st September 1939 with the support of France when Germany invaded Poland.

Question 39

Who replaced Chamberlain when he resigned in 1940?

Answer 39

-Winston Churchill
-Became PM the day that Germany invaded France

Question 40

Why was politics described as consenus between 1945-79 ?

Answer 40

-There was a broad agreement between both opposition parties about the running of the economy and welfare sate

Question 41

What aspects of policy did both parties agree on? (1945-79)

Answer 41

-Achieve full employment
-A mixed economy, with heavy industry, railways and other parts of the national infrastructure in state ownership
-A welfare state and a NHS
-Co-operation between the government and trade unions in managing wages and prices

Question 42

Why was a General Election held in July 1945 and which party won?

Answer 42

-Labour party signalled it’s intention to withdraw from the coalition

-Labour won, meaning Clement Atlee was now PM

Question 43

What social reforms did Labour introduce between 1945-51?

Answer 43

-Established the NHS
-National Insurance Act
-National Assistance Act
-Housing Act 1949- extended local authorities powers to build public sector housing for all income groups
-Education Act 1944

Question 44

Reasons Labour lost support/ votes in the 1950 General Election?

Answer 44

-House of Commons Act 1949 ( redistribution of seats)
-Decline of it’s popularity with the middle class
-Shrinking working class population, less WC to vote
-Rationing continued post-war
-Labour unable to revive Britain’s economy in the immediate post-war years
-Tax increased