ADV INFO - The Post War Consensus

Question 1

What is a consensus

Answer 1

when there is a broad agreement between the two political parties on the key aspects of social, economic and industrial policy

Question 2

What did historian Paul Affison argue in ‘The Road to 1945’

Answer 2

the most significant political development of the war years was the coalition and cooperation between the Conservative and Labour parties.

Question 3

which historians have argued that there wasn’t actually a period of consensus

Answer 3

revisionists like John Barnes and Kevin Jeffrys

Question 4

What did Kevin Jeffrys argue in ‘Retreat from Jerusalem’

Answer 4

the social democratic achievements in the post-war years were overstated and instead of providing welfare for all simply facilitated a consumer boom

Question 5

How long did the consensus last for

Answer 5

from the election of Clement Attlee in 1945 to the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979

Question 6

What was crucially important in determining the nature of the post-war consensus

Answer 6

the experience of the second world war

Question 7

What is essential during wartime

Answer 7

national unity

Question 8

What happened under the Conservatives in the 1950s

Answer 8

pensions and national assistance benefits continued to rise

Question 9

what do the rise in pensions and NI under the Conservatives suggest

Answer 9

it shows the uncontroversial nature of the NHS during this period that the Minister of Health did not sit in the Cabinet between 1952 and 62

Question 10

What did the conservatives accept the NHS as

Answer 10

a long term commitment

Question 11

What did both parties implement to their manifestos in 1945

Answer 11

the Beveridge report

Question 12

What did the Conservatives strongly oppose

Answer 12

the detail of the National Health Act and compromises had to be made

Question 13

What is a good example of the consensus coming under strain

Answer 13

secondary school education.

Question 14

what was passed in 1944 that drew increased criticism during the 1950s

Answer 14

the 1944 education act (creation of the tripartite system).

Question 15

in Feb 1954, which magazine coined a new word and what was it about

Answer 15

the Economist invented ‘butskellism’. it was created as the policies of Chancellor R.A.Butler were so similar to his Labour predecessor Hugh Gaitskell

Question 16

What was announced in 1947 showed economic consensus

Answer 16

the Conservative ‘industrial charter’ announcing the party’s commitment to a ‘mixed economy’

Question 17

What labour policy did the Conservatives follow

Answer 17

the policy of maintaining full employment and tried to break their association with the 1930s when they were labelled ‘the party of mass unemployment’

Question 18

What did the 1944 Conservative Government white paper say

Answer 18

“The government accepts as one of a high and stable level employment”

Question 19

What did the Conservatives surprisingly accept

Answer 19

the nationalisation of coal, railways and the Bank of England although they opposed the nationalisation of transport and steel and denationalised them after 1951

Question 20

What was the post-war economic consensus-based off of

Answer 20

Keynesian economic principles

Question 21

what economic issues remained

Answer 21

there was a continuous balance of payments crisis, fuelled by the encouragement of imports, a fall in exports and a decline in Britain’s share of the world trade

Question 22

What did the Labour party not do economically

Answer 22

they had done nothing to change the distribution of wealth or income within Great Britain and had accepted private enterprise and the capitalist system

Question 23

What changes did the Conservatives introduce

Answer 23

some changes in the 1950s such as abolishing ID cards in 1952 and finally bringing rationing to an end in 1954

Question 24

what Labour policies were controversial

Answer 24

the nationalisation measures such as iron, steel and road haulage and they continued to be after 1951 was the Conservatives de-nationalised these industries

Question 25

What happened to industrial relations

Answer 25

the number of working days lost to industrial action rose from 1.7 million in 1951 to 5.7 million in 1962.

Question 26

why were there large amounts of TUC opposition

Answer 26

wage-restraint clashed with the government’s attempts to control inflation by an incomes policy

Question 27

What cause the breakdown of relations with the government and trade unions

Answer 27

Britain’s failure to keep pace with the economic development of its European rivals

Question 28

What was the issue with the electricians union

Answer 28

it was under communist control and so contributed to the increasingly hostile public perception of trade unions

Question 29

When were the two rail strikes

Answer 29

in 1953 and 1954

Question 30

how were the rail strikes averted

Answer 30

capitulation to the men’s terms and although the government was prepared to use existing law to deal with unofficial strikes that threatened vital services, any new legislation that risked confrontation with the Trades Union Congress was ruled out

Question 31

When did the power of trade unions grow

Answer 31

during the war

Question 32

What did the Conservatives allow the trade unions to do

Answer 32

have representation on NEDC which shaped economic policy

Question 33

What did the Conservatives of the 1950s accept which the ones of the 1930s didn’t

Answer 33

the need for government intervention in social policy and economic policies and the need for state planning

Question 34

What did the Conservatives think about trade unions

Answer 34

there was a need to treat the trade unions as part of the political establishment and as legitimate partners in the shaping of economic, especially industrial, policy

Question 35

When was the nation ready for change and what did this do to the consensus

Answer 35

the nation was ready for change and the consensus broke down due to this

Question 36

How did Aneurin Bevan describe the tories in 1948

Answer 36

‘lower than vermin’

Question 37

how did the Conservatives refer to Labour as

Answer 37

socialist, suggesting ideological differences

Question 38

What did people still associate the conservatives with

Answer 38

the 1930s when there was high unemployment and a disastrous policy of appeasement

Question 39

What was the feeling about the modernity of the Conservatives

Answer 39

that they were not keeping pace with the times

Question 40

What outdated laws remained in place at the time

Answer 40

abortion and divorce

Question 41

What was the majority of the Conservatives made up of

Answer 41

public school educated and aristocratic individuals

Question 42

Which leader gave Labour a new modern image

Answer 42

Harold Wilson

Question 43

What did Harold Wilson promise

Answer 43

to lead in the ‘white heat of technology’

Question 44

what brand of conservatism were many of the tories

Answer 44

Butler, Macmillan and Walter Monckton were one nation tories