Britain Post WW2 Flashcards
What were the conditions of Britain after WW2?
> they had spent £7000 million (1/4) of National wealth
> over £3000 million in debt- mostly to USA
> could not afford to reconvert munitions factories to light industry factories and so could not compete in consumer goods market
> were not included in Marshall plan
- American wartime aid ceased in Aug 1945
What were the positives after WW2?
> Britain had won a war
> the coal and shipbuilding industries were in full use again
> people had grown not to care about the empire
What was the Beveridge report?
> deputy Clement Atlee was keen to put his socialist principles into practice
> commissioned William Beveridge to write the social insurance and allied services report,
> contained the kind of reforms he believed the government should focus on after war
> 5 giant evils were the things he believed needed to be tackled for the government to care for its people
How did the government deal with the war damage?
> between 1945-51 2 million council flats and houses were built
> 41,000 pre-fabs were built
- only meant to be temporary but many lasted decades
> new towns
-17 in England, 5 in Scotland
> slum clearance
Why was nationalisation introduced?
> for Labour the economic change was as important as the social reforms
> they wanted to introduce radical measure to ensure that british industry was efficient and competitive
- Atlee believed this was the only way to ensure this
> the government believed the industries needed massive investment in order to modernise them.
What were the main industries included in nationalisation?
> coal, gas, electricity, airlines, transport iron and steel
What were the reasons for Labour’s support of nationalisation?
> had long since disapproved of just a few shareholders and owners profiting from the key industries
> they believed that the industries should provide good service rather than just making profit
> they believed that the workers would prefer to be employed by state-run industries as they would be working for themselves and their country
> that workers would benefit from having their rights protected by national guidelines and ensured by the government
