Britain Transformed - Society In Transition

Question 1

Changes in class

Question 2

The upper class - features of the upper class

Answer 2

Hugely wealthy
Opened vast amounts of land
Privately educated in schools like Eton
Had exciting social calendar called ‘the season’
- divided between country pursuits (hunting, shooting) from autumn to spring and a series of sporting and cultural events largely based in London during summer months
- London season began with presentation of aristocratic daughters of marriageable age to the monarch at the ‘debutants ball’
- debutants ball ended in 1958
Attended events like badminton horse trials, horse-racing at Royal Ascot, rowing at Henley, sailing at Cowes which would also be attended by the royal fmaily
- events gave upper class a sense of identity

Question 3

Changes to the upper class

Answer 3

WW1:
- took a disproportionately heavy toll on upper class, while 12.9% of all men in the army died, 20.7% of all Old Etonians died, thus was largely because they often served as officers who had higher mortality rate
- cost of war led to huge increases in income tax and death duties, estates worth over £2 million were subject to 40% increase duty, tax on incomes over £2500 rose form 2% in 1914 to 57% in 1925, death duties were continually increased
- this put financial pressure on upper class, and made it harder for them to pay for their country estates
- the gentry sold sold off 1/4 of all land in England 1918-1920
Rise of labour:
- rise of the Labour Party accelerated the decline of the landed-entire power in the house on commons, labour MP’s were more middle/working class
- while wealthy landowners made up 40% of MP’s in 1910, this has fallen to around 5% by 1945
House of Lords:
- parliament act of 1911 meant Lords could only delay rather than block legislation
From 1958 onwards, hereditary peers were increasingly replaces by politically nominated ‘life-peers’
- in 1910, 39 of our 43 of the Lord Lieutenants had been aristocrats, by 1970 this figure had fallen to 15 out of 46
- however rise of the new upper class (defined more by wealth than ancestry) meant there was no real decline in elite dominance of politics before 1951 - Macmillan’s government had 40 Old Etonian cabinet members
Rise of satire:
- rise of faire in 60s and 70s undermined deference (unquestioned respect of Establishment figures)
National trust:
- many country houses were ought or donated families to the national trusts
- 1937 country houses scheme allowed families to live in their stately homes rent-free for two generations if they transferred ownership to the national trust and opened house to public for at least 60 days a year
- millions of Britons paid to visit these homes - helping to persevere landed elite
- the country house lifestyle remained the ultimate goal for most rich Britons

Question 4

The middle class - features of the middle class

Answer 4

Not upper class, not lower class
Low-middle class distinguished themselves from working class through their cultural and leisure pursuits
- they saw themselves as upright, moral people, often looked down on the working-class
After WW1 a £250 annual salary was considered middle class
Home ownership became a defining characteristic of the middle class

Question 5

Changes in the middle class and causes

Answer 5

WW1:
- immediately after war, middle class feared the distinction between them and the working class was being eroded
- there was a (false) perception that working-class ages were increasing while middle class incomes stagnated
- wartime inflation contributed to this fear due to its impact on middle-class savings and incomes: something that cost £100 in 1914 would cost £276 in November 1920
- middle class (unfairly) blames the increases strength of trade unions for pushing up wages and prices - in reality inflation had more to do with the strains and increased costs of wartime economy
Rise of middle class jobs:
- WW1 spurred middle class employment - 34% growth in commercial and financial jobs between 1911 and 1921
- growth of respectable jobs in science technology and engineering, the rise of salaried jobs in management and administration (from 700,000 in 1931 to 1.25 million in 1951) and the expansions of clerking jobs for women (from 170,000 in 1911 to 1.4 million in 1951) drove middle-class expansion
- workers in such jobs saw themselves as modern, progressive and financially responsible
Home ownership:
- became a defining feature of middle class status
- interwar contemporaries spoke of a ‘new muddle class’ who bought homes since 1920
- in 1939, 60% of middle class were home owners, compared to 20% of the working class
- the suburban lifestyle and Geographical separation of men from their work place also came to define the middle class

Question 6

The working class - features of the working class

Answer 6

Comprised of skilled workers, unskilled labourers and criminals (the residuum)
Did manual jobs, often with irregular wages

Question 7

Changes to the working class and causes

Answer 7

WW1:
- smaller percentages of working class fought in the war - partly due to the number of ‘revered occupations’, such as coal miners, whose labour was deemed essential to the war fort, and partly de to the poor health of the working class - in 1918 31.3% of men were classed as too chilly for combat
- rationing helped improve working class health - average life expectancy rose by 7 years for both men and women between 1911 and 1921
- home fit for hero’s never materialised
Trade unions:
- between 1915 and 1918 trade union membership from 4.3 million to 8.3 million
- trade unions suffered loss of membership in interwar period, but gained power again after ww2
- trade unions protected the wages and rights of the working class (although only the ones who had jobs) and aided rise of Labour Party
WW2:
- united the British population under a total war - which led to a greater sense of unity and equality among the population
- evacuation of young, often poor city children to the countryside les to a greater degree of sympathy for the property ensured by working class
- the war also resorted traditional working class industries (in steel, coal, textile) to full employment while maintaining these industries with post war nationalisation under Atlee’s government
Welfare state:
- atlees government also ae the introduction of a greater number of welafre reforms
- the 1946 industrial injuries act provided cover for people who were injured at work, which greatly aided working class miners
- the introduction of free universal healthcare in 1948 allowed British population comprehensive and effective healthcare which arguably had the most benefit for the working class, who previously hadn’t been able to afford high quality care
- however, many working-class families still lived in poor, slum conditions until well into the 50s, and those in new housing often felt isolated
50s and 60s consumerism:
- working class were able to take advantage of mass leisure activities in the 50s and 60s
Dissolved class boundaries between the working and middle class

Question 8

the growth of the permissive society in 1951-1979

Answer 8

Liberal laws:
Obscene publication act - this act allowed for ‘serious works of art’ to use ‘obscene’ words and imagery - recognised a greater public openness to sexual imagery but at an elite level - it was only in 1977 that the law was extended to include films

Suicide act - decriminalised act on suicide in England and wales so that those who failed in the attempt to kill themselves would no loner be prosecutes

Murder (abolition of the Death penalty) act - abolished the death penalty - last person to be hanged in Britain was Ruth Ellis in 1955 - passed because majority of MPs eventually been convinced by a long campaign carried out by politicians - majority of the British public remained in favour of capital punishment

Sexual offences act - decriminalised homosexual; in acts in private between 2 men over age of 21 - support for the law grew not because homosexuality was accepted, but because many saw being gay as an illness, which undermined the view that it should be a punishable crime

Abortion act - legalised abortions and provided them through nhs - introduced by David steel - during the debate steel focused on the high number of deaths and injuries that resulted from dangerous back street options (roughy 40 deaths in 1966) rather than the moral issue of abortion

Family planning act - made pill available on NHS

Theatres act - abolished censorship in the theatre, allowed British Board of Film directors to allow the screening of some films with sexual content before 1977

Divorce reform act - allowed couple ton divorce after they had been separated for two years (or five if only one of them wanted a divorce) - a marriage could be ended if it had irretrivlably broken down and neither partner no longer had to prove fault

Question 9

Why weren’t laws necessarily evidence of a more liberal society

Answer 9

Demand for these laws came not from the people but from the MPs
- Ray Jenkins supported many liberal reforms
Often these laws were the reuslt of long campaigns that had existed far before the ‘spinning 60s’ - pressure for reform of laws on homosexuality went back as far as 1890
Often these laws went against the veiw2s of the British public
- the majority of people remained in favour of capital punishment after 1965 murder act and support for it even grew during mid-60s due to the hood at crime of Moors Murderers
- just over 60% had favoured death penalty but this had risen to 70% by 1970
These laws were often passed due to the impractical consequences of current legislation rather than due to moral issues
- e.g. abortion act passed to limit number of deaths/injuries due to back street abortions

Question 10

A more sexual society

Answer 10

Evidence for:
WW2 undermined traditional values by separating husbands and wives, promoting sex outside of marriage and encouraging divorce
- divorce peaked in 1947
Number of post-war books helped promote more liberal attitudes towards sexuality
Alfred Kinsey;s book ‘sexual behaviour non the human female’ undermined the moral condition fo sex before marriage
1959 obscene publications act and 1968 theatres act allowed more obscene sexual content to be published in Britain
Dr Alex Comforts book ‘the joy of sex’ was sexuality explicit and illustrated, it dealt with sex as a pleasure in its own right and was a bestseller
Inn1974 the soft core porn film ‘Emmanuelle’ became the first adult film to be shown in British theatres
- it was the 4th most popular film inn 1974
People become far more tolerant of sex before marriage
- bun 1990 less tan 1% of rust sexual intercourse took place after marriage

Against:
Mass observation reports suggest women who had wartime affairs saw them as a product of difficult circumstances and happily returned to their husbands after war had ended
- divorce rate fell after 1947
Two major studies
- the sexual behaviour of young people (1965)
- Sex and marriage in England today (1971)
Suggest that the notions of a sexual revolution in Britain are highly exaggerates
Sexual behaviour of young people found only 18% of girls and 10% of boys in his sample of teenagers had sex with more than 3 people and only 17% of girls and 33% of boys had sex before age 19
Sex and marriage in England today found that b96% of women and 95% of men were married before age 45 and that the average of of marriage fell below 23 in 1970 down from 25 in 1946

Overall:
Sex certainly became a less taboo subject and sexual content became far more acceptable to read, view and discuss
Attitudes to sex changed somewhat, with sex before marriage becoming more normalised
However there wasn’t a significant chnage in people’s sexual behaviour and promiscuity remained far more normal

Question 11

Changing attitudes to homosexuality

Answer 11

Evidence for
The high-profile trial of Lord Montagu and journalist Peter Wildeblood (both convicted) les to a growing public Perez ti on that the sate shouldn’t be able to regulate what two consenting adults do in private
- the Sunday times wrote in 1954 ‘the law is not Nina crowd with a large mass of public opinion’
The 1967 sexual offences act legalised sexual relations in private between men aged 21+
A British branch of the gay liberation front was set up in 1971
In 70s a number of men made ;camp’ behaviour acceptable on TV
- e.g. :army Grayson who had catchphrase like ‘what a gay day’ and ‘seems like a nice boy’
In 1975 ITV screened The Naked Civil Servant, a film about the flamboyant gay writer Quentin Crisp
In the 70s leading pop stars Elton John and David Boew admitted to being bisexual
In 1976 Tom Robinson released the single ‘Glad to be gay’ which reached 18 on the charts

Against:
In the mid 50sover a thousand men were imprisoned on basis of their sexuality
A poll in 1963 revealed that 93% of the public thought that homosexuality was an illness
Even after the 1967 act, it remained illegal of colicit homeosexual acts
- i.e. to seek them out in public
The number of men arrested for public indecency tripled between 1967 and 1972
Camp tv starts like Larry Grayson and Johan Inman publicly denied being gay
- Grayson told daily mirror he just r pretended to be gay

Overall:
By the 70s there were some cultural sings homosexuality was more accepted, particularly in the media, however is wasn’t until the early 2000s that most British people felt in was not wrong to be gay

Question 12

Opposition to the permissive society - thatcher

Answer 12

Became increasingly outspoken about her disadvantage for the permissive society and the fears for standards of public decency
1970 Finchley Press interviews - ‘I would like to see a reversal of the permissive society’
Campaigned in 1977 ‘basic Christian values…. Are under attack’

Question 13

Mary Whitehouse

Answer 13

Took a stance against the damage done to bits he mroal by the media
Criticised Hugh Carleton-Green, director general of rhe BBC from 1960-69, blaming hum for the growth of liberal, permissive values on tv
Her clean-up tv petition in 1964 gained 500,000 signatures
Launched National Viewers’ and Lisenter’s Assocation (NVLA) in 1965
1977 launched a legal battle against magazine Gay News for publishing ‘blasphemous’ prom
- she won their case, the magazine owener was funded and given a suspended sentence
1977 book ‘whatever happened to sex’ and said ‘being gay as like having acne’
Campaigned agaisnt pornography
- may have influenced governments 1981 decision to force sex shops to have black out window

Question 14

The nationwide festival of light

Answer 14

Hyde park 1971
Staged to promote Christian morality
Rally was supported by famous figured like Cliff Richard
The event inspired over 70 other regional rallies
Events attracted crowds of over 100,000 people

Question 15

immigration

Question 16

Why did large numbers of immigrants begin to arrive in Britain from Commonwelath in 1948 onwards

Answer 16

During WW2 many commonwealth citizens fought and died for Britain
After war, labour government passed the British nationality act in 1948
They said all citizens of the commonwelath were British citizens
The act mean that commonwealth citizens had the right to come and settle in britiain
Earliest immigrants came from India, where, after independence and partition in 1947, some Hindus, Muslins and Sikhs found themselves isolated
In the early 50s many immigrants began to arrive from the West Indied
India, Pakistani and West Indies came to be known as New Commonwelath
The NHS set up in 1948 and railways and bus transport had been nationalised
Large numbers of extra workers were needed
Advertising campaigns were started in West Indies and India and Pakistan to try to attract workers
In n1954, 9,000 west indies came to Britain’s, rising to 26,000 in 1956 and 66,000 in 1961
Wages in Britain were much higher than in other parts of the commonwealth and the standard of living was rising very quickly

Question 17

Problems with immigrant

Answer 17

Immigrants often found themselves living in poorest accommodation in thye worst areas of big cities
Some areas, most notably Toxeth in Nottingham, St Ann’s in Nottingham, Handsworth in Birmingham and Brixton in London, attracted so many immigrants that there was what the government called ‘white flight’ from these areas, as the original white population began to move to other parts of the city
The ‘colour bar’ - landlords wouldn’t rent to immigrants, employers would not hire immigrants (e..g Bristol Bus Campaign)
Trade unions failed to support immigrant workers
- white trade unionists were often concerned their jobs were being taken by black immigrants who would work for less
Those who found work were only offered the lowest-paid and most unskilled jobs
- on average immigrants were paid 28% less than white workers
‘Teddy Boy’ gangs of young, white men sought to intimidate bl;ack immigrants

Question 18

Race riots

Answer 18

In the St Ann’s areas of Nottingham in August 1958, a crowd of up to 1000 bl;ack and white youths fought each other, resulting in a number of stabbing
A few days later, in Notting Hill (west London) gangs of 300-400 white men armed woth chains, iron bars, knives and petrol bombs attacked local black people and their homes
The Notting Hill race riots 1958 were sparked by a Teddy Boy attack on a white woman who had a black partner
The riots lasted two weeks
140 were arrested, but there were complaints that the police had been sow to react to black appeals for help and that police had been too eager to say that racism hasn’t caused the riots
The Notting Hill riots were a turning point
Afterwards, 3% of the total immigrant population returned to the Caribbean
Caribbean governments made official complaints to the British government about poor housing and prejudiced policing
The Notting Hill Carnival was also founded in 1956 to promote racial harmony - it still takes place annually

Question 19

How did government policies on immigration chnage in the 1960s

Answer 19

The 1962 Commonwealth Immigrants Act:
This stated that only immigrants with jobs waiting fore them or those possessing certain skills would be allowed in Britain
Immigrants had to apply for a voucher, which would only be issues if they could offer skills that were needed in britains
The number of vouchers was limited each year to about 9,000
The act didn’t apply to Australia, Canada and New Zealand

Question 20

Why did the situation get worse in the late 1960s?

Answer 20

In 1967 the National Front, a racist [arty that wanted immigrants to be sent back to their original countries was set up
President Kenyatta ordered all Kenyan Asians to take Kenyan nationality or leave the country
Many left and came to Britain

Question 21

The 1968 commonwealth immigrants acts

Answer 21

In response the British government passed this act
This stated that immigrants must have close connections with Britain
Close connections meant that the immigrant must have been born in Britain or have a parent or grandparent who had
The act also restricted the number of vouchers to no more than 1,500 a year
By the later 1960s, immigrants had become a major political issue
Opinion polls showed that about 80% of people belived that too many immigrants had been allowed into Britain

Question 22

The 1971 immigration act

Answer 22

This created a new class of immigrants called ‘Patrials’
These were people who had been born in Britains or who had lived in Britain for more than five years or whose parents or grandparents had been born in Britain
Anyone else, whether they came from the commonwealth or not, needed a work permit
All commonwealth CI tens now needed work permits or visas to come to Britains unless they were patrials
70,000 Asians from Uganda were admitted from 1972 when President Amin ordered all Ugandan Asians to leave thw country

Question 23

Why did government policies on immigration chnage in the 60s and 70s

Answer 23

From the late 50s and early 60s the. Number of immigrants coming to Britain rose very rapidly
From 1955 to 1962, 400,000 people came to Britain from the west indies, India and Pakistan
Extra labour was not needed because most of the jobs in NHS and transport had been filled
By 1960 many families were arriving and men who arrived in early 50s were brining their families over to join them
This meant that immigrants were becoming permantrent settlers
By early 60s the British economy was beginning to slow down and unemploy,ent was rising
It nwas obvious that immigration had led to severe racial tension
The British government believed that it could reduce racial tension by placing limits on the number of immigrants allowed into Britain each year

Question 24

How did the British government try to rescue racial tension

Answer 24

In 1965 the race relations act banned dsicrimation in all public places, such as pubs, clubs and dancehalls
It became illegal to publish anything which incited racial hatred
The act set up a race relations board in 1966 which dealt with complaints
But tbis had no power to enforce its decisions and was made up alsmost entirely of white powered
In 196 a second race relations act banned dsicrimation is housing, work or training
- also banned racists adverts
But landlords could easily day that a house or room had already been rented and there was almost np way to prove otherwise
Employers could always find plenty of reasons for not giving jobs to immigrants
This act also set up a community relations commissions to try to improve race relations
In 1976 the racial equality act banned all attempts to discriminate by indirect means
- abuse or threatening language became illegal
Anyone who felt that they had been the victim of such dsicrimation could take their complaint to a tribunal
Local authorities had to improve race relations and opportunities for immigrants
The cat set of the omission for racial equality, which could take up cases of discrimination
- it had the power to serve legal notices on offenders

Question 25

Opposition to immigration

Answer 25

In the 1959 election, the British union of fascist (led by Oswald Mosley) campaigned against immigration
- they won just 8% of the national vote

In the 1964 election, the Conservative candidate for Smethwick (Birmingham) used the slogan “if you want a n*gger for your neighbour, vote labour”
- we won the seat
The National Front Party was formed in 1967
- it opposed immigration and any measures to improve on race relations
- by the mid 70s it had 20,000 members but this support collapsed by the end of the decade
- he party failed to gain a single parliamentary seat

Question 26

Enoch Powell’s rivers of blood speech - 1968

Answer 26

In 1968, Tory MP and shadow defence secretary and Enoch Powell made what became known as the rivers of blood speech
In his speech he warned that immigration was getting out of hand, and that is it contained unchecked there would be inter-racial violence
“In this country in 15 or 20 year’s time the black man will have the whip hand over the white man… we must be mad, literally mad, to permit the annual inflow of some 50,000 dependants. It is like watching a national heaping up its own funeral pyre… as it loom ahead… like the roman,,, i see ‘the River Tiber foaming with much blood’

The Conservative Party leader, Edward Heath, sacked Powell from show cabinet
Powell never held a senior government Position again
Among the British public, however, there was considerable support for Powell
A petition agasint his sacking gathered over 30,000 signatures
Opinion polls suggested that 75% of British public agree with his speech

Question 27

Women

Question 28

Interwar year political advancements

Answer 28

1918 ROPTA - vote extended to women over the age of 30
1928 extended to all women - after various campaigners (like the NUSEC) put pressures on MPs (NUSEC organised demonstration in Hyde Park in 1926 - 3000 attended)
ROPA led to little political advancement
- 1918 election only 17 women stood as candidates only only 1, Countess Constance Markievicz, won
- highest number of female MPs was 15 in 1931
Women’s groups became split over feminist issues (equality with men on men’s terms of equal valuation of female role?) and membership fell in 30s
This was because parties didn’t want to risk a female candidate in a safe-seat (reflects ingrained sexism and male bias in society)
Women contributes to 1922 Criminal Law and 1923 Bastardy Act

Question 29

New job opportunities after WW2

Answer 29

More jobs due to WW2
- jobs in traditional male work (replacing men fighting the war)
- Queen Elizabeth worked as a car mechanic
- percentage of women who worked as engineers, in transport or the chemical industry rose form 14% in 1939 to 33% in 1945
WW2 triggers desired and apriations beyond the home
- 1950 Manchester guardian 50% of housewives’ report being bored
Some women forced out of work after WW2 but chnage is permantemt than WW1
- 1951 1/4 married women worked, by 1971 1/2 did
More semi-skilled and unskilled jobs due to shifts in labour market
- easier for women to work
- 1965, 60% of working women do unskilled work

Question 30

Post war political representation

Answer 30

Little representation in Parliament
- only 23 female MPs in 1974
Female MPs often expectionally talented due to having overcome large op[postion to get in parliaments
Barbra Castle - equality pay act

Question 31

Welfare state

Answer 31

Family allowance act - Eleanor rate one insured payments went mother
NHS - free healthcare for women (who had previously been last in line for healthcare - 1911 Insurance act insured workers but not their wives)
1961 pill introduced - made available on NHS in 1967, 1 million using by 1967, gave women greater control and sexual freedom
Improved midwifery - detah during brith fall from 1 per 1000 in 1945 to 0.18 per 1000 in 1963
However, 1946 national insurance act classed non-working wives as dependants, they coudln’t claim unemployment benefits

Question 32

Liberal legislation

Answer 32

1967 abortion act - women can access abortions but debate focused n dangers of back stress abortions (caused 40 deaths in 1966) rather than women’s rights
1969 divorce reform act - made divorce easier, no longer necessary to prove fault in the marriage, can divorce after 2w years due to irreconcilable differences or 5 if only one party wants divorce
Rate of divorce increases from 3 in 1000 marriages in 1965 to 10 in 1000 marriages by 1976