Churchill’s Victory In 1951 Flashcards
1
Q
Who was Winston Churchill?
A
- Attended Sandhurst military academy and served in the British army in India
- Worked as a journalist in the Boer War (1899) and became a prisoner of war but escaped
- Became Conservative MP in 1900 but became disaffected and switched to Liberals in 1904
- Worked as Home Secretary and first lord of admiralty in liberal government before WW1
- Largely responsible for the Gallipoli disaster and resigned from post
- Rejoined Conservatives in 1924 but Labour were in power
- Voice of wilderness in the 1930s and criticised Chamberlains plan of appeasement
- Became PM in WW2 in 1940
2
Q
How old was Churchill on his return to office?
A
77
Some questioned whether he was too old to be Prime Minister
3
Q
What is a consensus
A
A broad agreement of people from all different backgrounds and opinions on the best way forward for all
4
Q
How did the Attlee legacy and the post war consensus influence Churchill?
A
- New Jerusalem = NHS, Butler Education Act, ‘homes for heroes’, avoided mass unemployment, industrialised key industries, started to return empire back to its own
- Despite losing the election, it was clear buy the popular vote that Attlee’s ideas were popular and post war there was a consensus in rebuilding Britain to achieve a peaceful future
- Both Labour and conservatives agreed this was the way forward
- SO Churchill decided on continue with most of Attlee’s policies
- Conservatives also had a low majority so made it harder to pass laws - post war consensus likely set out
5
Q
What is a Cabinet Government?
A
- PM personally appoints a committee of senior government ministers with expertise in certain areas called ‘Cabinet’
- Each member takes responsibility for running a key government department
- Weekly meetings at Downing Street
- Important issues debated and policies reached
6
Q
What are the posts in Cabinet
A
- Home Secretary - oversees law and order in UK
- Chancellor of the Exchequer - runs economy (taxes, government spending)
- Foreign Secretary - UK’s interests abroad
- Health Secretary - runs NHS
- Education Secretary - runs education policy
- Defence Secretary- runs armed forces
7
Q
Who was in Churchill’s cabinet of 1951?
A
- Realised his age meant he should be more of a father figure to the nation and left day to day running of the country to cabinet
- Consisted of three experiences and capable men to run three big departments
- Rab Butler: Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Anthony Eden: Foreign Secretary
- Harold MacMillan: Minister of Housing
8
Q
Churchill as PM
A
- admitted he was only there as he believed he had a sense of duty to Britain and was back where he thought he belonged
- declining health at 77
- 1949 and 1953 he suffered from stokes that were kept secret from the public and Churchill realised he was not up for the job, happy to play a father figure (“It’s a big job to take on at my age, but there’s no alternative. It’s my deputy”)
- spent much of his time in bed, on holiday or writing his memoirs whilst people said he drank heavily and rambled incoherently
- media were respectful to government so criticised him little (no social media, news channel, TV) so his rule came with little scrutiny- was this a good thing?
9
Q
What is domestic policy?
A
- those within a country
- education, healthcare, industry, law and order, policing, housing
- Home Secretary oversees this but others such as education and business secretary play part
10
Q
What is Foreign policy?
A
- running things in other countries
- wars, the armed forces funding, trade, humanitarian aid
- Foreign Secretary oversees
11
Q
What does the chancellor of the exchequer do?
A
- second most important person in government
- runs economy and decides how much to spend on key projects, how much needs to be raised in taxes
- if ran well there are jobs, affordable prices
- if not, the country can descend into chaos of high unemployment and inflation
12
Q
What does austerity meaning
A
- opposite of prosperity or wealth so means poverty or being poor
- period between 1945 and early 1950s are often referred to ‘Austerity years’
13
Q
Who was Rab Butler
A
- 55 years old
- experienced political heavyweight but inherited a country still reeling from the impact of WW2
- although becoming chancellor at the end of a tricky economic period, he was lucky to
- by 1951 the worst of war hardships were over - could spend what spare money to get country moving
14
Q
What did Butler do?
A
- gradual end to rationing (confectionery and sugar in 1953 and meat and all foods in 1954)
- whilst rationing had been in place people had built up savings but slowly began to spend so economy slowly recovered
- could have claimed at Attlee’s reforms were unaffordable however, the policies were still popular so it would be political suicide to scrap them
- maintained NHS and new benefits improving welfare such as family allowance
- new secondary schools
- kept nationalised industry EXCEPT in 1953 where iron and steel were denationalised
15
Q
What was the giveaway budget of 1954?
A
- budget: annual statement of spending and taxation plans
- economic recovery was underway
- in 1954, he announced that he was going toi reduce taxes by £134 million per year - ‘giveaway budget’
- however, was it a bribe to win the election in 1955?
