(Class & Values) Class, social change and impact of the wars, 1918-51 Flashcards
Context - what were the 4 prominent class groups?
Industrial working class
Lower middle class
Upper middle class
Upper class
Context - what characterised the industrial working class?
2
Manual labourers or skilled craftsmen in factories etc.
Mostly live in tight-knit communities.
Context - what characterised the lower middle class?
2
Workers in semi-skilled clerical jobs, eg small businesses.
Tended to own their own homes.
Context - what characterised the upper middle class?
Professionals, eg doctors.
They did highly specialised/specific tasks.
Context - what characterised the upper class?
Families who inherited wealth, land & titles, often represented in the house of lords.
Naturally supporters of tories.
Many senior army officers from WW1 were of this background, as well as ministers in Asquith’s and GLD’s cabinets.
WW1 impact - what were the 3 main impacts of WW1 on class?
Some decline in deference
Decline in upper classes
Greater equality
WW1 impact - explain the decline in deference as an impact of WW1 on class.
(2)
High death toll shook confidence of WC towards UC generals.
Life in trenches increased interactions between WC & MC men.
WW1 impact - explain the decline in upper classes as an impact of WW1 on class.
(2)
High death toll meant many families had to pay death duties for those killed; sons had to sell land or homes to pay.
Many couldn’t afford to pay for their homes so sold them to the National Trust or became schools or hotels - others fell into disrepair.
WW1 impact - explain the greater equality as an impact of WW1 on class.
ROPA, 1918.
People in work improved living standards and even in the Depression, prices fell faster than wages. Therefore, people felt more equal; they had surplus income and could aspire to more.
DLG’s commitment for a ‘land fit for heroes’ was never fully achieved but made improvements.
WW1 impact - give evidence of DLG’s ‘land fit for heroes’ being effective in creating equality.
Improved long-term living standards - construction of houses for owners grew by 750,000 in early 1920s to 3.25 million by 1938.
Context - what was feared in the interwar years?
Revolt due to Russian Revolutions in 1917 and the growing power of industrial working class.
Context - what was rare in the interwar years?
Class conflict; strikes declined mid-late 20s and Conservative party attracted voters from across the class spectrum.
Context - what happened as a result of the experience of the Depression in the interwar years?
Working-class solidarity was undermined - union membership declined as a result of unemployment.
Briefly summarise the class system & society between 1918-1939.
It didn’t change as drastically as the years following WW2.
Impact of WW2 + Attlee - there was a sense of _______ ________ and the government ________ all sections of _______.
a) shared
b) hardship
c) mobilised
d) society
Impact of WW2 + Attlee - what may have created a sense of shared hardship within society?
(2)
The Blitz
Rationing
Impact of WW2 + Attlee - what did many aspire to after the war? Why?
What exemplified this?
A more integrated and egalitarian society, largely inspired by the hardships of the 1930s and exacerbated by the 1942 Beveridge Report.
Exemplified by Attlee’s labour government in 1945 that committed to wholesale reform.
Impact of WW2 + Attlee - what did the class system look like by 1951? Give an example.
It was largely still intact.
There was no attempt from Attlee’s government to abolish private schools.
Impact of WW2 + Attlee - what was there a greater emphasis on?
Greater equality of opportunity and state support, as opposed to total class equality that might be expected a socialist government.
Trade Unionism - how did TU membership change?
4.3 million in 1915 to 8.3 million in 1918
Trade Unionism - what did trade unionism suffer in the interwar years?
A loss of membership but gained power after WW2.
Trade Unionism - what was the purpose of Trade Unions?
To protect the wages and rights of the working class - but only those with jobs.
This aided the rise of the labour party.
Context - why didn't much of the working-class fight in WW1? Give evidence.
Poor health and certain jobs were ‘reserved occupations’, eg coal miners.
31.3% of men were classed as too ill for combat in 1918.
WW1 impact - what was the impact of rationing on the working-class?
Give evidence.
Improved their health.
Average life expectancy rose by 7 years between 1911-1921.