the expansion of the state Flashcards
The fall of Singapore
japans attacks on western positions caught Britain unprepared.
- over 130,000 troops were captured
- destroys idea of racial hierarchy and means it is inevitable that India would fall.
The financial costs of the war
Britain has been bankrupt since 1940.
- £34 billion was spent
- a national debt in 1945 was £21.37 billion.
- loans from America kept Britain fighting well above its national capacity.
- 1944 Bretton Woods agreement- establishment of international monetary fund and World Bank. The dollar would replace the pound as the global standard. Displaying the death of British financial world order. (Stalin believed it would cause a war between Britain and America)
Essential work order
1941.
- Bevin introduced EWO which became law.
- It tied workers to jobs seen as essential for the war effort and prevented employers from sacking workers without permission from the ministry of labour.
- as well as men and women doing paid war work, there were also thousands of part-time volunteers contributing to the war effort.
- Trade Union membership jumped from 6.5 million in 1939 to 8 million by 1945. (Example that you don’t get mass patriotism but a self-interest and self-awareness in the war effort.)
Impact of EWO on the role of women
- early 1941 it became compulsory for women aged 18-60 to register for war work.
- unmarried ‘mobile’ women were given the choice between joining the services or industry.
- pregnant women and those with a child under 14 could not be made to work, but could volunteer.
- British government mobilised civilians more effectively than any other nation, by 194 1/3 of the civilian population were engaged in war work (including 7 million women)
Creating the land army
May 1941: all British women aged 18-60 had to work
1940: 6,000
1941: 14,000
1942: 40,000
1943: 65,000
December 1941- national service act (2) allowing conscription for women
December 1941- minimum wage increases to 38 shillings for 48 hour week
-as a result Britain has no starvation through World War 2
The beverage report- 1941
-aimed to improve post-war Britain
Social insurance and allied services’
-universality and comprehensiveness. The scheme applied to everybody with no means test and just one payment to cover all benefits.
[-attack 5 ‘vice’ want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness]
-‘a momentous document, which should and must exercise a profound and IMMEDIATE INFLUENCE ON THE SOCIAL CHANGE IN BRITAIN’
The Bevin boys
The Bevin boys- changed conscription rules from December 1943 to March 1948. Chosen by lot 10% of all males’ conscripts between 18-25 plus volunteers were sent to mines, instead of military conscription.
- 48,000 Bevin boys in total
- extended into post-war period, taking control of markets, explains why conservatives loose next election because it’s not very conservative.
Planning for end of war
in 1944 believed war would end in 1946
- Minister for reconstruction was appointed- Lord Woolton 1944
- Three government white papers were announced; health, employment and social insurance
Butler education act- 1944.
Butler education act- 1944.
-raised school-leaving age to 15
-established primary, secondary and further education
-secondary schools were split into grammar, technical and modern.
Meant working class could get high quality education for free in grammer schools
11+ exams (aptitude tests)
-ended because belief children got ‘stuck’ if they ended up in modern as 11 was too young to test and people ‘bloom’ later and that employers stereotyped modern vs grammar.
