Thematic Themes - Revision Flashcards
1
Q
Class Overview:
A
- Key theme
- Seen by outsiders as being particularly British
- Working class v upper class
- Class boundaries often blurred
- Different sections of same class had different experiences
2
Q
Inter war period and class:
A
- Divided working class in inter war period – hunger marches (Jarrow March 1936)
- Inter war years = general strike 1926 – 9 day strike – 2 million workers went on strike to support miners threatened by wage cuts and longer hours – epitomises class tension and class feeling at the time
- Impoverished working class communities v prosperous working class – employed in new booming industries such as car manufacturing and electricity – take advantage of new degree of spending power and new degrees of leisure power.
3
Q
1950s/60s and class:
Good:
A
- Affluent worker
- Prosperity manifested in spread of television
- Macmillan – many of our people had never had it so good
4
Q
1950s/60s and class:
Bad:
A
- Not everyone benefits
- Rediscovery of poverty in 1960s
- Doubts over welfare state in alleviating poverty
5
Q
1980s and class:
A
- Divided decade
- Parallels to inter war period
- Sawing unemployment – concentrated in geographical areas – particularly in the North
- Attack on the Unions – particularly the NUN
- Thatcher supported middle classes – militant campaigner for middle class interests
- Class divisions polarised
6
Q
Division in working classes in the 1980s:
A
- Working class sections by own council houses
- Support conservative government for prosperity
7
Q
War and class - GOOD:
A
- Historical debate – emphasis of war as catalytic change v change was held back by war
- Movement of population – sparked debates about blurring of class boundaries
- Refugees – WW2, evacuations
- Middle and working class men – fought together
- Middle class and working class lived together – evacuations – shared experiences – more sympathetic – people’s war
- Common unity as had a common enemy
- Mood for change in class
8
Q
War and class - BAD:
A
- Increased contact of classes throughout the war increased class hostility
- Made people more aware of differences
- Myth of the People’s War – romance and stories grow – selective truth rather than being false – reality was that unity wasn’t constant – class tensions didn’t disappear – but if people thought more equal than important in bringing about change
9
Q
Class and Labour:
A
- Shift to Left
- Welfare state
- Elimination of 5 giants
- Following war
10
Q
Gender and War - GOOD:
A
- How far either war impacted gender relationships?
- Was any change lasting or temporary?
- More independence – some women embraced that sense of liberty, community of women they were working with
- More spending money – thus more leisure opportunities e.g. more women smoked and went to the pub
11
Q
Gender and War - BAD:
A
- Some women wanted to get family back to normal following the war
- Gendered experience of women in both wars impacted by age – working class mother more likely to have low paid job and little job satisfaction thus women wanted to not work
- Opportunities changed but not attitudes – status didn’t necessarily change with that
- Many hostile to women’s place in workplace – other women and men who adhered to ideals of separate spheres
- More lasting gains after 1945 than 1918 – more women in work in 1911 than 19
- Second half of century – women in work stopped being primarily young and single e.g. working mother
12
Q
Gender and Family:
A
- Demographic changes – longer life expectancy – smaller percentage of women’s lives spent pregnant – increased contraceptives and legalisation of abortion in 1967 – big impact in young working-class women
13
Q
Gender and Politics:
A
- Women over 30 largest single group to get vote in
- Number of female MPs – female issues present
14
Q
Youth and 1960s - GOOD:
A
- Generational division
- Times during century most important signifier of identity
- Pivotal = experiences of young people
- Teenager = common vocabulary in 1960s, period between childhood and adulthood – stemmed from increasing school leaving age
- Students = essential to 1960s
- Young people more visible after 1945 – assumed new social and economic position – demographically more young people
- Lowered vote to 18
- Liberalisation of sexual morals
15
Q
Youth and 1960s - BAD:
A
- 1960s has mythological status in popular memory
- Liberalisation of sexual attitudes and consumerism = bad and disruptive to society
- Famous scenes of violence e.g. Mods and Rockers in Brighton
- Thatcher – direct reaction to liberalism of the 1960s
