Transformation + Change 1939-64 Flashcards
what was labours manifesto 1945?
JEHHI
- jobs for all -> Bank of England under public ownership, taxation less on lower income groups
- education + recreation -> raise leaving age to 16
- housing + building programme
- health of nation + its children -> NHS
- industry in the service of the nation -> public ownership of fuel + power industry
what service did NHS replace?
charity + voluntary run hospitals
what did doctors think of NHS?
socialist tyranny
who came to power in 1951?
Churchill
who led labour to victory at end of war?
Attlee by landslide victory
what were the 5 evils of beveridge report?
want, disease, idealness, ignorance, squalor
what was the ‘great squatting revolt’?
people seized any shelter they could
+ impact of education reform
twice as many children remained in full time education to the age of 17 in 1955 than in 51’
criticism of butler act
- objections to principle of making life changing decision at age of 11
- quality of education was inconsistent across England
- upper + middle classes could afford to get tutoring for the 11+ test
- higher quality staff may prefer to work at grammar Schools so meant education continued to be split after this test
- far more difficult for secondary modern pupils to be accepted to university or to join white collar professions
- it created de motivation amongst secondary modern students as they had already failed at the age of 11
- grammar schools were the only route to university education for those who couldn’t afford yet most places taken by those who could afford it
the NHS
became 3rd most employed in the world, by 1950s there had been significant reduction in deaths + TB
although it cost £400 million in first year alone
prescription charges for dentistry + glasses bought in
what happened to labour seats 1945, 50, 51
decreased
393, 315, 295
who won the election of 1951?
Cons. they had less votes by 0.8% but they had more seats
if proportional representation was used in 1951 who would have won?
Labour
what factor influenced the election of 1951
the liberals, they had exhausted their funds and could only put up 109 candidates
they had much less support and candidate less liberals chose to vote cons rather than labour
Why did the conservatives lose the election of 1945?
conservative weaknesses vs labour strengths
- leadership
- election campaign
- policies
- electoral issues
election of 1945
leadership - lab strenghts
- Attlee calm + statesmanlike
- Lab coalition ministers during the war (Bevin, Morrison) tended to be responsible for domestic matters + encourage belief that a Lab gov would be run sensibly
election of 1945
leadership - con weakness
- Churchill failed to focus on post war reconstruction, he was too preoccupied w restoring the British empire and was out of step with the wishes of the people.
- Many working class opposed him + remembered his role of general strike + remained angered by the depression in 1930s
election of 1945
election campaign - lab strengths
- Armed forces voted heavily in favour
- Manifesto titled ‘lets face the future’ contrast to tories looking into past
- Candidates stressed better life under labour
election of 1945
election campaign - con weakness
- Based on Churchill’s war time leadership, was not understood that public wanted fresh approach in peacetime
- Focused on slogan eg “lets win the war first”
- Lack of co-ordination of 1945 election campaign + lacked central direction + carefully composed policies
- They only spent £3000 on campaign compared to £30,000 in 1935
- Organisation had declined during war. By 1945. 170 agents + 30 woman organisers were engaged in war work
election of 1945
polices - lab strength
- Blamed cons for appeasement + unpreparedness -> won support of no. of intellectuals eg Gaitskell, helped to ensure party had carefully thought out proposals
- Adopted welfare reforms outlined in Beveridge report, 86% of pop. In favour of report, labours commitment to implement = popular as working class said ‘they earned the right’
- From summer of 1940 rationing, economic controls + mobilisation of labour all became acceptable, use of state power was seen by electorate as something that could make life fairer + improve conditions for poorest
- Many middle-class families were shocked at poverty of evacuees + became convinced for greater need of state intervention
election of 1945
polices - con weakness
- Criticised for pre-war appeasement policy “not Churchill who lost the 1945 election, the host of Neville Chamberlain”
- Failed to create welfare reforms which responded to public mood, problems of policy fundamental to cons defeat
- Split in party between pro + anti welfare reformers
- Associated with failure to rearm w appeasement + unemployment from 1930s
electoral issues
- Cons electorally damaged by war time ‘electoral truce’
- Lab benefitted from electoral system, received 48% of the voters but 2/3 of the seats
To what extent was Churchill a successful wartime leader?
success vs failure
- military strategy
- national leadership
Churchill
military strategy successes
- War at sea, convoy system + sinking of the Bismarck
- Got involved in all aspects of military strategy ensuring generals were always in control of their instructions
- Dunkirk -> lord Halifax wanted to surrender but took Churchill took a risk and Churchill managed to evacuate lots of soldiers
- Battle of Britain -> Churchill’s leadership was key -> excellent use of radar system -> Hitler called off
- D day 1944 very successful, cooperation with American to land on normandy, over 3 mill troops landed -> liberation of Paris
- Churchill worked closely with F D Roosevelt, President of the USA, to bring American money and support at first, especially through the lend lease arrangements, and then as Allies from December 1941.
Churchill
military strategy failure
- Success of battle of br mainly due to Hitler mistakes
- Churchills decision to intervene in Greece was a mistake 36,000 troops killed
- Carpet bombing (eg Dresden) was heavily criticised by civilians, 50,000 German civilians killed on one night in Feb 1945, affected their oil supplies -> important supply between western and eastern front
- By summer 1940 Br fighting alone
- Churchill underestimated Japan, they took Hong Kong, captured airfield in Malaya
- wasn’t skilful just lucky
churchill
national leadership successes
- War cabinet used talents across all 3 parties
- He delegated key decisions to home front
- Appeared strong leader who stood up for Br interests
- Able to boost morale + his will to win. Inspiring orator ‘ we shall never surrender’, ‘blood, toil, tears + sweat’
- ‘Dunkirk spirit’ boosted morale
- Passing of emergency powers act in 1940 indicated strength of Churchill administration
churchill
national leadership failure
- Aug 1942, discussion of replacing Churchill ‘Winston has had his day’
- Sometimes seen as a meddler among civil servants
- Chamberlain remained more popular amongst his party
- Churchill unpopular w cons colleagues
“The Labour welfare reforms of 1945-50 successfully tackled the ‘5 evils’ set out in the Beveridge Report. How valid is this judgement?”
want squalor idleness ignorance disease
want
old age, sickness, injury at work + employment = main causes of poverty
- the National insurance Act 1946: financial protection sick during work time -> received 26 shillings a week, pensions to women from 60 and men at 65, gave grants for maternity + death BUT it did not provide for those who did not work, most pensions were not enough to live on
- in 1948 the National assistance Act focused on those who were unemployed + elderly people who had not paid into the National insurance during their lives BUT to qualify for this you had to pass the means test depended on the amount of money or values possessed = restricting the amount of people who received these finances + many elderly people were reluctant to apply for this assistance -> a stigma attached to it
Squalor
1/3 of all British houses were in need of repair and renovation
- the gov built prefabricated houses which = quick fit for those desperately in need. Plans for 12 new towns were put forward under the New Towns Act of 1946 to try create towns that were healthy and pleasant to live unlike the majority at this time BUT the 1951 census revealed that there was the same amount of homelessness that there had been in 1931 which was only 2 years after the Depression, so this number is likely to be high
- In total the government had built 750,000 fewer houses than required showing there was still a high demand for housing
Idleness
lack of jobs and the inability to gain employment, this was important as the government wanted to avoid the problems that they face in the 1920s-30
- nationalise industries to run them for the benefit of the country rather than private owners. Eg steel, iron, coal, electricity, and railways BUT for some industries nationalisation didn’t work and they had to be de nationalised eg Iron and Steel
- for those industries that the government didn’t take over but were unprofitable they were given money by the government in order to avoid job losses
ignorance
the lack of education within the country
- the Education Act of 1944 (Butlers Act), the main idea was equality of opportunity. It was made legal that all local authorities had to provide primary, secondary, and further education -> an exam at 11 which determined which school they would go to. options = were grammar, secondary modern and technical college BUT the reality of taking a test at 11 which would determine your future = very unfair as likely upper and middle classes would have paid for a tutor to get ahead of those working-class children + likely that those teachers of better quality and teaching would have ended up working at grammar schools and those of less ability at secondary moderns therefore showing already it was not equal from the offset
- leaving age raised to 15
Disease
inadequate health provision that Britain had experienced before the introduction of the NHS in which healthcare had to be paid for and many did not qualify such as wives and families
- National Health Service Act of 1948 offered free healthcare at the point of need, everybody was entitled GPs, specialists, dentists, spectacles etc. Patients had queued up for the treatments that they were never able to afford, and prescription had increased from 5 million a month to 13.5 million in September 1948 BUT the NHS had proved a massive cost and by 1950 it was costing the government £358 million this meant they had to back track with some of their free services, this being spectacles and dental treatment
- Third biggest employer in the world, positive impact on working classes
- By 1950s significant reduction in deaths form TB, pneumonia and more
- NHS was universal access, met all demands, no patient to pay for nay treatment
- 8,000,000 dental patients treated
Why did the conservatives win the election of 1951?
cons strengths vs lab weakness
- leadership
- party policy
- organisation + campaign
election of 1951
leadership
cons vs lab
Cons.
- Churchill still a popular fig + could be star performer despite being 76
- Contained men of recognised political weight eg Eden on FP issues, Macmillan
Lab.
- Avg age around 60 would have been higher without Wilson, stress + heavyweight = health problems
