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27 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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what was the Atlee legacy ? |
-Welfare state -Nationalisation -Indian Independence -NATO -Nuclear Power -Housing |
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What were some key achievements of Atlee's government? |
- Large scale nationalisation, gov ownership of coal and bank of England 1946, iron and steel 1949 -Granted India Independence 1947 -Key role in founding of NATO -B became a nuclear power in world affairs -House building program with a mil new homes -NHS created - Exports increased causing a trade surplus - pensions introduced |
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what were some of the failures of the Atlee government ? |
-Party divisions became apparent - B resigning over NHS prescription charges
-party of tax and rationing -Technical and secondary schools neglected -loss of economic control- 1947 loan from US ran out -Clause IV still need to be changed -Nationalised unprofitable industries -Should have voices on investment in industry rather than welfare |
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what was the Beveridge report and why was it important ? |
-Report from 1942 on social provision led by William Beveridge -5 evils in society; need to be defeated - laid the foundations for the Welfare State including NHS, pensions and different benefits |
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Why did the conservatives win the 1951 election? |
- Atlee government Worn down, heavy economic and financial difficulties coupled with serious divisions in the party over introduction of prescription costs and nuclear weapons - in response to economic problems (wartime debts, declining exports, dollar gap etc ) A gov rationed essential items, introduced financial controls, wage fezzes and devalued the £ > the party of rationing and high taxation. Industrial concerns; TU resentment at Labours policies + their slowness to respond to workers demands Entry in 1950 Korean War; aggravated splits in the party Bevanite Rebellion 1951; Bevan and other ministers resign from cabinet ( death knell of Atlees government) Conservative recovery of morale; reorganised their party under Lord Woollen, + Rab B began to bring new ideas and confidence to the party Used the nationalisation issue to give them a cause to rally around and attack L gov |
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Why did conservatives win the 1955 election?
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-Butler; give away budget= middle class with £134 million tax cuts -Affluence; "feel good factor" most voters were happy with their rising living standards. - -Eden called the election immediately after Churchill retired, relaxed and low key election -Support of national press and media -No opposition; continued splits within Labour (conflict between G and B from 1951 - long running split) NB was not a crushing defeat to L |
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Why did conservatives win the 1959 election |
-Economic prosperity continued to gain approval from the voters
-continuing affluence of the consumer society kept voters content -continuing internal divisions in labour party -disarray -ability to manage changes of leadership without too much blood being split in power struggles -speedy recovery from Suez Crisis- Mac proved himself to be a commanding PM -"Super Mac" had media in palm of his hand - able to call general election at a time of his own choosing when economic situation was very favourable -comfortable and predictable victory = 100 seats |
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Why did Labour win the 1964 election? |
- C faced economic problems; overheat economy and balance of payments -Run of events 1962-3 e,g Profumo affair, Vassall affair, spy scandals -government embarrassed by ECC rejection -power vacuum after resignation of Mac -sense of growing impatience with the old "establishment" and desire for generational change> private eye and the week that was -public less satisfied with affluence> more critical of gov. -Increased support for Labour; Wilson a strong campaigner compared to Douglas Home -Split between G and B over- key personalities dead -L exploited public mood; time for a change "13 years of Torie misrule" -Liberal Revival 2.5% vote post war era >11.2%vote in 1964 |
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important of "events" in Labour success ? |
k |
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Suez Crisis and its political impact |
-Turning point for Brains illusions of imperial power - big impact on foreign affairs -pressure from US had exposed B financial weakness and started a run on the pound -Political crisis; only for Eden, came under heavy attack from national press + his prestige was bad tarnished after lying to the house of commons by denying his collusions with France and Israel - Whilst Eden never recovered from Suez, the Conservative party recovered with remarkable speed ( Eden refined 1957 due to serious ill health) -Harold MacMillan emerged as PM and party unity was restored without lasting splits -Hung over FP like a dark cloud for the next 50 years but hardly made a dent on Conservative political dominance at home |
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Why did the Conservatives dominate after 1951? |
1. Labour disunity 2. Conservative personalities 3. Incumbency factor |
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key achievements of the conservatives in power from 1951 to 1964 |
-unemployment down to 1% -global economic recovery -end of rationing -post war political consensus - churchill's government kept popular Labour reforms -council houses lead to an increase in quality of life -income tax decreased by £300 million -wages increased by 72% retail prices by 45% -demand for luxury good increased ; ownership go TVs quadrupled -home ownership doubled due to increased job security (51-63) |
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achievements vs failures Hennessey vs |
Hennessy; Golden age did exist and progress was made -living standards rose steadily -rate of economic growth was consistently higher than it has been in 1900-1939 -unemployment 2% - year by year more prosperous and equal -comparisons with other countries are misleading (Germany and Japan) |
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Key failures of the conservatives in power from 1951-64 |
churchill's foreign policy lacked direction- USA took lead -Macs gov invested little in industry -Foreign policy failures - Suez Crisis, EEC -Dependency of USA for nuclear weapons -sluggish economic growth -bad industrial relations -clique selecting leaders -resisted new ideas -breaking apart empire into Commonwealth? -night of long knives/ Profumo scandal -poverty still affected millions of families - more interested in short term electoral gains than industrial regeneration |
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post war consensus |
-also known as Butskellism -idea that main political parties deviated very little from each other on policy areas -consensus of policies |
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why was there consensus? |
-legacy of national unity -Big government -Full unemployment -Importance of trade unions -Welfare State Conservative majority was slender in Parliament -Mixed Economy |
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who were the bevanites? |
-led by Anerurin Bevan -left wing on the Labour party - wanted to stay committed to socialism - did not want to abandon all this to the USSR - wanted unilateral disarmament |
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who were the Gaitskellites? |
-Right wing of Labour party -reform the party, believed in mixed economy -wanted to abandon clause VI -wanted to allow west Germany into NATO -did not want unilateral disarmament |
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What did Gaitskell do with Clause VI and did it succeed? |
Wanted to get rid of clause IV and called party to vote on it, however it was abandoned due to concerns of losing vote |
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What did Gaitskell want to do with Labour party's policy on unilateralism and did it succeed? |
1960: party voted for unilateralism 1961: Gaitskell won vote to reverse decision |
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what were the internal disputes in Labour about? |
-disputes first began when Gaitskell introduced prescription charges in Bevan's NHS to help fund the Korean war> Bevan resigned -Spilts widened in 1959 due to growing opposition from trade unions ( beginning to challenge L leadership) and disagreement of unilateral disarmament - essentially became ideolgical disputes between G and B and the different positions they took on unilateralism and clause VI - - long running split -disputes- party look in disarray/ not in control |
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who were the prime ministers in this period and when were they in power |
Winston Churchill; 1951-55 Anthony Eden; 1955-1957 Harold Macmillan;1957-63 Anthony Douglas Home ;1963-64 |
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Who were the leaders of the labour party during this period |
LABOUR Clement Atlee 1935-1955 Hugh Gaitskell 1955-1963 Harold Wilson 1963-64 |
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Why did Macmillan's whole treasury team resign in 1958? |
Peter Thorneycroft and his treasury team (Enoch Powell and Nigel Birch) resigned when Macmillan over ruled them on the need for public spending cuts |
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What was the Knight of Long Knives?** date |
-Cabinet reshuffle -7 minsters sacked -intention rejuvenate the government in reality it weakened it -out of touch and clumsy - damage was not fatal |
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Whats was the Profumo Scandal and why did it hurt Macmillan and the Conservatives? |
what: John Profumo lied to the House of Commons about sleeping with Christine Keeler who was also sleeping with a Russian spy - controversy; worry of pillow talk between Minister of defence and Keller sig; Profumo denied at first- and Mac supported him' by lying to the House it made Mac look incompetent after his support |
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In what ways did people prefer Harold Wilson to Alec Douglas Home ** |
-Wilson pushed for modernisation, technological future "The White Heat of Technology" -Wilson seen as more in touch/ not part of the establishment -W presented himself better in the media than H |
