1A - A Changing Political Landscape 1918-1945

Question 1

How much did GB owe in war debts and who to?

Answer 1

£3.2 billion owed to the USA

Question 2

What did the Liberal Party stand for in 1918?

Answer 2

Believed in free trade and a limited role for government
Party of social reform
E.G 1906: implemented state pensions, unemployment relief and the beginnings of state provided healthcare

Question 3

Which party had dominated politics prior to WW1 and what issues did they face?

Answer 3

The liberal party and they faced issues over the Home Rule, the women’s suffrage movement and a militant TU movement

Question 4

Why were the Liberals divided after WW1?

Answer 4

Disagreement over state intervention and the issue of conscription
Liberal DLG headed the Conservative Coalition and they felt he was more like a Conservative
1918 election, independent Liberals stood against DLG

Question 5

What did the Labour Party stand for in 1918?

Answer 5

Closely tied to unions as they evolved from TUC

Unions thought could advance working men’s pay and conditions via getting union backed MPs into parliament

Question 6

How had the Labour Party grown between 1906-1918?

Answer 6

1906: 1,000,000 members, 29 MPs in parliament
1910: 40 MPs
1918: Increase in members

Question 7

Why did the Labour Party grow between 1906-1918?

Answer 7

1911 easier for WC politicians to be elected as they were allowed wages for MPs
ROTP 1918 allowed the electorate to X3 from 7.7 million voters to 21.4 million

Question 8

What did the Conservative Party stand for in 1918?

Answer 8

Associated with the landed gentry
Electoral reform forced the party to change and attract new supporters
Party of the MC and of the WC who wanted to better themselves through property ownership

Question 9

How did DLG cause immediate decline

Answer 9

June 1922 - Scandal - DLG sold 1500 knighthoods and 100 peerages. Some sold to newspaper reporters so they wouldn’t cover the story.
Decided to go to war with Turkey

Question 10

How was DLG seen after WW1?

Answer 10

A national hero, known as the man who won the war. Humble background: grew up in North Wales and was an enemy of privilege and no friend of the House of Lords.

Question 11

How did the Liberal/Conservative coalition do in the 1918 election?

Answer 11

Won by a landslide victory but Tories were more popular: won 3X as many votes.

Question 12

When was the first Labour government and was it a minority or a majority?

Answer 12

The first Labour government was in 1924 led by Ramsay MacDonald. It was a minority government.

Question 13

How did Tory newspapers try and blacken the name of labour in the 1920s?

Answer 13

By comparing Labour with the Soviets suggesting that they had Soviet sympathisers in cabinet.

Question 14

What was Labour’s biggest issue?

Answer 14

Strained relations with the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party due to the economic climate forcing RMD to make harsh decisions

Question 15

Did RMD impose reforms in his 1924 gov?

Answer 15

Passed acts like the Housing Act 1924: increased the money available to build homes for low income earners.

Question 16

Why didn’t RMD impose many reforms?

Answer 16

Minority gov, only lasted for 9 months, poor economic climate

Question 17

Why did the RMD gov collapse?

Answer 17

motion of no confidence - forced to resign
RMD accused of communist sympathies due to not charging a newspaper writer - John Ross Campbell for producing communist propaganda

Question 18

How did the Daily Mail damage Labour’s election campaign for the GE in 1924?

Answer 18

By publishing a forged letter to the British Communist Party

Question 19

How did the Liberals do in the 1924 election?

Answer 19

The Liberals saw a 12% decline in their votes and a loss of 118 seats

Question 20

Why did the Conservatives do well in the 1924 election?

Answer 20

Disappointed first time Labour voters voted Tory as did Liberal voters as they lost faith in their party.

Question 21

How did SB present the Conservatives in 1924-1929?

Answer 21

Alternative to the Labour party and the threat of socialism in GB
Appeal to all social classes and appear moderate
Believed a class war occurred under MacDonald
Discouraged the Conservatives from attacking Labour as agents of the USSR

Question 22

Why did RMD return to power in 1929?

Answer 22

SB held a GE and had the largest share of the votes but not a majority

Question 23

Why was RMD more able to pass social reforms in his 1929 term still without a majority?

Answer 23

He was dependent on the Liberals whom he had a good relationship with

Question 24

What reforms did RMD pass in his 1929 term?

Answer 24

1930 Housing Act - cleared ¾ of slum houses and replaced them with modern houses by 1939
Coal Mines Act 1930 - better pay for workers and more efficienct pits, but mine owners could ignore it
Unemployment Insurance Act - created public work schemes to alleviate unemployment

Question 25

What economic problems were there by 1931?

Answer 25

Rumours of an unbalanced budget= need for borrowing Banks sold the pound in panic = slumped in value.
To reassure banks gov promised tax hikes and 10% cut in unemployment assistance.

Question 26

What was the consequence of RMD’s response to economic problems in 1931?

Answer 26

Split the labour cabinet causing RMD to resign. RMD formed a Nat Gov - him and his chancellor of the exchequer were viewed as traitors to the Labour party.

Question 27

How did the NG do in the 1931 election?

Answer 27

NG won by a huge majority but the Tories had the most seats - RMD was still prime minister but only a figurehead
Labour’s share of the votes fell

Question 28

How was RMD’s premiership defined in 1931-1935?

Answer 28

Dominated by the Great Depression
Some attempts were made to rearm
Situation in Europe became increasingly threatening
Fascism at home

Question 29

What economic policies did RMD put in place?

Answer 29

Public sector pay cuts of 10%
Tariffs imposed
1933 - the end of the Gold Standard and low interest rates = economic recovery = popular NG

Question 30

What happened to the Labour Party in the 1930s?

Answer 30

Reorganised itself at the starts of the 1930s. Official opposition to the gov. Clement Attlee gained them 154 seats at 1935 GE. Labour votes rapidly recovering.

Question 31

How did extreme political ideas grow in the 1930s?

Answer 31

1934 - British Union of Fascists had 50,000 members
1934 - Communist Party of Great Britain had 9000 members - although partly due to high unemployment
Intellectuals visited the Soviet Union believing in Communism

Question 32

What sparked debate over rearmament in 1933?

Answer 32

Adolf Hitler appointed as chancellor

Question 33

How did people show they were against rearming?

Answer 33

Many people joined organisations like the Peace Pledge Union and the League of Nations Union that supported peaceful resolution to conflicts.

Question 34

How did GB rearm in 1934?

Answer 34

RAF increased to 40 squadrons
British Army reorganised
Royal Navy expanded
Munitions industry was developed in partnership with private capital

Question 35

Why did SB replace RMD and what did he pledge?

Answer 35

RMD was ill, pledged new houses, jobs and gov help for deprived areas of the country, improvement of defense.

Question 36

Why was Labour divided over rearming?

Answer 36

Left believed rearmament increased the chance of war, the centre believed it would make war impossible

Question 37

When did Hitler break the TOV and what consequence did it have?

Answer 37

1936 by reoccupying the Rhineland. Labour opposed imposing economic sanctions on Germany. NG divided over taking action or backing down.

Question 38

What was NC’s premiership characterised by, 1937-1940?

Answer 38

Economic recovery, falling unemployment and stable prices, main issue was opposition to rearm

Question 39

Why was NC replaced after he declared war in 1939?

Answer 39

Faced fury of gov opposition for incomplete handling of the war - narrowly won a vote of no confidence
Attempted to form a new coalition gov but Labour wouldn’t serve under him

Question 40

What happened in Churchill’s premiership, 1940-1945?

Answer 40

Situation deteriorated in France - GB force withdrew from Dunkirk, Germans swept through France
Halifax proposed a negotiated settlement with Germany but WC argued GB would be a ‘slave state’