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Component 2s : The Making of Modern Britain 1951-2007 (40%)
Component 2s : The Making of Modern Britain 1951-2007 (40%)
How was Britain’ made and remade between 1951 and 2007?
How was Britain’ made and remade between 1951 and 2007?
History can often feel like one event after another. It can achieve a kind of boring objectivity to it. But do not fall for this. There is more than scientific objectivity to this.
Let us consider the question of when to begin the story of ‘Modern Britain’. Some Political Historians have delved as far back as 1688, to the eve of the peculiar English system of Parliamentary Sovereignty. Others have told a story that begins with ‘the Victorians’ – telling a tale of modern industrial Britain in which the origins of ‘industrial’ and ‘post-industrial’ Britain can be found in the factories and avowed ideals of Victorian life. Another interpretation still begins at 1945 – with the emergence of Britain and its empire from a global war and a moment of ‘progress’ towards a Welfare State and ‘post-war consensus’.
The moment you decide to begin the story of ‘Modern Britain’ has immense implications for the story you tell. Each of these curtain openers suggests aspects of today’s Britain as its essence – its Parliament, its model of Capitalism or its Welfare State.
But we could just as easily begin our story with the 1905 Alien Act that legalised the borders of Britain, the 1928 Representation of the People Act which created somewhat universal electorate or the creation of the BBC in the aftermath of World War One.
This course decides to begin six years later in 1951, with much of that supposed state and consensus already established. It decides to end in 2007 as Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves the scene. One year before the Global Financial Crisis and three years before the official starting point of a decade of Austerity Britain. 1951 to 2007. The twilight of Churchill to the end of Blair. Make of that what you will. The course seeks to look broadly at the political, economic, social, and diplomatic histories of ‘Modern Britain’ during this period. But this periodisation, inevitably narrows the vision of the past – emphasising certain moments as significant and reducing others to a footnote. It is the work of future historians and students of history to consider the validity of this.
SOURCES
SOURCES
Key links / resources
Key links / resources
Overall summary of Component 1 and of Component 2
Textbooks and Revision Guides :
Textbook 2 (David Dutton & Lucien Jenkins).
Revision Guide 1 (Peter Clements).
Revision Guide 2 ( J M A Hugh).
Practice exam essay questions
Practice exam essay questions
1. To what extent was the British society in 1964 radically different to 1951?
2. How far did growing prosperity bring about social change?
3. ‘Foreign policy failures were due to Britain not realising its position in a post-war world’. Assess the validity of this view between 1951-64.
4. How far was Conservative political dominance in the years 1951 to 1964 due to Labour weaknesses?
5. To what extent was Labour’s 1964 victory due to ‘thirteen years of Tory misrule’?
6. ‘Wilson failed in his aim of modernising Britain in the years 1964 to 1970’ Assess the validity of this view.
7. To what extent was Wilson the architect of his own election defeat in 1970?
8. ‘In the years 1964 to 1979, society in Britain was transformed’. Assess the validity of this view.
9. ‘There had been little progress towards equality for women in society by 1975’. Assess the validity of this view.
10. ‘Britain changed immeasurably in the 1960s through developments outside of parliament rather than in it’. Assess the validity of this view.
11. ‘Britain’s role in the world further diminished between 1964 and 1979’. Assess the validity of this view.
12. To what extent did Britain fail to join the EEC until 1973 because of domestic political reasons?
13. How far were the NUM responsible for the collapse of the Heath Government?
14. ‘The Heath Government failed because of events outside of his control.’ Assess the validity of this view.
15. ‘Labour were more effective than Tories at dealing with Trade Unions in the 1970s.’ Assess the validity of this view.
16. ‘The record of Labour governments in the years 1964 and 1979 was one of continuous failure’. Assess the validity of this view.
17. ‘Callaghan’s poor leadership was crucial in leading the Conservatives to victory in 1979’. Assess the validity of this view.
18. To what extent did Thatcher end the Post-War consensus?
19. ‘The British Economy faced problems of its own making in the 1970s’. Assess the validity of this view.
20. To what extent were the economic crises of the 1970s due to over powerful unions?
21. How important is Harold Wilson’s leadership in explaining the failures of the Labour government from 1964 to 1970?
22. ‘The decline in deference was the most significant social change in the period 1951 to 1964’. Assess the validity of this view.
23. How significant were economic problems in determining the direction of Britain’s foreign policy between 1964 and 1970?
24. ‘Sunningdale failed because of problems in mainland Britain’. Assess the validity of this view.
25. ‘The growth of environmentalism was a reaction to the political and economic problems of the 1970s’. Assess the validity of this view.
26. ‘The “special relationship” with the United States of American broke down in the period 1970 to 1979.’ Assess the validity of this view.
27. To what extent was there a ‘Sixties social revolution’?
28. ‘The Conservative Government’s policies in Northern Ireland between 1979 and 1987 made ‘The Troubles’ worse.’ Assess the validity of this view.
29. To what extent were Thatcherite economic policies different from those followed by previous Conservative governments?
30. How successful were the Conservative government’s handling of industrial disputes in the period 1979 to 1987?
31. ‘The Conservative Party was a pro-European party between 1973 and 1987’. Assess the validity of this view.
32. ‘The Falklands conflict had a greater impact domestically than it had on Britain’s position internationally’. Assess the validity of this view.
33. ‘John Major was an unlucky Prime Minister’. Assess the validity of this view.
34. How significant was Neil Kinnock’s leadership in the development of ‘New Labour’ between 1983 to 1997?
35. How significant was the anti-establishment challenge of 1987 to 1997 to the established order?
36. To what extent was Britain a tolerant, multicultural society in the 1990s?
37. ‘John Major was more successful in foreign affairs than he was in domestic policies’. Assess the validity of this view.
39. How divided was the Conservative Party between 1997 and 2007?
40. ‘The Conservative Party elected the wrong people to lead it between 1997 and 2005’. Assess the validity of this view.
41. To what extent did Britain’s foreign policy between 1997 and 2007 influence the debate about immigration?
42. ‘The Labour Government, 1997-2007, failed to meet its own foreign policy objectives’. Assess the validity of this view.
43. ‘The New Labour Government returned Britain to the centre of Global Politics ’. Assess the validity of this view.
44. ‘Maintaining the “special relationship” was the most significant influence on the direction of British foreign policy in the period 1997 to 2007.’ Assess the validity of this view.
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