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History A-level essay - ‘The decline in deference was the most significant social change in the period 1951 to 1964’. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.£8.99
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History A-level essay - ‘The decline in deference was the most significant social change in the period 1951 to 1964’. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
Grade A History A-level essay (Making of modern Britain module) titled ‘The decline in deference was the most significant social change in the period 1951 to 1964’. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
‘The decline in deference was the most significant social change in the period 1951 to
1964’. Explain why you agree or disagree with this view.
In order to answer the question it is necessary to illustrate how the significance of social
change can be judged which is that the pace and extent of change needs to be evaluated,
how many people were affected needs to be questioned and also the legacy and long lasting
impact of the change needs to be addressed. In terms of the decline of deference which is
yielding to and respecting the authority to people who we recognise as superior such as the
older generation or the law and moral standards, this can be argued to be the most
significant social change as in comparison to other changes such as youth culture,
immigration and the position of women, the extent of this particular change was greater as
the class loyalties and attitudes changed including the CND being challenged, the 1960 satire
boom and the government no longer being able to prevent publications resulting in the
breaking of social taboos.
In agreeing with the statement the decline of deference can be seen as the most significant
social change as erosion of defence is evident in criticisms of the Suez crisis, the CND and
the satire boom. The concerns of the development of nuclear weapons led to the
development of the pressure group CND (1958) and was backed by many intellectuals and
mobilising middle class who wanted to follow a policy of unilateral unclear disarmament.
Furthermore, the Suez crisis exposed the blatant lying on the government’s part. Also there
was a satire boom and TV shows such as ‘that was the week that was’ satirized and
lampooned public figures and also ‘Beyond the Fringe’ stage show. Moreover, the press
coverage of the Profumo affair exposed sexual exploits, which the government had usually
tried to prevent the publication of. It also showed a lack of faith in the establishment who as
the politicians, civil servants, judges and leaders in business were running the country. It can
also be argued that the emergence of teenage culture and therefore rebelliousness and
generation gap can be seen as evidence of a significant social change. In addition to this the
breaking down of taboos such as the novel Lady Chatterley which contained explicit sexual
scenes which was seen as outrageous in this period. However, despite this, there are
limitations to this argument as the establishment was still very visible and evident in this
period and voting is notably based on class loyalties and the class system was still very much
intact. Furthermore, the decline in deference can be argued to be tame in comparison to
what came after this period such as punk and even more biting satire. Although despite this
being clear, it can be more strongly argued that the decline in deference was the most
significant as the extent of the erosion of deference can be observed through a number of
factors such as the satire boom and the CND all resulting in the decline of respecting the
authority to people considered as superior.
It could be argued that… (preview ends)
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