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Summary AQA History A-level topic summaries
Modern Britain, AQA History A-level, topic summary for easy revision, topics 1,4,5,6,7,8,14,15,17,22
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Chapter 1 revision – conservative governmentsKey chronology of this topic
1951 –
Election, Churchill becomes PM for the second time. End of Atlee era
‘Bevanite quarrel’ (movement and ideology of the left for Bevanites which divided
the party) leads to split in Labour party
1955
Churchill retires from political life – Anthony Eden becomes PM
1956
Suez crises
1957
Eden resigns and Macmillan begins his term as PM
1963
Britain’s EEC application rejected
Macmillan resigns and replaced by Sir Alec Douglas-Home
1964
Home loses 1964 Election to Harold Wilson. 13 years of conservative dominance
comes to an end
Intro –
1951 election won by Churchill vs Clement Atlee
Aided by the first-past-the-post system
Had power until ‘64
Policies of Tory party 51-64 were very the same as Labour policies 45-51 (POST WAR
CONSENSUS)
Leaders for Conservative party explaining dominance
1951
Winston Churchill
Seats – 321
Vote – 48%
Clement Atlee
Seats – 295
Vote – 48.8%
(First past the post meant he lost)
Clement Davies (Liberal)
Seats – 6
Vote – 2.5%
Intro
, Atlee called for an Election in 1951 because of the ‘Bevanite quarrel’ in his party
regarding issue of prescription charges
Split between Aneurin Bevan and Hugh Gaitskell was disastrous for Labour, as well
as pro-tory press helped the conservative party back into office
Many regarded Churchill as a spent force in politics and a swift turn back to Labour,
but this didn’t happen
Churchill as political leader
Famous WWII from 1940-45
However…
By 1951 he was 77 and not the force he once was. He suffered a stroke in 1953 that
was kept secret
Churchill’s priorities were as international statesmen, he was adamant he had to
keep international peace
He was above day-to-day politics and delegated work to Anthony Eden (foreign
secretary), Rab Butler (Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Harold Macmillan (housing
secretary)
There were internal tensions – particularly with Eden and Churchill as Eden grew
ever more impatient to replace his mentor by 1955
Goals
Churchill aimed for consensus with these appointments – Butler was a good
example of a ‘one nation’ tory who got on well with both parliament and trade unions
Eden as political leader
1955
Anthony Eden
Seats – 345 (up 23)
Vote – 49.7 (up 1.7)
Clement Atlee
Seats – 258 (down 19)
Vote – 43.8 (down 2.6)
The election of 1955
Eden took over viewed as the ‘heir’. The 1955 election increased majority from 17 to
60 seat. His major cabinet shift was to make Macmillan foreign secretary – a move
regretted by Eden who soon tried to move him to the treasury
Eden lack of experience in domestic policies showed – he was ill-suited to the
demands of economic policy. He was also criticised by the right for being too close to the
unions
Eden was particularly at fault for the Suez Crises 1956, which will be discussed later
Pressure post-Suez from US exposed Britain’s financial weakness and reliance on
US
Eden never recovered and resigned in Jan 1957
,Macmillan as Political leader
Harold Macmillan
Seats – 365 (up 20)
Votes – 49.4% (down .3)
Hugh Gaitskell
Seats – 258 (down 19)
Votes – 43.8% (down 2.6)
Jo Grimond
Seats – 6
Votes – 5.9% (up 3.2)
Leader
Macmillan emerged as a replacement, popular in the part and remembered as an
anti-appeaser in the 30s
His main rival was Butler who was linked with the appeasement policies of Neville
chamberlain (Nazis)
Macmillan restored party unity and economic prosperity gained approval from the
voters. 1959 election gave ‘supermac’ a comfortable victory increasing majority to 100
seats
Labour continued to be spit with internal division, ‘affluence’ was on the increase,
Macmillan enjoyed media relations and was an engaging personality
Domestic Policies à explaining conservative dominance
1. Post War Consensus
Not changing any of the labour government’s administrations
Butskellism (Gaitskell and Butler) in each party
Belief in ‘mixed economy’
2. The theory
, Mixed economy: both government an private businesses important
Support from NHS and welfare system
Full employment
Working in partnership with trade unions and employees
3. In practice
Housing, House-building program by Macmillan, successful pledge of 300,000
houses a year by 1953
Social reform, welfare and NHS continue to be funded
Acceptance of new acts; Clean air act 1956; factory act 1956; homicide act 1957;
Wolfenden report 1957
Positive report, Wolfenden commission recommended legalising homosexuality
Education Act 1944 continued (can be seen as unfair)
Industry policies, nationalised industries: only steel and iron were denationalised in
1953
Pacified attitude to trade unions
Labour division à explaining conservative success
Bevan (left) vs Gaitskell (right)
1. Prescription charges
Left wanted NHS to be free
Right wanted to introduce charges to respond to financial pressures
Increased divisions between Bevan and Gaitskell
2. Clause IV, the clause in the Labour constitution that committed it to public
ownership of industries
Left were supportive of nationalisation
Right increasingly saw as an option, not the only choice
Trade unions were concerned that Labour might abandon Clause IV, Gaitskell tried to amend it at
the 1959 conference but backed down after opposition form the left
Split between Bevan (left) and Gaitskell (right)
Bevan
Wanted the party to maintain socialist traditions
Increase support and affiliation to the trade unions – especially Frank Cousins and
the Transport and General Workers Union
Many on the left joined the CND, though not Bevan!
Gaitskell
Promotion of moderate, popular policies with the aim of winning election and
breaking tory domination
Preserving the post war consensus and the Atlee legacy
1959, Gaitskell proposed removal of Clause IV (committed the party to full
nationalisation)
Gaitskell sought a political breakthrough in the 1959 election but lost to Macmillan
Gaitskell ferociously rejected unilateral disarmament at the Scarborough conference
in 1960
3. Nuclear weapons
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