What changed in Britain after 1945?

What changed in Britain after 1945?

Britain built a welfare state, gave independence to most of its colonies, welcomed workers from abroad, and later left the European Union. The story starts in 1945. The country had won the war but was worn out, and people wanted change, so they voted for a Labour government.

What was the welfare state?

The new Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, promised to follow the Beveridge Report. William Beveridge wrote it in 1942, and it said the government should fight five "Giant Evils": Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness.

In 1948 Aneurin (Nye) Bevan, Minister for Health, led the creation of the National Health Service. It gave a minimum standard of health care to everyone, free when you use it. A system of benefits protected people "from the cradle to the grave". The government took the railways, coal mines and gas, water and electricity into public ownership, which is called nationalising.

Education changed too. The Education Act of 1944, often called the Butler Act, brought free secondary education in England and Wales. The split between primary and secondary school that it set up is still in most areas.

Hook: five evils, five answers. Health matches Disease, and schools match Ignorance.

What happened to the Empire?

In 1947 nine countries, including India, Pakistan and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), became independent. Other colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific followed over about 20 years. In his "wind of change" speech, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan spoke about independence for the Empire's countries. The UK also developed its own atomic bomb and joined NATO, an alliance set up against the feared threat from the Soviet Union.

The Conservatives governed from 1951 to 1964, and the 1950s were years of recovery.

Who came to work in Britain?

Rebuilding needed workers. The government invited people from Ireland and other parts of Europe. In 1948 people from the West Indies were invited as well. In the 1950s industries advertised overseas: bus drivers were recruited in the West Indies, and textile and engineering firms sent agents to India and Pakistan. For about 25 years people from the West Indies, India, Pakistan and later Bangladesh came to work and settle.

In the late 1960s new laws limited immigration, and immigrants needed a strong link to Britain through birth or ancestry. Even so, Britain took 28,000 people of Indian origin forced out of Uganda in the early 1970s.

What was different in the 1960s and 1970s?

The 1960s are called the Swinging Sixties, with new fashion, films and music, including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Laws on divorce and abortion were relaxed, and women gained a right to equal pay and protection from unfair treatment because of gender. Britain and France built Concorde.

In the later 1970s the post-war boom ended. Prices rose, strikes hit many industries, and people argued the unions were too strong. In Northern Ireland, the Parliament was suspended in 1972 and the UK ruled directly. About 3,000 people died in the violence in the decades after 1969.

Who led from 1979?

Margaret Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister in 1979 and served until 1990, the longest in the 20th century. Her government sold off nationalised industries and limited trade union powers. The City of London grew as a world centre for finance, while shipbuilding and coal mining declined. In 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands and a naval force took them back. John Major followed her and helped the Northern Ireland peace process.

In 1997 Labour came in under Tony Blair. It set up a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly, and the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. The Northern Ireland Assembly was elected in 1999, suspended in 2002 and restored in 2007. Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in 2007.

Learn what the handbook says, because the test follows the handbook. Today this has changed: the Welsh Assembly is now called the Senedd, and it has 96 members. Also, the handbook's story of Prime Ministers stops in 2019, and there have been more since.

How did Europe come into it?

Six countries formed the European Economic Community in 1957. It became part of the European Union in 1993. The UK was a full member but kept the pound. In 2010 no party won a majority for the first time since 1974, and the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats formed a coalition under David Cameron. After the 2015 election the Conservatives had a majority. They held the referendum on 23 June 2016. The UK voted 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent to leave, and left on 31 January 2020.

For the earlier part of the century, read the two World Wars. For the leaders, read Prime Ministers. The chapter is on the history chapter page, and the free practice test lets you try yourself.

Check yourself

Which year was the NHS created, and who led it?

Put in order: Good Friday Agreement, EEC founded, Falklands, Beveridge Report.

Name two reasons why workers were invited to Britain after the war.