British History

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British History

• Part 3 The 20th Century

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The Twentieth Century

• Trade Unionism (1911 1914)
• World War 1 (1914 1918)
• The Depression
• World War 2 (1939 1945)
• Post war Britain
• The Welfare State
• End of Empire
• The 60s, 70s, 80s

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Trade Unionism 1911 - 1914

• Between 1911 and 1914, conditions for workers
  improved
• This was in part because of pressure from
  striking miners, railwaymen, and dockers

• Minimum Wage Act
• Insurance against sickness and unemployment.
• no arrangements were made for free health care.

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• The first major war of the 20th Century
• Mainly a European war
• Immense human sacrifice
• Stalemate trench warfare
• New, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft,
  machineguns, and poison gas.
• Over 9 million died on the battlefield -15.1
  million in total

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What Started World War I ?

• World War I was sparked by a single event
• On June 28, 1914 Serbian fanatic, Gavrilo
  Princip, assassinated Archduke Franz-Ferdinand of
  Austria in Sarajevo.
• Archduke Franz-Ferdinand was heir to the Austrian
  thrown

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One month later, on July 28, 1914, Austria
declares war against Serbia - igniting World War I
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A war between Austria and Serbia, meant a war
between Austria and Russia - Serbia's traditional
ally.
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War between Austria and Russia meant Germany,
bound by the Triple Alliance treaty to Austria,
was at war with Russia.
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Russia at war with Germany, meant France and
Britain, bound by alliances with Russia known as
the Triple Entente, were also at war with Germany
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Italy remained neutral until 23 May 1915, when it
entered the war on the side of the Allies.
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Britain in World War 1

• Civilian life was under threat, especially in
  London and the south-east,
• The entire east coast of Britain was prone to
  invasion (just as it always had been).

• Many people responded to the war effort.
• Women were drafted to produce weapons (guns,
  bullets, planes).

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Britain in World War 1

• Young men volunteered to fight in the war. Many
  thought it would be a very short war.
• By 1915 whole villages saw their population of
  young men disappear to fight in the war.
• By the end of the war many of those villages were
  almost devoid of young men. Towns also felt their
  loss entire streets mourned sons, husbands and
  sweethearts.

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The Depression (1918 -1939)

• After World War 1 industrial profits and wages
  began to fall and demobilised soldiers found it
  difficult or impossible to find jobs.
• By summer 1921 over two million people were
  unemployed and strikes were on the increase.

• There was widespread suffering and deprivation.
• The Lloyd George coalition government collapsed
  and the country's economic crisis continued to
  worsen.

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Wall Street Crash 1929

• The worst period of the Depression followed the
  crash of the Wall Street financial markets in
  1929.
• In Britain, unemployment reached 3 million in
  1932.
• Slowly, the British economy stabilised under the
  National Government and unemployment began a
  steady decline after 1935,
• Re-armament before World War Two helped to end
  the depression

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World War 2

• World War Two in Europe began on 3rd September
  1939
• Britain and France declared war on Germany after
  Hitler invaded Poland
• Britain and France had guaranteed the territorial
  integrity of Poland in March 1939.

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World War 2

• Hitler invaded France and the BeNeLux countries
  (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), in June
  1940.

• Britain endured the Blitz and feared invasion
  until the Battle of Britain in September 1940
  secured superiority of the skies.

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The Blitz

• The Blitz was the sustained and intensive bombing
  of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany during
  19401941.
• It was carried out by the Luftwaffe against a
  range of targets across the UK, particularly
  concentrating on London.

• The Blitz killed 43,000 people and destroyed
  over a million houses
• It failed to achieve the Germans' objectives of
  knocking Britain out of the war or rendering it
  unable to resist an invasion.

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The Battle of Britain

• The Battle of Britain is the name for the attempt
  by Germany's Luftwaffe to gain air superiority of
  British airspace and destroy the Royal Air Force
  (RAF).
• The Germans didnt want to invade Britain until
  the RAF had been knocked out
• They also wanted to destroy aircraft production
  and to terrorize the British people so they would
  surrender.
• The Battle of Britain was the first major battle
  to be fought entirely in the air.
• It was the largest and most sustained bombing
  campaign yet.

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World War 2

• In June 1941, Hitler invaded the Soviet Union,
  thereby making war on two fronts.
• The war increased in December 1941 when America
  declared war on the Japanese after they bombed
  Pearl Harbour.

• Hitler's declaration of war on America was his
  big mistake.
• With American entry, British Prime Minister
  Winston Churchill felt sure of victory.

Churchill
Stalin
Roosevelt
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Post World War Two 1945 onwards

• The end of the Second World War brought a new
  Labour government
• Expansion of the welfare state
• The establishment of a National Health Service.

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Post World War Two 1945 onwards

• India and Pakistan became independent soon after
  the war
• Eventually, almost all of Britain's colonies
  became independent
• Most retain ties with Britain through the
  Commonwealth.
• This is a multiracial community and a means
  through which Britain maintains its influence in
  the world

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India and Pakistan gain Independence 1947

• India was the most valuable part of the British
  Empire, its possession was proof of British world
  power.
• The war had strained Britain's ability to govern
  its empire so it was decided that India would
  self-govern.
• However the two factions in India (the Indian
  National Congress and the Muslim League) could
  not agree on a constitution.
• As a result, India was divided into the modern
  states of India and Pakistan.

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Post World War Two The EU

• Britain's economic strength declined after the
  war
• External trade is still extremely important to
  Britain
• Britain entered the European Community in 1973

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Post World War Two The 1960s

• The 1960s were an influential decade for Britain
• more permissive society
• increased consumer confidence
• radical political protest
• popular music which spread across the world
  (e.g.the Beatles and the Rolling Stones)

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Post World War Two The 1970s

• The 1970s saw a number of firsts
• Concorde (an Anglo-French supersonic aeroplane)
• test tube babies (Joy Brown, the first, was born
  25 July 1978)
• the Open University (a university mainly carried
  out through television broadcasts)
• electronic technology
• commercial radio

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Post World War Two The 1980s

• The 1980s saw a number of notable events
• IRA hunger strikes in Northern Ireland
• a Papal visit (1982)
• Sunday football for the first time
• a popular fitness craze with major events such as
  the London Marathon proving successful
• the completion of the Thames Barrier
• the beginning of the Channel Tunnel
• the spread of personal computers
• satellite television

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The Falklands conflict 1982

• Britain and Argentina had argued about the
  Falkland Islands since Britain occupied them in
  the early nineteenth century.
• In April 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the
  Falkland Islands.
• In the war that followed 250 British and around
  750 Argentineans were killed.
• Britain re-established her control over the
  islands but Argentina still claims them

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Main Points About British History

• Early British History
• Settlement
• Repeated invasions from Europe
• After the Normans
• Re-structuring (from Anglo-Saxon to Norman)
• Industrialization
• Expansion (of the Empire)
• 20th Century
• Conflict (WWI, WWII, Falklands)
• Contraction (of the Empire)
• Re-Invention (European Union, Role of the
  Monarchy etc)