Churchill, Eden and Macmillan

• What was the name of the post war Labour Prime Minister?

  Clement Attlee
• What were the two main reasons that made the economic policies of the Labour government 1945-51 unpopular with the middle classes?

  Raise in taxes, Nationalisation was ineffective and costly, austerity measures affected the standards of living
• Impact of the Korean War on rationing in Britain?

  prolonged rationing until 1954, whereas most countries were coming out of rationing, including Germany
• What was the impact of the Korean War on conscription in Britain?

  the conscription period extended to 2 years and continued
• What was the most negative impact of the extend of the welfare system introduced by the Labour government between 1945 to 1951?

  The money spent on welfare system was significantly larger than expected. The government was not able to invest this money into industry.
• Name two labour politicians who resigned from their positions within the cabinet over the issue of subscription charges

  Aneurin Bevan, Harold Wilson
• Why was labour government 1945-51 forced to introduce subscription charges?

  the NHS had far exceeded its budget, and Britain had the huge expense of the Korean War
• What was the foreign event in the Middle East which caused criticism of Labour government for lack of strength?

  nationalisation of anglo-iranian oil company
• Why did the Labour govt choose to join the Korean War?

  Wanted to show support for USA, they had anti-communist views, wanted to stop spread of communism in Asian colonies
• What was the importance of Liberal vote in 1951 elections?

  Liberal Party could not afford to present candidates, and most voters took strategic vote Conservative rather than allow labour to win constituency
• What was the average age of the politicians within Labour government 1945-51?


  over 60
• What was the nature of divisions within Labour Party on the issue of defence spending and nuclear deterrent?

  subscription charges and nuclear disarmament
• define unilateral disarmament

  ​

  Removing all forms of nuclear weapons without waiting for other parties to agree to disarmament.
• Name two consequences of the nationalisation in Labour Britain.

  The government had to pay reparations to previous company owners increasing budget deficit, most industries became less efficient, neither class within society was fully happy with the effects.
• Which of the industries caused particularly fierce conflict of its nationalisation?

  steel industry
• Why can the result of the 1951 elections be seen as an oddity?

  Labour won 48.8% of votes with Conservatives winning 48% but Labour secured less seats than Conservatives.
• What happened to constituency borders in 1949 and what effect did it have on labour election result in 1951?

  The constituency borders were redrawn under the election act of 1949 to accommodate some of the population changes like urbanisation.
• Why was the ending of Lend Lease unfavourable for Great Britain?

  Britain wanted an extension of lend Lease with 0% rate but USA did not allow for this arrangement. Britain was instead offered a 3% loan which was considerably more costly
• What was Truman Doctrine and what was its effect for British foreign policy in Europe?

  It was an American policy aimed to stop spread of communism across the world. It meant that Britain was involved in the conflict as a main ally of USA in Europe. As an example, Britain had to severe its relation with Poland and Czechoslovakia, enter Korean War.
• What conflict on European continent between 1944 to 1947 caused British government to seek American support against communism in Europe?

  Greek civil war
• what was Marshall Aid?

  A program of financial aid offered to countries fighting against the communism. Great Britain was one of the countries which received the biggest proportion of it.
• Name successes of British foreign policy within period 1945 to 1964.

  Established NATO, EFTA, Commission to divide Marshall Aid help, summits between USA and USSR, Test Ban Treaty 1963.
• Name failures of British foreign policy within the period of 1945 to 1964

  Withdrawal from Palestine, nationalisation of Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, Suez Crisis.
• Name three reasons why Britain opted not to join EEC in 1950s.

  Britain just nationalised key industries so that government could have greater control over them and by joining EEC they would have to give them up, there were concerns about political sovereignty, the right to self-govern with supranational organisation like EEC having influence on politics, Britain wanted to retain its economic links to the Empire and Commonwealth, British wanted to find balance between involvement in Europe while maintaining special relationship with USA, there was no reason to believe that EEC will be a success.
• What was the name of the crisis which had significant cost to British international prestige.

  suez crisis
• What was an official and unofficial reason for resignation of Anthony Eden?

  Officially Eden claimed his health declined, unofficially the failure of Suez Crisis forced him to resign.
• What was the extent of military spend for Great Britain in period 1951 to 1964?

  7%
• In what year did Great Britain test its nuclear weapon?

  1952
• In what year did Great Britain test its hydrogen weapon?

  1957
• What was Blue Streak program and why was it cancelled?

  It proved too expensive for Britain to finish the development.
• Which British prime Minister championed the Nuclear Test Treaty Ban in 1963?


  Harold Macmillan
• What was the impact of British government officially recognising Chinese government?

  USA government was not happy about it and it did not allowed Britain to join ANZUS Pact between Australia, New Zealand and USA.
• Which American and Soviet summit was interrupted by the crash of American spy plane U2 over Soviet Union?

  1959 Camp David
• Give at least two reasons why British Government decided to take aggressive action after nationalisation of Suez Canal.

  Labour was heavily criticised for not taking action after nationalisation Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, personal conviction of Eden and his worries about Nasser.
• What were the consequences of the Suez Crisis for Britain?

  Britain showed it cannot conduct its own foreign policy, British withdrawal likely caused backlash of French veto to our application to EEC, Britain lost an ally in Iraqi king Faisal who was murdered in 1958, Eden resigned and was replaced by Macmillan in 1957, Britain lost large amount of dollar reserves which caused economic crisis and weakened pound and relationship with USA suffered.
• Name the reasons which forced British withdrawal from Suez Canal.

  Britain was forced to buy oil from USA in dollars and USA purposely lifted prices, Britain could not criticise USSR for intervention in Hungary while at the same time exercising similar intervention in Egypt, United Nations applied a lot of pressure on Britain, other Arab countries sympathised with Egypt and USA openly criticised Britain.
• when did India gain independence?

  1947
• when did Ceylon and Burma gain independence?

  1948
• when did Malaysia and the gold Coast gain independence?

  1957
• when did Ghana, Nigeria and Cyprus gain independence?


  1960