Topic 4: modern (1900-present)

• NHS


  The National Health Service was set up in 1948 to provide free healthcare in Britain. At the time this included doctors, hospitals and dentists
• Aliens Act


  This allowed only those individuals with jobs or money to migrate and was the first Act that restricted who could migrate to Britain
• After 1900, laws were passed that made Parliament more representative and that changed people's lives
• The NHS, introduced in 1948, gave people free healthcare and was paid for by taxation
• Laws were passed regarding immigration and nationality including the 1905 Aliens Act, and the 1948 British Nationality Act
• Britain joined the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973. The Maastricht Treaty signed in 1992, created the European Union (EU) and increased the movement of people between Europe and Britain. Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016
• British cities and factories needed to be rebuilt after the Second World War
• Developments in aeroplanes and ships allowed for the faster and easier movement of people and goods
• British industry, for example coal mining, faced cheaper competition from companies overseas
• Soldiers from countries in the British Empire fought alongside Britain in the First and Second World Wars
• The twentieth century saw the end of the British Empire as British colonies gained independence. This process is known as 'decolonisation. As the British Empire ended the Commonwealth emerged. This was an independent association of countries that had once been part of the British Empire
• Irish people migrated to Britain after the Second World War for jobs rebuilding houses and factories, and in the transport system and the NHS
• Over 250,000 Belgians migrated to Britain for safety when Germany invaded Belgium in 1914
• Workers from Europe also migrated after the Second World War to help rebuild Britain and to work in the NHS
• After Britain joined the EEC in 1973, the 1988 Immigration Act ensured that economic migrants from within the EDC could enter and remain in Britain for work. The Maastricht Treaty introduced EU citizenship for all nationals of member states, not just workers. This continued while Britain remained a member of the EU until 2016
• British Nationality Act


  People living in British colonies were given British citizenship, and passports, which gave them the right to enter Britain and stay for as long as they wanted. The 1948 Act was not intended to bring non-white subjects to Britain; it was hoped that white settler families in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa would be encouraged to return
• European Union (EU)


  This was established by the Maastricht Treaty, signed in 1992, and allowed the freedom of movement of all EU citizens
• Partition


  In 1947, India gained independence from Britain and was spilt into India and Pakistan
• Kindertransport

  During the 1930s, the British government dropped visa and entry requirements to allow Jewish children to leave Nazi Germany immediately and migrate to Britain for safety
• United Nations


  An international organisation that aims to achieve world peace
• Asylum


  The protection given by a state to someone who has left their country due to fear of persecution
• During the First and Second World Wars, men from countries colonised by the British Empire fought in the British Army. During both wars, migrants from the colonies, including the Caribbean and Africa, moved to Britain to work for the war effort
• People from the Caribbean migrated to help rebuild Britain after the Second World War. Those who migrated between 1948 and 1973 are known as the 'Windrush generation' after the first ship that brought migrants from the Caribbean to Britain
• After India gained independence and partition followed, many Asian people migrated to Britain for safety
• Indian people were forced to leave Kenya (1967) and Uganda (1972). Those with British passports fled to Britain for safety
• The British government accepted well-qualified Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in the 1930s as it became clear that they were being persecuted. The British government then decided to help Jewish children rather than any more Jewish adults, which led to the Kindertransport. This stopped in 1939 when war was declared, and the borders were closed
• European refugees from the Second World War migrated to Britain to stay safe, including refugees from Communist regimes in Eastern Europe such as Poland
• In 1951, Britain signed up to the United Nations Convention on Refugees, promising to offer asylum to refugees facing persecution. The number of refugees who applied to Britain for asylum increased throughout the late twentieth century and have included people from Somalia, Afghanistan and Ukraine
• Anti-migrant attitudes among British society increased after 1900
• Fears over job losses were blamed on migrants
• Many local communities welcomed and supported migrants, but prejudice and racism became a part of everyday life for many
• Political parties formed in the twentieth century to oppose immigration included the National Front in 1967 and the British National Party in 1962
• The positive and negative attitudes towards migrants in Britain were encouraged by the media
• Some Irish nurses in the NHS experienced hostility and abuse
• Belgians were welcomed during the First World War, but the British government made it clear that they were only expected to stay for the duration of the war and in 1918 they were given a ticket home
• The British Parliament passed the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act (1914) making Germans enemy aliens
• Some British people turned against Germans, and the media fuelled anti-German feeling, leading to an increase in violence towards Germans and their businesses
• Germans and Italians were interned again during the Second World War
• There was tension between the lascars and the existing population over competition for jobs. Riots broke out in cities such as Liverpool and Cardiff in 1929
• In 1968, Enoch Powell (Conservative MP for Wolverhampton, where there was a Caribbean and Asian migrant community) made his anti-migrant "Rivers of Blood' speech against non-white migrants