Module 6: Life After the War

• Britain was in an even worse economic position in 1945 than they were in the early 1930s
• The national debt was £3500 million which was so much that the government had to sell its gold reserves
• Britain's gold reserves fell from £864 million to £3 million
• Britain had lost 30% of its total wealth
• The USA stopped the Lend-Lease programme and many feared bankruptcy
• Rationing was still in place as Britain could not afford to buy food from abroad
• The basic rate of income tax was raised to 50%
• Some wealthy people resented the 50% income tax and felt that they were being made to pay for the war
• ⅓ of British houses were destroyed
• ½ of the factories were destroyed
• ⅔ of the merchant fleet were sunk
• The civilian and military death toll was over 325,000
• There was a rise in physical and mental depression, especially in returning soldiers and the bereaved
• Victory of WWII was celebrated in many ways across the country
• Some celebrations were spontaneous whilst others were encouraged and planned
• Many Victory parties took place on VE Day itself
• There were also victory parades involving marches of military personnel
• The return of military combatants was eagerly awaited, though many women expected to lose their jobs once the men returned
• Demobilisation plan

  1. Bring men and women back from war roles in an organised way

  2. Started on 18 June 1945

  3. Over the next 18 months, 4.3 million men and women were released from military service and back to civvy street

  4. Key men with needed skills were brought back first

  5. Married women and men over 50 were given priority

  6. Everyone else was given numbers based on their age and service number
• A challenge de-mobbed people faced was learning how to live at home again with their husbands/wives
• Some hadn't seen each other in 6 years
• Many relationships had broken down and divorce rates increased significantly
• There were 60,000 divorce applications in 1947 alone
• People faced psychological hardships like PTSD
• Some felt the process of coming home was too slow and this led to protests and complaints
• The 1945 general election was the first election to be held in 10 years
• There was a turnout for this election, around 73% of the population voted
• Most were in favour of Labour
• Radio broadcasts from both sides drew huge audiences as did public meetings
• The Labour Party had not held office since 1931
• Many in the country feared their left wing policies
• The Conservatives were expected to win due to the popularity of Churchill
• In 1945 the Conservatives and Labour published manifestos
• Even before the war, the Labour Party had been winning more seats and became more popular during the war
• Key wartime roles had been held by Labour politicians in the war time coalition
• Trade unions were associated with the working class and played a big role in the war and supported Labour
• The war made people less scared of socialism
• Socialism was less frowned upon due to the Soviets being allies in WWII and playing a big role in defeating Hitler
• Labour said they would implement the Beveridge Report immediately and adopted the catchphrase 'Never again'
• The Conservatives were associated with the hunger of the 1930s as well as appeasement