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The Affluent Society: Britain 1951-62 - Coggle Diagram
The Affluent Society: Britain 1951-62
1) Conservative Governments
Conservative Governments and Reasons for Political Dominance
Churchill, Eden, Macmillan and Home as political leaders
Churchill (1874-1965)
Context:
Had been a cabinet minister in both Lib and Conserv govs 1906-40, was PM during WW2, after war continued to be role of world statesman despite C opposition, was PM 1951-55
This
wasn't the same Churchill
as the Wartime one (80yrs when retired) and had many ailments e.g big stroke in 1953 which he kept secret
Lack of interest in domestic politics
not just due to age and illness but due to lack of interest and self seeing as a international statesman, More time spent abroad meeting world leaders and at holiday spots than at downing street. Believed key priority was to ensure that no new conflict broke out especially due to fears of nuclear war
Believed he was
above party politics
,joined libs in 1904 before rejoining C in 1924 and attempted to persuade Libs to join him in 1950 and used non C peers to oversee ministries
His
regular absence
meant day to day gov was left with acting PM Anthony Eden and key ministers e.g Rab Butler (chancellor of exchequer) and Harold Macmillan (minister for housing)
There were
tensions
within the gov ----> Butler, Macmillan and Eden did not get on well and Eden and Churchill's relationship was strained as Eden wanted him to step down so he could fill the role.
Anthony Eden (1897-1977)
Context:
was always seen as a talented politician and thought of as a future PM, rising star in 1930s and key role in WW2 as foreign secretary. Many times between 1951-55 he was acting PM and became PM in 55' but resigned in Jan 57' due to Suez and ill health.
PM in 55' with
high hopes
in C party especially after Gen Elec when majority rose from 17 to 60. Butler became Chancellor and Macmillan became Foreign Secretary
All of his experience had been in FP (foreign policy) and within 6mnths C party were
voicing concerns about his leadership and lack of experience
and lack of interest in domestic affairs became more apparent
Anxious about making decisions
and very aware if his lack of knowledge on economic issues
Aimed to prevent industrial conflict
which led to criticism that he was too conciliatory with trade unions and his
weakness was exemplified
by the moving of Macmillan from Foreign Office to the Treasury in October 55' however Macmillan didn't want to move so delayed it till December
Eden's decision to take military action during
Suez in 1956 soured his rep
. Suez was mostly a diplomatic and military fiasco and a
turning point for Britain's illusions of Imperial Power
, it was also a political crisis. Eden came under fire from L party, national press and was accused of lying to the House of Commons which damaged his rep badly. Suez caused problems within C party with colonial minister Anthony Nutting resigning and rebellion from nearly 40 MP's.
Pressure from US reveled Britain's
financial weakness
"not get a dime out of us till you get put of Suez"
Eden resigned early in 1957
due to both Suez and ill health. Macmillan succeeded him as he was more popular within the C party and was the safest choice for the party as he had few enemies
Harold Macmillan (1894-1986)
Context:
was MP for Stockton-on-Tees and was Churchill's liaison officer during WW2. Was the housing Minister in Churchill gov from 51' and FS in Eden gov. In 57' emerged as new C PM. His politics shaped by both WW and the Great Depression, Nearly joined L in 30's and describes as one nation C
Party unity restored
without lasting splits, economic prosperity continued to gain approval from voters, for 5yrs Macmillan appeared to be in full control of affairs. Butler became Home Sec. In Oct 59' Macmillan called a gen election and led C to victory with majority of 100 seats.
Post war economic boom was continuing, L in disarray and occupied with internal battles, had media in palm of his hand using
new political opportunities
provided by television with flair
Domestic Policies
Post-War Consensus
A belief in a
mixed economy
: involvement by the state as well as private enterprise
Support
for the NHS and the welfare state
A wish to
ensure full employment
and to avoid the mass unemployment of the 30's
Working
with both trade unions and employers
Can be called
"Butskellism"
after C member R. A. Butler and L leader Gaitskell
Housing:
51' C manifesto promised to build 300,000 houses a year to replace houses destroyed during WW2 Macmillan oversaw this as housing Minister
An understanding
that post WW2 there needed to be a great deal of agreement between the 2 parties on major issues
Education:
C continued tripartite system (Butler Act 1944) Grammar, Technical, Secondary Modern. 11+ exam.
Financial restraints under Churchill meant that most schools were either Grammar or Sec Moderns and despite Eden promoting a emphasis on tech edu by beginning of 60's some questioned fairness of system.
Was a number of
social reforms
during Macmillan's Premiership. Clean Air Act 1956 prevent smog of 50's, Housing and Factory Acts improving working and living situation.
Butler as Home Sec (57'-62') took action on gay and death penalty e.g. Homicide Act 57' restricted death pen +57' Wolfenden Commission rec gay behavior shouldn't be a crime
Internal Labour Divisions
Key Profiles
Aneurin ('Ney') Bevan (1897-1960):
had been a minister of health in the Attlee gov and was architect of the NHS, was a hero of Labour Left. Resigned from gov in 51' to protest against prescription charges and gained support of Labour MP's and Trade Unionists.
Hugh Gaitskell (1906-63'):
was the Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1950-51 and was the one who introduced prescription charges, was on the Right of Labour and became leader in 55' defeating Bevan. Tried to reform L but failed
Frank Cousins (1927-97):
leader of the TGWU in 1956. Led unsuccessful bus strike against Macmillan gov and in L conference Oct 1960 opposed Gaitskell's leadership in L movement specially due to nuclear weapons. Led unions into taking left wing positions hostile to party leadership. Divisions carried on until 70's+80's
L narrowly
lost 1951 election
with total vote of 14mil which was larger than previous election wins with many believing they could soon return to power
L was suffering from
deep internal divisions
with them intensifying during the 50's. Party unity had been maintained well while in gov but was a growing split in the party both in ideology and in personalities
Attlee continued as leader until 55' but great wartime gen of L leaders was
ageing and often in poor health
Splits in L movement widened during later 50's when Both
Gaitskell and Bevan stood for L leadership
in 55' after Attlee stepped down with Gaitskell wining (Right of party)
Left wanted more socialist and
growing opposition to party leadership
from the trade unions and divisions over Britain's nuclear weapons.
Initially Bevan opposed
nuclear weapons
but in 57' he opposed Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament. However many L left wingers joined Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and links between CND and Labour left could have turned away some voters
Til' late 50's unions had been happy with full employment and leaders were moderates. In 56'
Frank Cousins
became leader of TGWU (Transport and General Workers Union). Cousins lead big union opposition to Gaitskell over nukes
Despite this L entered
59' election
with optimism. Gaitskell was confident and effective campaigner, promoting moderate policies that L thought would be popular with the voters. The defeat of L was a surprise and disappointment.
Post-defeat divisions
became ,more apparent and battles over the future direction of the party were fought out at annual conference at Blackpool 59' and Scarborough in 60'. 59' was pre-election and wanted to abolish Clause IV of part constitution (nationalization of thing) but due to opposition from left and trade unions backed down. 60' conference Gaitskell's speech about rejecting nuclear disarmament. Lost the vote he succeeded in overturning it next year though
Reasons for the Conservatives' Fall from Power
Macmillan's
nickname "Supermac" reflected his talent in politics and his flair in presentation. 62' this slipped. Macmillan described this as "Events dear boy, events" In 61'-63' numerous events combined together and weakened his grip on gov leading to resignation in Oct 63'
Early 60's growing
concerns over economy
, application to EEC in 61' rejected in 63'
Macmillan had lost his political touch and reshuffle is cabinet dramatically in Jul 62' sacking 1/3 of it
(Night of the Long Knifes)
It intended to rejuvenate the gov but in turn weakened it. This made him seem clumsy and out of touch
Series of
Spy Scandles
: George Blake was convicted of being a Soviet double agent in 61' and in 62' John Vassal (civil servant) was blackmailed on basis of being gay to pass on info to soviet union. There was also the Profumo Affair
Profumo Scandal:
occurred in 63' with John Profumo (Sec of state for War) having a brief relationship with Christeen Keeler who was also sleeping with a Soviet spy called Ivanov , which raised questions about possible leaks of Cold War secrets, Profumo forced to resign in disgrace.
The public inquiry kept
headlines for weeks on end
. The political impact was short lived but the image of the Macmillan and C gov as old and out of touch was reinforced
Serious Illness
was the last nail in the coffin for Macmillan as a major abdominal surgery kept him in hospital for weeks in autumn of 63' and with no one ready to succeed him there was a clear struggle for power within the C gov. Obvious candidates were Rab Butler and Lord Hailsham but in the end a compromise was made to appoint Lord Home and made the C gov seem trapped in a bygone age.
2) Economic Developments
Context
Britain 0f 51'
had been shaped by great Depression in 30', WW2 and the rebuilding of post war Britain under Attlee's L gov
This all led to a
Post War Consensus
Post War Boom
C was lucky in its timing in coming to power due to a
Post war economic boom
. Continual economic improvement in the 50's was a pattern Rationing had ended in July 54'
Higher standard of living
than ever before which led to a swift acceleration in the birth rate which meant a quickly growing population. By 61' there was 5% more people than in 51'
Global economy was booming
as countries rebuilt after the war. Sustained increase of overseas trade which brought higher earnings from exports and investments.
Unemployment was low
with less than 1% unemployed. Despite traditional industries having less employed (agriculture, fishing, coal and shipbuilding) there was a huge boom in employment for electrical and industries relating to cars. Sales and transport industries grew by 5million
Eco growth and low unemployment meant
rising wages
so most enjoyed a rise in income. In run up to 55' election Rab Butler boosted C election prospects with a "give away" budget that provided the middle class with £134mil in tax cuts. Growth in consumerism.
Britain enjoyed a
higher income per head than any other major country
bar the US but this doesn't mean that growth rates were high.
Late 50's were a year of
optimism
: more jobs, money, better housing and new welfare state.
Balance of Payments Issues and "Stop-Go" Policies
The rising wages and rate of increase in production brought on
inflation
The C gov was faced with the problem of
maintaining growth and employment whilst keeping prices steady.
Macmillan tried to tackle this by reasoning with the public and industry
by asking for restraint and common sense. But it was difficult trying to persuade Trade Unions not to give their workers a higher wage especially coal miner's who felt underpaid compared to other workers
Gov controls
had to be used to curb excessive inflation and taxation remained high to control excessive spending and to reduce the amount of imports needed
The pattern of the gov attempting to control growth when the economy was in danger of overheating is known as
"Stop-Go" economics
Despite higher salaries creating a higher internal consumer demand it didn't encourage manufacturers to increase their export rate of trade which would have helped bolster the export industries. This led to a trade deficit which caused problems with the
balance of payments
Pressure from the US over Suez exposed financial weakness and started a
run on the pound
. Peter Thorneycroft (1909-94) wanted to limit wage increases and to cut money supply. Ministers such as Iain McLeod (one nation C's) opposed due to it leading to unemployment and lack of housing.
Crisis and divisions
in the cabinet carried on throughout the summer of 57' which symbolised the problems of 'stop and go' economics
In the Macmillan sided with those who wanted to
keep an expansionist economic policy
Financial crises
didn't do lasting harm to the popularity of C
which improved dramatically by 59'. The resignations of Thorneycroft and Powell was shrugged off as a local difficulty
Sterling had regained it's value against the dollar and
economy expanded
so much that the budget of April 59' provided tax cuts of £390mil
Economic growth in Europe especially in West Germany was
starting to leave Britain behind
Macmillan abandoned party policy to make an application to join EEC. The failure of Britain's application reflected the
failure to modernise the economy.
1963 Beeching Report:
review on where to cut expenses recommended cuts in the rail network system, provoking public outrage, closing hundreds of branch lines and thousands of stations making some places even more isolated
Reginald Mauling
pushed economy into the go phase
by lowering bank rate to encourage consumer spending
4)Foreign Relations
EFTA and attempts to join the EEC
The Schuman Plan
set out proposals for a coal and steel community promoting rapid economic reconstruction - it was to be the foundation of economic cooperation across Europe, a scheme strongly supported by Britain and USA
At any time up to 1957, Britain could have easily joined the EEC, but Britain didn't join as:
Few
politicians and journalists
in favour
Left suspicious of free market principles
behind the common market
Right wanted to keep traditional trade links
with Australia, Canada, and New Zealand
There was a belief that this was an
issue for continental Europe
everyone else had lost the war but 'Britain had won'
Still an assumption
Britain was still a great world power
Balancing
of special relationship with USA and relationship with Europe
Britain formed EFTA in 59'
, but it was moderately successful and Britain
applied to join EEC in 61'
The
reasons for the change of attitudes
were that they were hoping the EEC would:
boost industrial production
for a large scale export market
increase industrial efficiency
with greater competition
stimulate economic growth with
rapid economic expansion
already seen in EEC
There were economic considerations but
Britain wanted to keep her position in three world affairs:
Europe
The Commonwealth
USA
The
USA was also keen on seeing Britain join the EEC
for strategic reasons, link between Europe and America
Belief in Britain's imperial power had been shaken
by Suez
However French President
Charles de Gaulle
was determined to protect the French-German partnership form 'Les Anglo-Saxons'
The British application was rejected in 63' and 67'
. Only when de Gaulle left French presidency, was Britain able to join.
Relations with, and policies towards, USA and USSR
Early years dominated by the Cold War
Became a member of
NATO
in 49' and substantial contingents of British troops were stationed on West Germany
Alliance was
close
in the Cold War
Social Developments
Rising Living Standards
51' Britain's infrastructure was run down and
needed modernising
Need for housing development to
replace war damage
and to deal with decay of housing stock
From 52' economic indicators pointed upwards.
Mens weekly wages were going up, farmers did well economically encouraged by state subsidies
Food rationing ended completely in 54'
Impact of Affluence and Consumerism