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Conservative Party in the 50s A-level history - Coggle Diagram
Conservative Party in the 50s A-level history
post war consensus
1951 to 1964
Broad consensus on the Independence of the colonies
final breakup of the British Empire
final breakup in the British Empire in the 50s 60s and 70s
foreign policy consensus on supporting the USA in opposition to the USSR and communism
at the height of the Cold War
support for government intervention in the economy to ensure Max growth in this Period
broad support for the British welfare state
importance of NHS "from Cradle to grave"
expansion of welfare state
reasons for conservative dominance in 1951 to 1964
conservative success
economic policies were broadly successful
low unemployment
increase of standard of living
Conservatives were associated with the "new Elizabethan age" Elizabeth being crowned 1953
Britain was a world power
had nuclear weapons
new atomic era
one of the few countries to have nuclear weapons
improvement in the housing market
300,000 houses being built
per annum it under Churchill
economic success
6000 new houses being built
first motorways being built during this time
past the M1 being built in 1959
link to conservative governments
a new large development
labour failures
labour party was split in the 50s
over extent of the fence spending
over the development of nuclear weapons
huge opposition to development of nuclear weapons
opposition to the Conservative Party
and within the Labour Party
Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell died suddenly in 1963
people didn't want the post-war consensus prosperity to end
didn't want change
affluent Society
Society in the 50s
the
50s
saw the
best growth in living standards
That's why it's described as the
affluence Society
speech by Macmillan
suggests that
"we never had it so good"
the
50s was marked by economic consumerism
people would purchase items and
pay them off with
weekly installments
is called
paying off by credit
this meant buying more things
growth of consumer ownership
car ownership went from
3 million to 7 million
so this is in the
1950s
society changed
with the
rise
of the number of
TVs
TV ownership
went from
340,000 in 1951
to
13.000.000 by 1963
1963 near the end of conservative governments
large increase
people had
access to popular culture
more access to
television programs
women in 50s
position of
women in society
was particularly
limited
during this time
despite the
period of affluence
that was a
huge gender pay gap
for
up to 40%
for the same job
so the
woman would be paid 40% less than the man in the same job
in education women were often passed up for men
men when it came to things like university places
a lot of sexism in education
evidence
in the 1950s
around
2% of girls went to university
basically wanted
men for university instead of women
however there were
signs of some changes
example
equal pay was introduced in 1958 in the civil service
there were
more women's organizations
with the likes of
Dora Russell organizing
a
peace caravan
to
protest against nuclear weapons
role of women in politics changing
the idea of women in politics the growing
the influence of
class in Society in the 50s
class was still a hugely influential part of British society
most of the Conservative Party
was often
white, well off,
upper class men
clear class of people
minority of people
didn't represent the voters
Conservative Party look
a little bit more
out of touch
as well as
scandals
signs of Change of class in the society
World War Two
gave a
"all in it together" type of vibe
the
welfare state
meant
improvements in living standards
and then
increased the expectations of the lower classes
example of welfare state
NHS
less gap in class divisions
this point about also applies to the general growing of affluence experienced in this Period
economic growth and prosperity
positive impact on everybody
maybe more on upclass but that don't matter
the ride in satire and the increase in scandals also helped encourage the decline in difference
scandals conservative upper class
we can laugh at the wealthy rich pricks of the Conservative Party which bursts that bubble
all I know definitely arrived in Living standards
women see little change but still at the bottom of the classes
and the Divide in class will close things the gap a bit
Social tensions in 1950s
race relations
and
immigration
due to labor shortages
people from the
new commonwealth
were
encouraged
to
move to Britain
new Commonwealth
such as
India
Pakistan
the
Caribbean
former colonies
all different people from around the world
this made become
different communities
around each industry
Asian Communities
often became
centred in textiles
and
areas in northern towns
Asian and Caribbean Communities focused
around
heavy industry
Urban areas
people from all around the world moved into London
London
was a
Centre
was
ethnic and culturally diverse
place
numbers!
on immigration
between
1940 to 1949
the number of immigrants moving into the UK was
240,000
between
1960 to 1970
immigration numbers increased to
1.2million
Groove in racial violence
1958 series of racial attacks in cities
Nottingham
on
August bank holiday
London
TV news coverage
Drew attention to this issue
inquiry bound tensions were largely result of
cultural differences
and
pressure on the availability of accommodation
citizens had the right of a British citizenship
passing at the Commonwealth immigration act made it so immigrant had to have a job guaranteed and they had to have particular skills
often skilled labor
men on the skilled people who don't have a job cannot come to Britain
youth culture
post-war years seen a large number of births
baby boomer generation
by 1950s these young people were growing up and developing a Pacific youth culture
cultures cemented by the fact there was low unemployment
most young people having jobs with disposable incomes
development of a certain group known as teddy Boys
hair slick back hair and Edwardian style suits they were often violent and had literary respect for old people the results of this was shown in the growth of Fight vandalism and racist attacks on immigrants
cultural changes at this time
youth culture paid a part in racial violence