History; Britain; Theme 1; Part A: A Changing Political Landscape

When was the Liberal-Conservative wartime coalition formed?

1915

When did Lloyd George become Prime Minister?

1916

When was the Representation of the People Act passed?

1918

When was the general election, that Lloyd George's coalition won?

1918

When did banks begin to panic over rumours of an unbalanced budget?

1919

When did the Liberal-Conservative wartime coalition crash?

1922

In what year did the Liberals lose the election badly as a result of the Cash for Honour scandal?

1922

When was the Cash for Honours Scandal?

1922

When was the first Labour government under Ramsey MacDonald?

1924

In what year was the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act passed?

1924

In what year did the Labour government collapse due to the Zinoviev letter?

1924.

In what year did a Private Member's Bill that would block Labour's union levy fail?

1925

In what year was the Trade Disputes Act amended?

1927

When was the Equal Franchise Act passed?

1928

When was the second Labour minority government?

1929 - 1931

When was the Housing Act passed?

1929

When was the Coal Mines Act passed?

1930

When was the Unemployment Insurance Act amended?

1931

When did the Labour government collapse and the National government form?

1931

When was the voting age lowered to 18?

1969

Representation of the People Act (1918)

Gave the vote to almost all men over 21 and women over 30 who met property requirements

Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928

Granted women the vote on the same terms as men by lowering the women's voting age to 21

Representation of the People Act 1969

Lowered the voting age for everyone from 21 to 18

Housing (Financial Provisions) Act 1924

Increased government subsidies to build affordable homes for low-income workers

Housing Act 1930

Aimed to clear 750,000 slum houses and replace them with modern housing

Coal Mines Act 1930

Sought to improve miners' pay and efficiency by reorganising pits, though many owners ignored it

Unemployment Insurance Act amendment 1931

Allowed the government to create public works schemes to reduce unemployment, funded by £2.5 million

1925 Political levy bill (failed)

A proposed law to stop trade unions automatically giving funds to Labour, which failed due to Conservative opposition

Trade Disputes Act amendment 1927

Required union members to opt in to paying Labour's political levy instead of contributing automatically

David Lloyd George

- PM 1916 - 1922

- National hero after WWI

- Split Liberal Party

- Involved in Cash for Honours

- led the National Liberals

Herbert Asquith

Leader of the opposition Liberals

Ramsay MacDonald

- Leader of first Labour government (1924)

- Moderate socialist accused of communist sympathies

- Forced to resign after Worker's Weekly Case

- Formed National Government (1931)

Philip Snowden

- Labour Chancellor

- Supported spending cuts (1931)

- Seen as a traitor

Stanley Baldwin

- PM from 1924

- Presented Conservatives as moderate

- Introduced 1927 Trade Disputes Act amendment

- Beat the General Strike

Zinoviev (Letter)

A forged document claiming Labour backed a communist revolution, used to damage the party in the 1924 election

Britain had amassed how much in war debts after WWI?

£3.2 billion

After the Representation of the People Act (1918), by how much did the electorate grow?

7.7 million - 21.4 million

After the Representation of the People Act (1918), what percentage of the electorate was working class?

80%

How many MPs were Lloyd George's National Liberals in 1922?

53

How many MPs were Asquith Liberals in 1922?

62

The 1927 Trade Disputes act meant that what fraction of union members stopped paying a political levy to Labour?

1/3

The 1927 Trade Disputes act meant that Labour's funding fell by what percentage?

35%

The Housing Act (1930) promised to clear how many slum houses?

750,000

The Unemployment Insurance Act amendment gave how much to public works schemes?

£2.5 million

When was the National Government in power?

1931-1940

When did Mosely leave Labour and form the New Party?

1931

When was the World Disarmament Conference?

1932 - 1934

When was the BUF formed?

1932

In what year did the BUF reach 50,000 members?

1934.

From what year did Britain begin rearmament?

1934

In what year did Labour gain 154 seats in the General Election?

1935

When was the Public Order Act?

1936

When did Hitler occupy the Rhineland?

1936

When was the Abdication Crisis?

1936

When was WWII declared?

1939

When did Churchill take over from Chamberlain as PM?

1940

When did the National Government end?

1945

Public Order Act (1936)

- Banned uniforms for political groups

- Required police permission to march

Mosely Memorandum (1931)

Mosely's economic plan proposal

Rearmament Programme (1934)

- RAF expanded to 40 squadrons

- army reorganised

- navy expanded

- munitions partnership with private capital

Clement Attlee

Labour PM 1945-1951

Oswold Mosley

- Former Labour MP

- founded New Party (1931)

- founded BUF (1932)

BUF (British Union of Facists)

Facist political pary formed by Mosley (1932)

Adolf Hitler

Dictator of Germany during WWII

Father Dick Sheppard

Founder of Peace Pledge Union

Peace Pledge Union

Invited men to pledge to never support war

Edward VIII

- King

- Forced to abdicate in 1936

Wallis Simpson

American divorcee that Edward VIII wanted to marry

George VI

King after Edward VIII

Neville Chamberlian

- PM (1937 - 1940)

- policy of appeasement

- replaced by Churchill 1940

Winston Churchill

- PM from 1940

- led wartime coalition

- rejected peace negotiations with Germany

Lord Halifax

Advocated for negotiation with Germany in 1940

When was the Education Act passed?

1944

When did Labour win the General Election?

1945

When was the National Inusrance Act passed?

1949

When was the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act?

1949.

When did Labour win the General Election again?

1950

When did Labour lose the general election?

1951

When did Aneurin Bevan resign?

1951

When did Britain become involved in the Korean War?

1950

When did the Conservatives win the General Election?

1955

When was the Suez Crisis?

1956

When did Macmillan resign?

1963

When did Sir Alec Douglas-Home become PM?

1963

When did Harold Wilson become PM?

1964

When did Wilson devalue the pound?

1967

When was Wilson PM for the second time?

1974-1976

When did Wilson resign?

1976

When did James Callaghan become PM?

1976

When was the 'winter of discontent'?

1979

Education Act (1944)

- introduced tripartite system

- raised leaving age to 15

- provided free secondary education for all

National Insurance Act (1946)

- created social security system

- covered sickness, unemployment, pensions, maternity benefits

National Assistance Act (1949)

- replaced the Poor Law

- helped those not covered by NI

Housing Act (1949)

- government funding for local authorities to build/improve council homes

- clear slums

- create affordable homes

Redistribution of Seats Act (1949)

- redrew consituencies

- reduced Labour safe seats

Austerity Budget (1951)

- prescription charges

- increased military expenditure (Korean War)

- aimed to reduce deficit

Barber Budget (1972 - 1974)

- tax cuts to stimulate economic growth

- short-term boom led to inflation and balance of payments deficit

Industrial Relations Act (1971)

- tried to regulate trade unions

the 'social contract'

- government and unions agreed to limit wage demands in favour of subsidies

- tried to control inflation and social unrest

- ineffective due to rising prices

Ernest Bevin

- foreign secretary

- died 1951