The Making of Modern Britain 1951–2007 Vocabulary Flashcards

This set covers major political, economic, and social vocabulary from 1951 to 2007 as outlined in the AQA History revision guide transcript.

Post-war consensus

The policy agreement between the Conservative and Labour parties from $1951$ to $1964$, characterized by a mixed economy, support for the NHS and welfare system, and a commitment to full employment.

Butskellism

A term used to describe the post-war consensus, named after the Conservative minister R.A.B. Butler and the Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell.

Stop-go economics

A policy used by Conservative governments in the $1950s$ where interest rates were raised to control inflation and lowered to encourage growth when the economy slowed.

Monetarism

An economic theory promoted by Milton Friedman suggesting that inflation is best controlled by restricting the money supply through cuts in government spending and borrowing.

The Establishment

A term for the class-ridden social structure of $1950s$ Britain where elite figures from similar backgrounds dominated politics, business, the media, and the Church.

Angry young men

A group of writers in the $1950s$ including John Osborne and Alan Sillitoe who used their work to attack established attitudes and portray gritty, realistic contemporary life.

Empire Windrush

The ship that sailed from Kingston, Jamaica to London in May $1948$ carrying $492$ immigrants, becoming a symbol of the start of New Commonwealth immigration.

Winds of Change

A famous $1960$ speech by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan acknowledging the inevitability of decolonization and the need for a shift in foreign policy.

In Place of Strife

A $1969$ white paper produced by Barbara Castle that proposed legal constraints on trade unions, such as strike ballots and a $28$-day cooling-off period.

The Troubles

A period of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland involving Nationalist/Republican and Unionist/Loyalist factions that intensified in the late $1960s$.

Bloody Sunday

The events of January $30$, $1972$ in Derry, where British soldiers fired at a civil rights march, resulting in $13$ deaths.

Sunningdale Agreement

A $1973$ attempt to create a power-sharing Executive in Northern Ireland that included a Council of Ireland with input from the Republic of Ireland.

Stagflation

A term describing the unusual economic combination of rising inflation and stagnant growth (leading to unemployment) seen in the early $1970s$.

Social Contract

A $1974$ agreement between the Labour government and the TUC to constrain wage demands in return for government investment in welfare and services.

Winter of Discontent

A series of strikes during the cold winter of $1978$-$79$ involving public sector workers that damaged the political reputation of the Callaghan government.

Supply side economics

The policy shift under Thatcher that abandoned managing demand in favor of deregulation and low taxation to encourage expansion and entrepreneurship.

The Big Bang

The deregulation of the London Stock Exchange on October $27$, $1986$ which introduced computer screen trading and opened the market to foreign banks.

Black Wednesday

September $16$, $1992$, when Britain was forced to withdraw sterling from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) after failing to maintain its value.

Downing Street Declaration

A $1993$ declaration by John Major and Albert Reynolds restating the principle of consent as the basis for the future of Northern Ireland.

Clause IV

The part of the Labour Party’s constitution committing it to public ownership; its rewriting in $1995$ symbolized the transition to New Labour.

Good Friday Agreement

The $1998$ peace accord establishing devolved government and a power-sharing Executive in Northern Ireland based on a cross-community system.

Blair Doctrine

The theory of liberal interventionism, set out in a $1999$ speech, stating the international community should intervene in other countries to protect human rights.