KQ6 - Life After War

Question 1

WHAT ECONOMIC ISSUES DID BRITAIN HAVE AFTER WW2?

Answer 1

Government debt stood at £3,500 million and the countries wealth had fallen by 30%

Question 2

WHAT POLITICAL ISSUES DID BRITAIN HAVE AFTER WW2?

Answer 2

Many parts of the empire demanded freedom and both the USA and the USSR were the ones leading world affairs instead of Britain

Question 3

WHAT PHYSICAL ISSUES DID BRITAIN HAVE AFTER WW2?

Answer 3

There was much war damage meaning places had to be rebuilt and war had highlighted many socials issues within community

Question 4

WHAT WAS DEMOBILISATION?

Answer 4

Civilians who had been conscripted to the armed forces now expected to be released. However they found re-adapting to ‘civvy street life’ difficult as they returned to find the country they’d fought for was now crippled.

Question 5

WHAT WAS THE BEVERIDGE REPORT?

Answer 5

1942 William Beveridge produced the 5 giants Britain needed to tackle:
- want
- idleness
- disease
- ignorance
- squalor

Question 6

WHY DID THE LABOUR PARTY WIN THE 1945 ELECTION?

Answer 6

• image of the conservatives = seen as the gloomy past responsible for depression
• image of the labour = seen as the party of a brighter future
• labour party promises = they’d promised to introduce social and economic reforms and to tackle the 5 giants
• conservative mistakes = Churchill was regarded as a wartime leader and not a leader of peace
• conservative dirty tricks = they tried to scare voters into believing that socialist/communist dictatorship would be set up if labour won