Questions 26-50

Question 1

What was an official and unofficial reason for resignation of Anthony Eden?

Answer 1

Officially Eden claimed his health declined, unofficially the failure of Suez Crisis forced him to resign.

Question 2

What was the extent of military spending for Great Britain in period 1951 to 1964?

Answer 2

7%

Question 3

In what year did Great Britain test its nuclear weapon?

Answer 3

1952, becoming the 3rd nation to develop Nuclear Weapons, after the USA and USSR, their

Question 4

In what year did Great Britain test its hydrogen weapon?

Answer 4

1957

Question 5

What was Blue Streak program and why was it cancelled?

Answer 5

British Intercontinental ballistic missile program, proved ultimately too expensive to finish development.

Question 6

Which British prime Minister championed the Nuclear Test Treaty Ban in 1963?

Answer 6

Harold Macmillan

Question 7

What was the impact of British government officially recognising Chinese government?

Answer 7

USA government was not happy about it and it did not allowed Britain to join ANZUS Pact between Australia, New Zealand and USA.

Question 8

Which American and Soviet summit was interrupted by the crash of American spy plane U2 over Soviet Union?

Answer 8

1960 Four powers summit attended by Eisenhower Khrushchev De Gaulle and Harold Macmillan, preceded by 1959 Camp David where Khrushchev visited the USA.

(the U2 crash derailed any chance of a thaw in the cold war as the pilot- Gary Powers- was also captured, severely strained USA-USSR relations)

Question 9

Give at least two reasons why British Government decided to take aggressive action after nationalisation of Suez Canal.

Answer 9

Labour was heavily criticised for not taking action after nationalisation Anglo-Iranian Oil Company

Personal conviction of Eden and his worries about Nasser
Nasser was supported by the USSR
The Suez was a vital trade artery for maintaining any military commitments in the eastern empire and commonwealth, such as India, Malaysia. Kenya etc

Question 10

What were the consequences of the Suez Crisis for Britain?

Answer 10

Britain showed it cannot conduct its own foreign policy, British withdrawal likely caused backlash of French veto to our application to EEC, Britain lost an ally in Iraqi king Faisal who was murdered in 1958, Eden resigned and was replaced by Macmillan in 1957, Britain lost large amount of dollar reserves which caused economic crisis and weakened pound and relationship with USA suffered.

Question 11

Name the reasons which forced British withdrawal from Suez Canal.

Answer 11

Britain was forced to buy oil from USA in dollars and USA purposely lifted prices, Britain could not criticise USSR for intervention in Hungary while at the same time exercising similar intervention in Egypt, United Nations applied a lot of pressure on Britain, other Arab countries sympathised with Egypt and USA openly criticised Britain.

Question 12

Which of the British colonies gained independence between 1945 to 1964?

Answer 12

India(1947), Ceylon and Burma(1948), Malaysia nd Gold Coast(1957), Ghana, Nigeria and Cyprus(1960), Tanganika, Tanzania and Sierra Leone(1961), Uganda, Jamaica and Trinidad(1962), Kenya(1963), Malawi, Northern Rhodesia, Malta(1964), Gambia(1965)

Question 13

How much percent of the globe was occupied by the British Empire at its largest?

Answer 13

Around 25 percent of the world

Question 14

What was the original plan of the post-war government in regard to its colonies?

Answer 14

British government wanted to use the colonies as way of rebuilding its economic strength by: selling colonial products in dollars to rebuild dollar reserves (Malayan rubber, Gold Coast cocoa), selling British products in colonies, Colonial Development Corporation was supposed to start a number of profitable schemes (most like Groundnut Oil Scheme did not work at all), the commonwealth together with colonies was supposed to provide counterbalance to emerging superpowers: USA and USSR.

Question 15

What was the purpose of Colonial Development Corporation setup in 1948?

Answer 15

Colonial Development Corporation was supposed to start a number of profitable schemes (most like Groundnut Oil Scheme did not work at all)

Question 16

Why is the period between 1945 to 1951 often described as a second colonial wave?

Answer 16

Increased economic activity in colonies brought larger numbers of British civil servants and military presence in colonies, in some of the colonies it even doubled.

Question 17

What was the impact of the second colonial wave on British Empire?

Answer 17

Most economic schemes were ineffective and they caused a lot of backlash from native population because often they disregarded traditional organisational or land-owning structure or farming methods, many colonies felt overrun by the British.

Question 18

Name reasons why maintaining the colonial empire became increasingly difficult after 1951.

Answer 18

Increasing pressure form United Nations and USA and USSR, growing independence movements and French experience of armed conflict in Algeria, want of peaceful dissolution to maintain economic and political links, the Empire became an extremely complicated structure with different levels of independence, Harold Macmillan and Ian Macleod wanted decolonisation, some historians stress the importance of public opinion but there is no significant evidence of this .

Question 19

Define term decolonisation.

Answer 19

Withdrawal from previously held colonies.

Question 20

Name three main tory personalities who had significant impact on decolonisation after 1951

Answer 20

Ian Macleod, Enoch Powell, Reginald Maudling, Harold Macmillan.

Question 21

What was Macmillan’s attitude towards decolonisation?

Answer 21

Fully supported it, delivered “winds of change” speech

Question 22

Name three main colonial conflicts Britain was involved in between 1951 to 1964

Answer 22

Malaya, Cyprus and Kenya.

Question 23

Name reasons why Britain applied for the EEC membership in 1961.

Answer 23

The British government hoped that entering EEC will give Britain access to new fast-growing market, this will give boost to export industry and grow production, competition will encourage efficiency and quality of products, encourage growth of British industry by associating Britain with buoyant EEC economy.

Question 24

Why was Britain’s application turned down in 1963?

Answer 24

De Gaulle was concerned with British relationship with United States, he was disappointed for example that Britain was offered Polaris missiles and France was not, He also felt that Britain was not able to compromise on status of some of its colonies and Commonwealth, although other member countries did not share his concerns.

Question 25

How many elections took place between 1951 and 1964?

Answer 25

Four, 1951, 1955, 1959 and 1964