Theme 4 a 2 - The effects of 'total war' and austerity, 1939-51

Question 1

What event put pressure on the standard of living in Britain during WW2?

Answer 1

Germany’s sinking of British shipping the need to divert resources away from the civilian economy to the Army. This put pressure through rationing.

Question 2

Year - the creation of the Ministry of Food

Answer 2

1940

Question 3

What did the Ministry of Food involve?

Answer 3

50,000 administrators meant that nearly all foodstuffs and other essential items were allocated by ratio cards.

Question 4

What happened as a result of a lack of white flour?

Answer 4

Introduction of a ‘national loaf’. A grey-looking type of bread which was unpleasant to eat. 1/7 consumers preferred it to normal bread.

Question 5

What proportion of consumers prefered the national loaf to a white flour loaf of bread?

Answer 5

1/7 preferred to normal bread

Question 6

Year - restaurants subject to rationing controls.

Answer 6

1942

Question 7

What was a reason for the rationing controls places on restaurants?

Answer 7

Preventing resentment from working-class households who saw wealthier Britons getting round the rationing restrictions and eating well.

Question 8

What did rationing actually help with from the publics point of view?

Answer 8

Health improved as the Ministry of Food was supplementing rations with vitamins and minerals. This lead to a fall in infant mortality.

Question 9

Explain what a weekly ration would include

Answer 9

• 4 ounces of margarine and bacon
• 1 egg
• 2 ounces of butter and tea
• 1 ounce of cheese
• 8 ounces of sugar

Question 10

What was established to allow women munitions workers freedom to work?

Answer 10

Creches established for many essential war industries.

Question 11

How many creches were opened within 6 months of them being established in the workplace?

Answer 11

667 creches

Question 12

Date - first creche open in war industries

Answer 12

November 1941

Question 13

How many deaths were the result of mass bombing during the war?

Answer 13

40,000

Question 14

How many homes in towns and cities were destroyed by mass bombing during the war?

Answer 14

2 million.

Question 15

What did the Taylor-Walters Report identify?

Answer 15

Specified minimum space and number of rooms, restricting building to 12 houses per acre.

This was followed by the new builders and architects after mass bombings during the war.

Question 16

When were clothes rationed until?

Answer 16

1949

Question 17

What was utility furniture?

Answer 17

Furniture produced during and after the war was designed to use as little wood as possible.

It was restricted to newly married coupled or people who had been ‘bombed out’ during the war

Question 18

What proportion of British food was imported?

Answer 18

55%

Question 19

What did the USA do to end Britain’s wartime financial lifeline in 1945?

Answer 19

Lend-Lease Agreement.

Question 20

What international efforts impacted spending at home?

Answer 20

Commitment to feed the British controlled parts of Germany.

Keeping men fighting in Greece.

Re-establishing control over Asian countries like Malaya.

Question 21

What event in 1950 effected British defence commitments?

Answer 21

Korean War

Question 22

What proportion of the GDP was dedicated to Defence spending in 1950?

Answer 22

23% (Korean war)

Question 23

What happened in the Winter of 1946-47 that effected austerity in Britain?

Answer 23

The country was paralysed by snow and ice, as coal stokes were so low from the war then had to rely on electric fires which placed a strain on the national grid.

Question 24

How did the Govt. do to try and prevent the problems of the winter of 1946-47?

Answer 24

Cut electricity supply to industry and homes to 19 hours a day.

Question 25

Who was the minister of fuel and power during the winter of 1946-47?

Answer 25

Emmanuel Shinwell

Question 26

What proportion of sheep died during the winter of 1946-47?

Answer 26

1/4

Question 27

How type of economy did the Labour govt. believe would help raise standards of living?

Answer 27

A planned economy

Question 28

What did the Labour govt. of 1950 say was inevitable?

Answer 28

Accepted shortages in food and other essential items and luxuries were inevitable.

Question 29

What type of houses were made as a result of the mass bombings during WW2?

Answer 29

Pre-fabricated homes.

Question 30

Give an example of a pre-fab estate made between 1945-46

Answer 30

Excalibur Estate in southeast London

Question 31

What act was followed by the building of the Excalibur Estate in 1946?

Answer 31

1944 - housing and temporary accommodation act

Question 32

How long were pre-fab houses meant to last?

Answer 32

2 bedroom bungalows lasting a max of 10 years. (many still standing in 2015)

Question 33

What was the nickname given to concrete fremed pre-cast houses?

Answer 33

Airey houses - Built by industrialist Sir Edwin Airey

Question 34

What major problem was faced by Airey Houses?

Answer 34

Persistent problems with cold and damp.

Question 35

Give an example of a block of flats built in 1951

Answer 35

Lawn Flats in Essex. - First, if a generation of ‘point’ blocks which were flats accessible from a central landing and elevator.

Question 36

Give two examples of ‘point’ blocks made as a result of WW2

Answer 36

Lawn Flats in Essex

Lansbury Estate in Poplar

Question 37

Why was the festival of Great Britain celebrated?

Answer 37

Celebrated the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Help boost exports and to showcase British manufacturing and science after 6 years of post-war austerity.

Celebrated British industry, arts and science and inspired the thought of a better Britain and promoted recovery!

Question 38

Year - ‘festival of Great Britain’

Answer 38

1951

Question 39

What did the government hope the festival of Great Britain would do?

Answer 39

Raise morale and act as ‘one united act of national reassessment and one corporate reaffirmation of faith in the nation’s future.

Question 40

Where was the focal point of the exhibition of the festival of Great Britain?

Answer 40

London’s south bank a former warehouse district was a new modern new riverside embankment. The reshaping meant to showcase what houses would look like in the future. As Victorian slums would be cleared away.

Question 41

Year - New Towns Act

Answer 41

1946

Question 42

What did the New Towns act do?

Answer 42

Created 14 new towns across Britain. These were designed to relieve the overcrowded working-class districts.

Question 43

Give some examples of towns made from the New Towns Act

Answer 43

Stevenage, Telford and Cumbernauld