#english_history 

# Politics
## The rise of the Labour Party
An important political development during the [[First World War from Britain's perspective|WWI]] was the rapid growth of the [[The end of "England's summer"#^6540f7|Labour Party]]. Though formally established in 1900, its beginnings dated from 1870s, as part of the trade union movement, which had themselves by 1918 grown enormously. In 1918, for the first time, all men aged 21 and some women over 30 were allowed to vote.

The Labour Party went from 29 seats in 1906 in Parliament, to 191 in 1923. In 1924 the first Labour government was created. It wasn't "socialist" though, as they wanted to develop a kind of socialism that would fit the situation in Britain, as most people in the working class did not know of socialist ideas. As a result of Labour's success in 1924, the [[English Parliament#^266d68|Liberal Party]] almost completely disappeared.

## The rights of women
Women's struggle for voting right is a long one. Even back in **1867** a radical thinker, John Stuart Mill, tried unsuccessfully to include votes for women in the Reform Bill.

The industrial revolution had inceased the power of men, and their feelinlg about property. A man thought of his wife and daughters as his property, and so did the law. It was almost impossible for women to get a divorce, and until **1891** husbands were still allowed by law to beat their wives. Men of all classes were able to take sexual advantage of working women. They were propbably treated worse in Britain at the time than in any other industrialising European country at the 
time.

After 1870 the situation, particularly for middle-class women, began to improve. They were slowly given voting rights and the right for education, with some even studying at Oxford/Cambridge. 
Working-class women were more interested in their legal rights concerning working conditions, and they even found support in the trade union movement.

In **1897** women started to demand the right to vote in national elections. Within 10 years these women, the "suffragettes", had become famous for the extreme methods they were willing to use.
The war in 1914 changed everything. Britain would have been unable to continue the war without the woman who took men's places in the factories. Women had to be given the vote.

The liberation of women took other forms. They started to wear lighter clothing, shorter hair and skirts, etc. Many men also moved away from Victorian values. Leading writers like D.H. Lawrence, [[Aldous Huxlely]], [[James Joyce]] and Virginia Woolf freely discussed sexual and other sensitive matters.

## The welfare state
During the and by the end of [[Second World War from Britain's perspective|WWII]], the people wanted to plan and create a noble future for themselves. Many reforms were introduced, both by Conservative and Labour Party ministers. These reforms introduced were based on the [[The end of "England's summer"|"New Liberal"]] reforms which had been carried out just before the First World War. It could be said that the whole nation had moved politically to the left.

In **1944**, for the first time, the government promised free secondary eduation for all. In **1946** a Labour government brought in a new National Health Service, which gave everyone the right to free medical treatment. In **1948**, the National Assistance Act provided financial help for the old, the unemployed and the sick.

Progress in these areas was the result of new ideas about basic human rights. Important citizens' rights had been established earlier, like the right to vote and the freedom of speech, but in the 20th century people to demand basic social rights, such as the right to work, the right to proper healthcare, etc.

The Labour government went further, taking over the Bank of England, power and transport., basically nationalising many industries. That was a disappointment. 

As a result of these changes, the government became known as "the welfare state", and both parties saw eye to eye on the need to keep it up. 
However, the welfare state also introduced new problems, such as the bloated governmental administration and irresponsibility of the people using the welfare systems.

## Britain, Europe and the US
It was natural that Britain was unable to give proper attention to its relations with Europe until it was no longer an imperial power, as it was busy managing the colonies.
After 1815 and WWI, Britain became closer to European affairs, though because of some politicans Britain had found it difficult to enter European politics until after the WWII.

In **1949** Britain joined with other Western European countries to form the Council of Europe, thought in **1957** Britain refused
 to join a European Common Market, as it was unwillling to surrender any sovereignty or control over its own affairs.
 
 It quickly became clear that Britain's attitude was mistaken, as its financial and economic difficulties increased. Britain could not afford to stay out of Europe. But it was too late: when Britain tried to join the European Community in **1963** and again in **1967**, the French president General de Gaulle refused to allow it. Britain only became a member in **1973**, after de Gaulle's retirement.
 
 But even after that Britain's attitude towards the European Community continued to be unenthusiastic. Although trade increased, most British continued to feel that they had not had any economic benefit from Europe. This feeling was strengthened by Margaret Thatcher's policies, which welcomed co-operation but only if this did not meany any lessing of sovereigny.
 
 Britain felt its special relationship with the US was particularly important. It was vageuly believed that this relationship came from a common democratic tradition, but the US was way more democratic. Even Britain's alliance with the US was very recent, and it rested almost entirely on a common language.
 
 After WWII, Britian found itself unable to keep up with the military arms race between the US and the USSR, so they agreed to take weapons from the US. 
 Ever since 1945 the US and the political right in Britain were more openly hostile to the Soviets, while the Europeans and the British political left were just as suspicious, but were more anxious to improve relations. Even by the end of the 20th century, Britain still had not made up its mind whether its first political loyalty lay across the Atlantic, or in Europe.
 
## The New Poltics
Few of the problems of the 1980s were entirely new. However, many people blamed them on the new Conservative government, and in particular, Margaret Thatcher. She'd been elected in 1979, cause she promised a new beginning for Britain. The need for such a break with the past had been widely recognised for some years, and as a result, both the Conservatives and the Labourers moved further away from the political centre.

This basic change in British politics caused a major crisis for the Labour Party, which had alrealdy been plagued by internal conflict, but now was engulfed in an acrid conflict between the party's left and the right.

Labour suffered a further blow when 4 senior right-wing members left the party to form their own "Social Democratic Party" in **1981**, merging with the small but surviving Liberal Party. For some years the Liberal Party had been calling for a change in the electoral system. It had good reason to do so, as the amount of votes received by party doesn't correlate with the amount of the received seats in Parliament.

Thatcher had come to power calling on the nation for hard work, patriotism and self-help, and defined herself as a 19-th century Liberal, as she wanted free trade at home and abroad, individiual enterprise etc.
Not everyone in the Conservative Party was happy about the change in policy. The discontented members became known as "wets", who wanted the state to impose its power and make the people feel more loyal to it.

By the beginning of the 1982 the Conservative government had become deeply unpopular in the country, but [[Loss of the British Empire|the Falklands War]] helped Thatcher gain popularity again, so she won the 1983 election, even though a clear majority had voted against the return of a Conservative government. Thatcher had promised to stop Britain's decline, but not only she hadn't succeded by 1983, but had deteriorated the situation. However, she could claim she'd begun to return nationalised industried to the private sector, that she'd gone even further than she'd promised. She could be less confident about increased law and order, as in spite of a large police force, there was a falling rate of crime prevention and detection.

The most serious accusation against the Thatcher government was that it had created a more unequal society, a society of "two nations", one wealthy, and the other destitute. The division was also geographical, between prosperous suburban areas, and neglected inner city areas of decay.
More importantly, people saw a divide between the north and south of the country, as the north was much poorer. 
The black community also felt separated from richer Britain. In spite of these problems, Thatcher's Conservative Party was still more popular than any other single party in 1987, when the Conservative party once again returned to power with Thatcher in lead. This was partly because since 1979 personalities had become politically more important, and Thatcher was seen as more determined and resolute.

There were other reasons why the Conservatives, with only 43% of the national vote, won so convincingly. Its emphasis on personal wealth and property ownership had begun to change the way many traditional Labour supporters voted. It may be that many lower income people living in the Midlands and south shifted their loyalties to the right. On the other hand, in Scotland the Conservatives lost half their seats, mainly to Labour or the SNP.

The 1987 election brought some comfort, however, to 3 underrepresented groups: women, blacks and asians.

# Society
## Disappointment and depression in the early 20th century
Alongside the social effects of WWi were far-reaching economic ones, such as an enormous increase in taxation. The demands of the war had also led to a doubling in the size of the civil service, and greater government control of national life. It was inevitable that there should be increasing disagreement between workers and the government, evident by the continual strikes.

In **1926** discontent led to a general strike by all workers. The immediate cause of the strike was a coalminers' strike. It ended after 9 days, partly because members of the middle class worked to keep services like transport, gas and electricity going. But it also ended because of uncertainty among the trade union leaders, who feared the dangers both to their workers and the country of "going too far".

There was little to bedone, as all over Europe and America a serious economic crisis was taking place. It led to the economic collapse of Germany, which led to the rise of Adolf Hitler.
Because the worst effects of the depression in Britain were limited to ceretain areas, the government did not take the situation seriously enough, even though the areas most affected by the depression were the only industrial centres of Britain, where the workers still lived in poor conditions. The Labour Party was no better at dealing with the situation than the Conservatives.

It is suprising that Britain avoided a serious political crisis in the 1920s due to widespread poverty. In other European countires economic crisis and social unrest had led to great changes, like the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the Nazi takeover in Germany.

## Recovery from the crisis
In the 1930s the British economy started to recover, especially in the Midlands and the south. This new kind of development depended on Britain's growing motor industry, which was based in the Midlands.

Economic recovery resulted partly from the danger of another war, when in 1935 it was clear that Germany was preparing to regain its position in Europe, so Britain had to start mass producing armaments.

## Youthful Britain
Like much of post-war Europe, Britain had become economically dependent on the US. Thanks to the US **Marshall Aid Programme**, Britain was able to recover quickly from the war.
Working people now had a much better standard of living, and there was enough work for everyone.

People had free time. It was also the age of youth, as young people had more money in their pockets than ever before. The result was that the young began to influence fashion, particularly in clothing and music - "pop" culture, the [[Beatles]].
Young people began to express themselves in other ways. They questioned authority and the culture in which they'd been brought up. In particular they rebelled against the sexual rules of Christian society. Improvements in birth control made this more open sexual behaviour possible, and divorce became much easier. Older people were frightened by this development, calling the new culture the **"permissive society"**.

## A popular monarchy
During the 20th century the monarchy became more popular than before. [[House of Saxe-Coburg and Windsor|George V]]
had attended the first football Cup final match, spoke to all peoples of the Commonwealth in a radio transmission, and became a "people's king".

However, in 1936, when Edward VIII abdicated in order to marry a divorced woman, and divorce was still strongly disapproved of at that time.

During the WWII George VI became greatly loved for his visits to the bombed ares of London, and he and his wife were admired for refusing to leave Buckingham Palace even after it also had been bombed.

Since Elizabeth II's ascnesion, the monarchy has steadily increased in popularity.