OCR History GCSE Revision notes

Britain 19051918
One government that is often seen as an example of 'reforming' by introducing positive changes that
really improve peoples' lives is the Liberal government in Britain of 19061914. Many historians label this
period the beginning of the welfare state, but why did the Liberal government introduce its reforms?…

1908 eighthour day for miners.
1910 halfday a week off for shop workers.
A Merchant Shipping Act improved conditions for sailors.
From 1911, MPs were paid. This gave working men the opportunity to stand for election.
Why did the Liberal government introduce these reforms?
1901 Seebohm Rowntree's study of York…

2. 1909 Budget
The 1909 Budget to pay for the reforms, Lloyd George's 1909 budget raised duties on tobacco and
spirits, raised income tax by 16 per cent (from 1s to 1s 2d), and introduced a new 20 per cent tax on
profits from selling land.
3. Parliament Act 1911…

The First World War was the first 'total war' the whole nation had to be mobilised to fight. Men joined
the army while women took over their jobs, but was this change lasting or a temporary effect of total
war?

The population at home the basics

People in Britain were…

3. Reduced workforce women took on traditional men's jobs and became firemen, coalmen and
bus conductors.
4. Rationing the main burden of coping fell on mothers. The Women's Land Army helped with
agricultural production.

After the war, men took back their jobs and most women returned to the family. However,…

right to education, and the right to have a job such as a doctor. Many women, however, saw the vote as
the vital achievement that would give them a say in the laws affecting their lives.
The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies the Suffragists was formed in 1897 and…

Why did women get the vote?
The Suffragettes

The Suffragettes caused a lot of anger and it has been argued that they had lost support for
their cause.
Women had not been given the vote by 1914, even after a lot of Suffragette violence.
Some historians argue that, although they…

Sylvia Pankhurst

June 1914 Sylvia Pankhurst took a delegation of working class women to a lobby Prime
Minister Asquith who did not think that working class women were intelligent enough to have the
vote.
This action by the women proved Asquith wrong.


The Suffragists

Some historians argue that the longterm…