Britian 1940-51 - Impact of WW2 on British Society
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- Created by: ellie garrett
- Created on: 30-12-12 11:57
Class Barriers - Social Mobility
Military conscription
- Sept 1940> men 18-41
- Sent to N Africa, Altantic Ocean, Malta, Burma, Italy etc.
- Older men - Home Guard/Civil Defence
- Unmarried women 19-30 - Women's Auxilary Force/war work
- 1941 - 3 mill in forces - 1 mill voluteers
- 1944 - 4 mill men & 1/2 mill women
- HG = 1.75 mill 1943
- 1944 - 1.5 mill foreign troops
Migration
- Young people met people they wouldnt have in peace time - US GIs, Polish pilots, German refugees, evacuees etc. - widened social horizons
- Some -ve effects - crime, bereavment, broken marriages etc.
- Ethnic violence - US troops in Lancashire etc. 1943
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Class Barriers - Employment
- Unemployment fell by 50% by 1942 - disappered by 1943
- Full employment in poorest areas
- Women filled factories
- Factory work & mining noisy + dirty - Bevin's Boys - 20,000
- Resentment of spivs - black market + crime
- 11-12 hour days & night shifts - little social life
- Tirdness = factory accidents - 1000 deaths pa
- Limited striking rights - <2 mill working days lost
- TU membersship >ed 6.3 mill to 8.9
- WCs mens wages > 80% - womens > 50% - living standards > - rationing + controls
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Class Barriers - Housing and Evacuation
Housing
- 220,000 houses built 1939-40 - only 7000 more by 1943
- 4 mill destroyed - bombing raids
- 60,000 killed, 86,000 killed & >2 mill homeless
- Sent to rest centres, schools & church halls - conditions poor
- WC resented MC in cities - could escape to country
Evacuation
- Sept 1939 - 1 mill children moved
- Some treated well - better fed & clothed
- Some neglected & homesick
- Jan 1940 - 50% went home
- Evacated again in 1940 Blitz & 1944-5 V1 + V2 attacks
- Disrupted education of 1000s
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Class Barriers - Daily Life
- Rationing
- Battle of Atlantic 1939-43 - U-boats attacked merchant ships with British imports
- Strict rationing system - prosecution for food waste
- Wooton encouraged new recipes for rations
- Identity cards
- Germans, Italians & Ausrtians put in camps - deported to Canada or strict police control - most freed by 1943
- 1,600 suspected traitors jailed without trial inc. Mosley
- Blackouts at night
- Propaganda
- Overseas mail & newspapers censored
- Phonelines tapped
- Deaftist attitude discouraged
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Women - Employment
- Housewives had to deal with bombing & keep together familes separated by conscription, evacuation, long work hours etc.
- 1940> women did mens jobs
- 1943 - 50% factory workers women
- 500,000 in AFs - admin, clerical, supportive etc.
- 350,000 in Land Army
- Code breakers - Bletchley Park
- Some in active roles; fighter controllers & plotters, radar operaters, signaling etc.
- B4 war - women gave up work when married
- 1943 - 80% married women working & housewife
- Unequal pay - 60-70% of mens wages
- 1945> many forced to give up jobs
- %age of married working women higher than B4 war
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Women - Sexual Revolution
- Moral restraints lossened
- Women less reserved
- Would readily had one night stands with soldiers simply because they may have never seen them again
- Lonely housewives often slept with soldiers - broken marriages
- Covered up sexual behavior after war
- Many argue women were happy to become wifes + mothers 1945> - revolution in 1960s
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Propaganda
- B portrayed as united & patriotic - 'good war'
- Showed Blitz as time of comradeship & sharing
- Newsreels of casualties hidden
- Survirors shouted abuse at onlookers & many homes looted - covered up
- M of I - Careless Talk Costs Lives
- M of F - Dig for Victory
- Squander Bug - tempted public to spend money insted of buying war bonds
- M of Fuel & Power discouraged waste of energy
- 1945 -10 mill radios - BBC - mixture of news, discussion, comedy, dance music & light entertainment - boosted morale
- Cinema - average 30 million p/w - light British & US films to raise mood & propaganda docs
- Brits & Yanks gave good images of each other - strong US influence;
- 'big band sound'
- jive & jitterbugg
- Lucky Strike ciggs, gum & nylon stockings
- language - OK
- mixing of US troops & local girls - 60,000 GI Wives
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Impact on attitudes
- Monarchy
- Reputation damaged by Abdication Crisis 1936
- Princesses Elizabeth & Margret gave good impression during war - royal family focal to national pride
- strenthened links between B & empire - PMs of Austrailia, Canada & S Africa - admired in B
- Labour party
- B4 war - easy to attack as revolutionnaries
- After war - proved reliable & effective - popular domestic policies
- Memories of Great Depression
- Public ready to accept reforms & state intervention
- 'Never Again' - popular idea - became slogan
- Social trends
- Many lives changed completely - many didn't
- Many wanted to keep changes - many didn't
- Propaganda & real experinces blurred - denial of true events
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