History Britain flash cards

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What did the Representation of the People Act 1918 do?
Gave the right to vote to men over 21 and some women over 30. It increased the electorate by 7 million. In 1912 the electorate was 8 million and in 1918 it was 21 million!
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Who did the Representation of the People Act affect?
Men and women, all parties (decline of Liberal, rise of Labour and continued dominance of Conservative)
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What did the Fisher Act 1918 do?
Raised the school leaving age to 14 and abolished fees for elementary schools.
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What did the Sex Disqualification Act 1919 do?
Gave women the right to be members of the jury, magistrates, barristers, high-ranking civil servants and graduate from Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
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What did the Unemployment Insurance Act 1920 do?
Extended the number of workers eligible for unemployment insurance, and created the 'dole' (unemployment benefit paid by tax)
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What did the Equal Franchise Act 1928 do?
Gave women over 21 the right to vote (same rights as men).
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What did the Poor Law Act 1930 do?
Renamed 'poor law' as public assistance.
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What did the Unemployment Assistance Act 1934 do?
Reversed the 1931 cuts to benefits (the 10% cut) and set up the Unemployment Assistance Board.
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What did the Education Act 1936 do?
Raised the school leaving age to 15 (not fully enforced until 1944)
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What did the Butler Act 1944 do?
Introduced the tripartite system in education (post 11)
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What did the Family Allowance Act 1945 do?
Proposed by the Beveridge Report 1942, it provided a child benefit of 5 shillings a week to children (except the eldest) from school age to age 18 and if they were in full time education or apprentices.
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What did the National Insurance Act 1946 do?
Enforced compulsory insurance for pensions, sickness and maternity. Paid a state pension to all men over 65 and women over 60, of £1.30/week for a single person and £2.10 for a married couple.
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What did the National Health Service Act 1946 do?
Set the foundations of the NHS, comprehensive and universal healthcare, 'free at the point of delivery'
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What are 6 nationalisation acts?
The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, The Bank Of England Act 1946, The Transport Act 1947, The Electricity Act 1947, The Gas Act 1948, The Iron and Steel Act 1949
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What did the National Assistance Act 1948 do?
Gave welfare to those not covered by national insurance as they didn't work. The homeless, disabled and unmarried mothers could claim. It gave social welfare responsibilities to local authorities, e.g. finding suitable accommodation for those in need
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What did the National Economy Act 1931 do?
Introduced a means test for unemployment benefits to limit the benefits bill.
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What did the means test introduced in 1931 do?
Assessed an individuals income to identify if they were entitled to welfare provision. Short-time workers were disqualified. And benefits could only be claimed for 6 months before reapplying. It introduced transitional payments.
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Who did the means test affect?
Men who worked occasional days in shipyards or collieries and were dependent of welfare provision the rest of the time, so impacted deprived regions such as Tyneside and south Wales.
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What did the Industrial Injuries Act 1946 do?
Extended welfare by giving workers the right to compensation for accidents and injuries in the workplace. In the 1940s, on average 2,425 people were killed a year, at work.
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What did the Obscene Publications Act 1959 do?
Created a new offence for publishing obscene material, with the exception of artistic work using obscene words and images, and allowed Justices of the Peace to issue warrants (allowing the police to seize such materials).
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Give an example of a case where the Obscene Publications Act 1959 was used
The trials of the Penguin Books for publishing 'Lady Chatterley's Lover'
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What did the Suicide Act 1961 do?
Decriminalised the act of suicide (so if the attempt failed, the individual wouldn't be prosecuted).
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What did the Murder Act 1965 do?
Abolished the death penalty.
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What did the Sexual Offences Act 1967 do?
Decriminalised acts of homosexuality between two males over the age of 21, in private.
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What did the Abortion Act 1967 do?
Legalised abortion up to 24 weeks (and made is accessible through the NHS)
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What did the Theatres Act 1968 do?
Ended censorship in theatres.
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What did the Divorce Reform Act 1969 do?
Allowed a divorce to be granted after 2 years of separation if both parties wanted it, and after 5 years if one party wanted it.
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What did the Equal Pay Act 1970 do?
Gave equal pay to men and women for doing equal work. But not fully implemented until 1975.
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What did the Industrial Relations Act 1971 do?
Set up the National Industrial Relations Court and aimed to introduce the measures that Castle proposed, the act was ineffective as inflation was high and the TUC refused to comply
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What did the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 do?
Established the Equal Opportunities Commission to ensure fair employment practices were observed (and women had legal protection against discrimination in education and employment). It established tribunals to deal with workplace sexual harassment.
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What did the Education Act 1976 do?
Encouraged plans for extension of comprehensive education. Wilson proposed ending funding for direct grant schools and making them comprehensives. Grant schools were forced to charge fees and become private schools instead.
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When was the General Strike?
1926, May
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Why did the general strike happen?
To prevent a general strike, the gov gave a subsidy to mine owners to maintain miners' pay until May 1926. When the subsidy was coming to an end the miners refused to accept lower wages so a million miners were locked out of their workplaces.
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When was the means test introduced?
1934
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How did the government respond to the general strike 1926 ?
They used the new BBC to broadcast radio messages in support of the government position. A group of volunteers was organised to do the work the strikers refused to do e.g. buses, trains, telephone exchanges. .
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What was the effect of the general strike 1926?
It failed as unions returned to work when they realised they were covered by the Trades Disputes Act 1906. Wages for the miners were slashed and 30% of the industry's jobs were lost.
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As a result of the General Strike 1926, what did the new Trades Disputes Act 1927 do?
Prevent sympathetic strikes and mass picketing.
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When was the wartime coalition government established?
1940, led by Churchill
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When did nationalisation of major industries begin?
1946
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When was the Suez Crisis?
1956, October - November
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What was the Suez Crisis 1956?
The president of Egypt, Nasser, wanted the Suez Canal (part owned by Britain and France) in Egyptian hands. Nasser occupied the Canal Zone in July 1956. France, Israel and Britain invaded in November. US President was angry he hadn't been consulted.
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What was the impact of the Suez Crisis 1956?
US President threatened to sell off America's reserves of British currency and collapse the value of the pound. So Britain was forced to withdraw and Eden resigned in January 1957. From then on Britain had to seek US approval to take action.
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What was the dissent of the right 1959?
3 of Macmillan's key men (Chancellor, Treasury Minister and Financial Secretary to the Treasury Enoch Powell) resigned as they thought Macmillan was spending too much which would later cause inflation. Their resignations had little effect on public.
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What was the Night of the Long Knives 1962?
Where Macmillan sacked 7 ministers from his cabinet and replaced them with younger men, as the Conservatives were seen as ageing and privileged.
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What was the Profumo Scandal 1963?
Secretary of state for war, Profumo, admitted to having an affair with Christine Keeler (who had also had an affair with a Russian spy) after denying the affair to Macmillan. Led to decreased deference.
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When and why did Heath introduce a 3-day week?
1974 Jan-March, the country was already short on coal due to the oil crisis 1973, so when there was a second miners' strike 1973-74 there were powercuts. Instead of negotiating pay, the gov declared a state of emergency, 3 day week.
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What was the 3 day week?
Businesses were supplied with electricity for 3 days a week so for the rest of the time employees were forced to stay home. It was very unpopular and showed Heath lacked ability to deal with the unions.
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When was the winter of discontent?
1978-79
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What was the winter of discontent?
A winter of strike action 1978-79 due to the strict 5% pay rise for low paid workers. Led to the downfall of Callaghan.
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What were 3 main strikes during the winter of discontent?
Ford pay negotiations (57,000 strikers), haulage strikes (lorry drivers overtime ban and demanded 40% pay rise), public sector strike (grave diggers, bin men, nurses' union etc...) all demanded high pay
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Who did the Representation of the People Act affect?

Back

Men and women, all parties (decline of Liberal, rise of Labour and continued dominance of Conservative)

Card 3

Front

What did the Fisher Act 1918 do?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What did the Sex Disqualification Act 1919 do?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What did the Unemployment Insurance Act 1920 do?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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