Flashcards
The Making of Modern Britain, 1951 - 2007
Cards in this deck (34)
- 1Age of Affluenceperiod of consumer prosperity and rising living standards from 1950 to 1973, sometimes known as 'the long post-war boom.'
- 2apartheidterm used in the Republic of South Africa before 1994 to define the policy of 'racial separation'.
- 3BSEBovine spongiform encephalitis, an incurable disease in cattle that destroys the nervous system. An outbreak of BSE in the 1990s caused major disruption to British agriculture.
- 4Butskellismterm invented by economists to describe 'consensus' centrist policies merging the ideas of Conservative moderates, symbolised by R. A. Butler, and Labour moderates, symbolised by Hugh Gaitskell.
- 5balance of paymentsthe relationship between government expenditure and income, particularly in terms of exports and imports.
- 6Big Bangderegulation of the London Stock Exchange on 27 October 1986.
- 7clause fourclause in the Labour Party constitution committing the party to nationalisation, i.e. state ownership of the 'commanding heights of the economy'.
- 8collectivist policiespolicies based on the idea of government intervention in society and the economy.
- 9decolonisationthe process by which colonial powers gave up control and granted national independence to former colonies.
- 10deflationary pressuresusually caused by government policies to fight against the dangers of inflation, 'deflating' the economy by cutting spending and borrowing.
- 11demographic changechanges in population, including birth and death rates, generational change and patterns of population movement.
- 12devaluationaction to reduce the value of the pound sterling in relation to other currencies, such as the US dollar.
- 13deregulationremoving government controls and allowing greater competition. In the 1980s, there was deregulation of the financial markets; there was also deregulation in other areas, such as public transport.
- 14détenteterm used to define attempts to limit the dangers of the Cold War by reducing tensions and improving relations between the Soviet Bloc and the West.
- 15devolutionallowing a degree of self-government to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
- 16EECEuropean Economic Community formed by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 created by the 'the six'. The EEC became the EU in 1992.
- 17EFTAEuropean Free Trade Area, formed in 1959. Member states were: Britain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Portugal and Switzerland.
- 18Euroscepticpeople in Britain who opposed to any steps towards further European integration or who demanded renegotiation of the terms of Britain's membership.
- 19EUEuropean Union, the name of the EEC after the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992.
- 20Falklands Factorthe effect of victory in the 1982 Falklands War in boosting the popularity of the government.
- 21first-past-the-post-systeman electoral system in which seats are won by a simple majority, not by proportional representation.
- 22flying picketsmass pickets taken by bus to the scene of industrial disputes in order to add pressure on workers to join strikes.
- 23Gross Domestic Product (GDP)a term for the measurement of the national wealth, by adding together the value of all economic production.
- 24hard leftterm used in the 1970s and 1980s to define extreme socialist movements within the Labour Party, such as the Militant Tendency.
- 25infrastructureterm used to define the framework of a modern industrial economy, such as - roads, railways, telecommunications, power stations and public utilities.
- 26long post-war boomthe period of prosperity and rising living standards in Britain and Europe after WW2, from about 1950 to 1973.
- 27mass picketinglarge group of picketers organised to intimidate workers and to try to force workplaces to shut down by preventing access.
- 28monetarismideas particularly associated with the 'Chicago School' of economists, led by Milton Friedman. Monetarism proposed strict controls over the supply of money in order to combat inflation.
- 29National Servicecompulsory military service by young males for two years from the age of 18. National service was introduced in 1947 and abandoned in 1960.
- 30NATOthe North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a military alliance formed in 1949 under American leadership to defend the West against the threat of Soviet communism.
- 31negative equitywhen house prices fall and a homeowner is paying more for a mortgage than could be obtained by selling the property. This was a particular problem in early 1990s.
- 32New Commonwealthcountries that gained independence from Britain after 1945; as opposed to the 'old' white dominions, such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
- 33Night of the Long Knivesname for Harold Macmillan's ruthless cabinet reshuffle in 1962 in which one-third of the cabinet was sacked.
- 34OMOVOne Member One Vote: the change to the Labour Party constitution in 1993, giving the vote on party matters individual members of the party. This measure reduced the power of the trade unions because it ended the former system of block voting.
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- Flashcards on The Making of Modern Britain, 1951 - 2007, created by ellesxmmonds on 24/03/2015.
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