Lose of faith in Chamberlain due to failure
of appeasement and failing to procure an
alliance with Soviet Russia
Failed to prepare the economy for war
urgently . Army was not equipped well enough,
and blockades were not tight enough.
New Prime Minister - Between Winston Churchill and Lord
Halifax, many supported Halifax including Attlee and
Chamberlain. However, Halifax himself believed more in
Churchill himself
Churchill's Faults - impulsive, dictatorial and constantly
interfered in the details of government departments Poor
committee chairman Ruthlessly critical
Deputy PM Clement Attlee was although
uncharismatic, more organised
As Chamberlain remained leader of
Conservatives it was very easy for
Churchill to act above party policies
His new government consisted of Conservatives but
also Labour MP's, Liberal MP's and talented
individuals such as Bevin Beaverbrook and Anderson
British Defence
'Battle of Britain', aerial battles between Luftwaffe and
a few hundred RAF pilots Late Sept, evident Luftwaffe
had not gained complete control in the air
Hitler's attentions switched to invading USSR,
this gave Britain chance to build itself up, gain
allies and fight back.
Dunkirk - within weeks of being elected as
the New PM Churchill had set into motion a
plan to evacuate 300,000 men from Dunkirk
Many thought with the defeat of France with no
other close allies the best policy was to
negotiate with Hitler, however Churchill fought on
Labour and the Trade Unions were needed
on side during the war so was initially given
16 seats, this was later increased to 27,
mainly to do with Home Front
War Economy
Emergency Powers Act
Government had authority to make
regulations covering any aspect of life
necessary to secure the defence of the realm.
Ministries were set up under this act; -
Ministry of Aircraft Production - Ministry of
Labour - Ministry of Production
Coal Industry
Despite Bevin's work for many
industries total output and
productivity remained disappointing
Many coal miners went into other war
time jobs or joined the armed forces.
Coal mines were still not modernised enough so
Britain had to rely on oil imports which made
economy vulnerable due to the U-Boat attacks
Rationing
Due to U-Boat campaigns imports were restricted to
raw materials and machinery Therefore rationing on
food and clothing was introduced
Ministry of Food - Lord Woolton Equal
rationing 'Mend and Make-do' Home growing
was encouraged - 'Dig for Victory'
Millions of acres of land was
ploughed up an production shifted
from meat to cereal
Non-essential industries were run down so that their
machinery could be used for war production New
production methods were introduced to maximise
output and minimise labour
Dollar and Gold reserves were spent by '41
Britain was reliant upon America
Taxes - PAYE system introduced
'43 Income tax upto 10 shillings
Indirect taxes on goods
Loans
$1,000million interest free
loans Other countries sent
IOU's to be paid after the war.
America provided lend-lease scheme '41 provided war
material and essential supplies which would be repaid or
returned at a later date £27,000 million in total
Post-War Britain
Threats
Japan overran many of
Britain's possessions in
the Far East
North Africa - Germany had
reversed Britain's earlier
successes against Italy
U-Boats threatened Britain's supply
line in North America
Tackling Social Problems
Beveridge Report '42 - slaying the five giants' - want
- sickness - lack of education - bad housing -
unemployment
Nota:
'
To maintain morale, wanted to be able
to give hope for a better Britain -
Increasing demand by public, TUC's and
leading churchmen on radio shows
Emergency Hospital Scheme - fear of mass bombing
meant State had greater control over hospitals and
there was free medical treatment to bomb victims.
Rationing - free milk and extra food
to children and mothers
'mean test' abolished in '41 Employment Policy -
future government to maintain high and stable
level of employment and those returning from war
were not to be left unemployed
Education Act; free compulsary
secondary education and school leaving
age was raised to 15, then later 16.
Grants and Loans to university students
NHS;Everyone has equal access to
medical services and hospital care to be
free at the point of delivery.
Ministry for Town and Country
Planning '43; - deal with blitzed or slum
areas which needed to be redeveloped.
Family Allowances Act; weekly benefit
of 5 shillings for the second child and
subsequent children
Wartime Coalition
Successes
Strong Government; Many Labour leaders
began to admire Churchill a lot
Failures
Surrender in Singapore '42 Disagreements
within Cabinet Criticism of Churchill Opposition
from independantly minded Labour MP's and
several women MP's
Opposition of 'backbench' Labour MP's over
governments negative response to Beveridge Report
Divisions over plans for nationalisation of land
and industry. Controls over the State were
disputed, Conservatives agree many would have
to stay in place while Britain recovered however
Labour wanted to keep them premanently