British history essay question: Do you agree with the view that the outcome of the election of 1945 was 'a foregone conclusion before electioneering even started'? Explain your answer, using sources 4, 5 and 6 plus your own knowledge. The ending of the Second World War in May of 1945 caused Britain to be plunged into a National Election to take place in June of the same year. Clement Attlee called for the election, believing that the radical ideas laid out by the Labour Party would advance Britain politically and gain Britain economic and social prosperity. As outlined in source 5, there was belief that the war "increased the sense of shared experience", changing the views of the public before electioneering even started, leading to the belief in a foregone conclusion.
Undoubtedly, the first steps towards a working class achieving political power came from the emergence of Chartism. The Chartist leader, O’Connor strived to enhance the credibility of the working class people through his enthusiastic policy of “peaceful if we can, violence if we must!” This in itself could be the foundation of why it would seem to take so long for the workers to form a government. An aggressive, yet defensive approach lacks the vigour to get a message across instantly and with force. This non-revolutionary mentality seemed to be in the air throughout this whole period. Nonetheless, this movement of Chartism was indeed the first
The Act promoted national unity. All political parties joined together, and the Socialists fell into line as it was the popular view at the time. The divide between political parties and the difference in class no longer existed. However this doesn’t last for long as the problems on the Home front increased. Germany were unable to manage their home front effectively during the war.
Communists or the KDP also saw the opportunity that Hitler saw but with the democracy on its way out there was only room for one government, and Hitler new this. The ploy had so many advantages to Hitler that it would be hard to see how Hitler could not have been involved. This one event allowed him too effectively dishevel his main adversary, the foremost blockade that stopped Hitler’s dictatorship. How he went about “blaming” the communist for the event and thus eliminating them, was also a catalyst for all the events to come. By convincing Hindenburg that there was a large communist threat the country was put into a state of emergency and, with Hindenburg’s backing, Hitler was allowed to pass decrees to govern Germany anyway he liked, with the financial backing of krupp and bosch etc, which in this case is fortunate for the question at hand.
The war had caused the USA and the USSR to become the new superpowers of the world. They had been allies in the defeat of Germany but with different ideologies, suspicions grew and conflicts began. The USA was democratic in that the public elected people from different parties whereas the USSR was a one party dictatorship where people could only vote for communists. This meant that everything was owned by the state and every one’s individual rights were closely controlled as they believed the most important thing was the good of society as a whole. This differs to the USA, who was Capitalist, which meant private individuals owned industry and kept the profits.
History-WWI Paige Nussey Do you agree with the view that Conscientious Objectors were treated fairly by the authorities during the First World War? There is no doubt that the governments use of the tribunals were only for good intentions and to aid the war effort. However things such as the Military Service Act ensured that as many men as possible were signed up for the war. Nevertheless there were many men who opposed this, as it not only provoked them but also went against their beliefs, these were called conscientious objectors. The tribunals ensured that these ‘Conjies’, as they were known, were dealt with in an appropriate manner and would make a dictation as to their punishment.
The 1918 election subsequently became known as the coupon election in reference to the signed letter of endorsement that selected coalition candidates received from Lloyd George and the conservative leader Andrew Bonar Law. The war time coalition government was overwhelmingly successful and people believed they could carry on this success into peacetime. Promises such as punishing the Germans by paying for the war and 'homes for heroes' was promised and were seen as achievable likewise so was the belief that the coalition government could return the country to normality. 700,000 houses were built out of 200,000. It was a start.
History Controlled Assessment Task Some people have the view that the events at Dunkirk in 1940 deserve to be remembered as triumph for Britain and its people. How far do your sources support or contradict this interpretation? The battle of Dunkirk can be seen as both a deliverance and disaster. It can be seen as deliverance by the fact that the British and French survived which is a great feat on its own, because seeing what predicament the British and French were in, it was likely they were going to lose. They turned the tables and 338,000 men were saved.
Moreover, Stalin was against the NEP, so he advocated industrialization which again strengthened his support. These reasons build to why Stalin emerged as leader of the USSR by 1929. Firstly, a strong reason why Stalin became the leader of the USSR was, in 1925 his policy of ‘socialism in one country’ proved very popular with party members. Trotsky believed in ‘permanent revolution’ and as stated above Stalin believed in ‘socialism in one country’. Trotsky wanted to help communists in other countries to the revolution and push forward the revolution in the USSR.
In August 1940 Winston Churchill made his speech about ‘Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few’. This describes effectively the importance of the RAF on winning the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain was a huge triumph for the RAF and Britain over Hitler as it was the first time he had ever been beaten. It proved to the other countries that were under attack by Hitler, or had been taken over by, that Germany could be defeated. In the act of Britain standing up to Germany with it not mattering if we were outnumbered and not fully prepared, showed them that if you stand up to Germany and dig deep and not give you will come through against his vast army.