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.
British Imperialism- CEW Imperialism is a policy in which a strong nation (Great Britain) seeks to dominate weaker countries (India) politically, economically, and socially. Around the 1700’s, the British came to India due to economic interests in India. Before the arrival of British, the Mughal Empire had started to collapse. This made the arrival of British to India easier. During the occupation of British in India, they made a lot of profits due to the abundant resources in India.
For starters, the English helped and hurt themselves when they imperialized India. England took many of India’s resources and used them to improve their own economy. They “live[d] off of India while they [were there]” (Doc. 2), making extra profit out of agriculture and manufactured goods that they didn’t have to grow or build themselves. However, England had to invest a lot of money in the improvement and modernization of India.
They thought that as the wealth creators of Britain that they also deserved a say in British politics. They decided that they would unite if they were to have any power to accomplish this. The First Reform Act of 1832 gave greater influence to the middle class and the Second Reform Act of 1867 gave the vote to the skilled working class in the towns. By 1884 these same rights were extended to rural workers.
Their main reason, among others, for wanting to be there was because of economics. In order to gain their trust, Englishmen adopt and adapted to Indian culture. The most intriguing fact in this tale of events is how overtime British attitudes change from eagerly wanting to be apart of this specific culture to not wanting to be associated with them at all. The details of how and why this happens gradually unfold and develop in Dalrymple’s novel White Mughals-Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth Century India. In the beginning of the English-Indian relationship, things flowed very easily.
They saw India as a country that was fit for democracy. After World War One, many Britons were uncomfortable with the existence of the Empire. They believed the idea of democracy couldn't exist in the Empire, and as such believed that giving colonies dominion would represent the progress and spread of the British ideal of democracy. However, there were others, like Churchill who disagreed with those who were in power at the time. He saw that India had been part of the British Empire since the 18th century; it was the 'Jewel in the crown of the British Empire.'
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.
However not only did the Declaration of Independence bring about a global surge but also the United States constitution has also influenced the rest of the world in a new legal structure. David Armitage writes “As the first successful declaration of independence in history, it helped to inspire countless movements for independence, self-determination and revolution after 1776 and to this very day.” (Armitage, 2014) This very clearly demonstrates a simple explanation as to the impact of the declaration. The declaration itself was formed during a revolution and independence movement against the tyranny of the British. This tyranny therefore led to a mass influence in what Andrew Heywood describes as” Anti Colonial Nationalism” (Heywood,2007).This form of Nationalism worked perfectly alongside the declaration itself with a large portion of the original declaration listing “specific grievances to justify an armed insurrection”(Kramer,2011).As Kramer writes the declaration presented a large list of grievances and crimes which the British had committed on the American people during their reign. These grievances helped to unite the different colonies under one aim for Independence.
Westward Expansion There are many factors to consider when trying to decide which force had the greatest impact on the nation. Nationalism, when people hold great pride in their country, influenced heavily on the nation by bringing us closer to our neighbors and unifying us as a society. January 1815, a British fleet with 7500 troops lands near New Orleans. When the United States conquered the British, it was our nations first true look at nationalism. While this impacted our nation, the other competing forces still had a more significant impact.
Nationalism also helped the push for westward expansion and the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine is a policy of the United States introduced on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention. However, this did not last long and was broken predominantly by the Panic of 1819, which caused mass bank failures, unemployment shot up, and a slump in agriculture. The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial crisis and depression the U.S. faced.