Modern Britain: British/English history since the First World War

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Modern British history (1914-present)


Sections:	Introduction
	The First World War (1914-1918)
	Between the World Wars (1918-1939)
	The Second World War (1939-1945)
	After World War Two (1945-present)
	Further information
	Links

Related pages:	Early Britain (before 1066)
	The Middle Ages (1066-1485)
	The Tudors (1485-1603)
	The Stuarts (1603-1714)
	The Georgians (1714-1837)
	The Victorian age (1837-1914)

INTRODUCTION

A brief summary of the history of Britain from the start of the First World War (1914) until now.

Ruling family	King/Queen	Dates
HOUSE OF WINDSOR	George V (5th)	1910-1936
	Edward VIII (8th)	1936-1936
	George VI (6th)	1936-1952
	Elizabeth II (2nd)	1952-

Year	Prime Minister	Party
1908	Herbert H. Asquith	Liberal (1915: Coalition Government)
1916	David Lloyd George	Liberal (Coalition Government)
1922	Andrew Bonar Law	Conservative
1923	Stanley Baldwin	Conservative
1924	James Ramsay MacDonald	Labour
1924	Stanley Baldwin	Conservative
1929	James Ramsay MacDonald	Labour
1931	James Ramsay MacDonald	Labour (National Government)
1935	Stanley Baldwin	Conservative (National Government)
1937	Neville Chamberlain	Conservative (National Government)
1940	Winston Churchill	Conservative (Coalition Government)
1945	Clement Attlee	Labour
1951	Winston Churchill	Conservative
1955	Sir Anthony Eden	Conservative
1957	Harold Macmillan	Conservative
1963	Sir Alec Douglas-Home	Conservative
1964	Harold Wilson	Labour
1970	Edward Heath	Conservative
1974	Harold Wilson	Labour
1976	James Callaghan	Labour
1979	Margaret Thatcher	Conservative
1990	John Major	Conservative
1997	Tony Blair	Labour
2007	Gordon Brown	Labour

THE FIRST WORLD WAR (1914-1918)

	The Great War (7 DVDs) Studio: Dd Video Date: March 2002		All About the First World War 1914-1918 Author: Pam Robson, John York Publisher: Hodder Wayland Date: May 1996
	Forgotten Voices of the Great War (book) Author: Max Arthur Publisher: Ebury Press Date: October 2003 Audio CD		Key Battles of World War I Author: David Taylor Publisher: Heinemann Date: 2002

Trench warfare
in France

The Cenotaph
The Mall, London

Poppy wreath (c) ukstudentlife.com
Poppies
Remembering the dead

In 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne was killed in Sarajevo in Bosnia. Austria-Hungary attacked Serbia, bringing Russia into the war, and Austria-Hungary's ally Germany attacked France through the neutral country of Belgium. The invasion of Belgium caused Britain to join the war, supported by soldiers from the dominions and colonies of the British Empire. Turkey joined Germany and Austria-Hungary (the Central Powers), extending the war to Gallipoli and to parts of the Middle East. Italy was neutral at the start, but later joined on the same side as Britain's side (the Allies). Russia and Germany made peace after the Russian revolution in 1917, but American forces joined the Allies early in 1918.

Many of the largest battles were in France and Belgium (the Western Front). Soldiers dug lines in the mud called trenches. Machine guns, explosives and poison gas were used in the fighting. The misery of trench warfare can be understood by reading the poems of poets such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. The Germans used U-boats (submarines) to attack British ships, and zeppelins (airships filled with hydrogen) to bomb England. Aircraft began to be used by both sides first for collecting information, and later for bombing. Tanks were used for the first time.

The war ended after a successful attack by the Allies, supported by American soldiers. A peace agreement was signed which started at 11am on 11th November 1918. Nearly 1 million British men died and over 2 million were wounded during the war (more than 8 million people were killed in total). Most British towns have a war memorial listing the names of the local people who died in the war (the names of those who died in the Second World War were added later). Remembrance Day is on the Sunday closest to 11th November: there is a big ceremony at the Cenotaph in the Mall in London, and there is a two-minute silence at 11am. For photos from this event, see: Ideas/Album/RemembranceSunday. People buy poppies and wear these to remember people who have died (poppies are a symbol of the war because they grew in the battlefields on the Western Front). This tradition is now used to remember those who have died in all wars.

For more information about British history during the First World War (known at that time as the Great War):
BBC History: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/wwone.shtml
The Imperial War Museum: http://www.iwm.org.uk
First World War Encyclopaedia: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWW.htm

Buy products connected with Britain in World War One:

Book ; Music ; Poems

BETWEEN THE WORLD WARS (1918-1939)

Buy products connected with Britain in the inter-war years:

Book

THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1939-1945)

	The World At War Author: Mark Arnold-Forster Publisher: Hodder Wayland Date: January 2001 DVDs		All About the Second World War 1939-1945 Author: Pam Robson, John York Publisher: Hodder Wayland Date: May 1996
	Ration Book Cookery: Recipes and History Author: Gill Corbishley Publisher: English Heritage Publications Date: April 2004

Winston
Churchill

A Spitfire

Guards Memorial (c) ukstudentlife.com
Guards Memorial
St James's Park, London

Buy products connected with Britain and World War Two:

Book ; Music ; Poems

AFTER THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1945-PRESENT)

Buy products connected with Britain after World War Two:

Book

A History of Modern Britain
Author: Andrew Marr
Publisher: Macmillan
Date: May 2007

[information to be added]

Post-Thatcher

Politics
Margaret Thatcher was replaced as leader of the Conservative party by John Major, who won the general election in 1992 against a Labour party led by Neil Kinnock. However, in the 1997 general election the Labour party won a landslide victory under the leadership of Tony Blair, who also won the two following general elections. A Scottish Parliament was created in 1999, transferring some local decision-making powers from London to Edinburgh. A Welsh Assembly was created in Cardiff. In Northern Ireland a peace process led eventually to the establishment of a Northern Ireland Assembly in 2007, including both unionists (who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK) and republicans (who want Northern Ireland to join the Republic of Ireland). The former chancellor Gordon Brown is due to take over as the British Prime Minister in July 2007.

War
Following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein, British troops were part of an international coalition force backed by the United Nations. This first Gulf War quickly drove out Iraqi forces from Kuwait. British soldiers were involved in Nato operations in the Balkans following the break-up of the Yugoslav Federation. After attacks on New York and Washington by Al Qaida in September 2001 (commonly known as 9/11), the US president George W. Bush declared a "war on terror". Britain joined an international coalition of forces in Afghanistan (Al Qaida's base). It also took part in the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. A series of terrorist attacks on public transport in London on July 7 2005 (commonly known as 7/7) caused over 50 deaths and 700 injuries.

Economics
The pound joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), tracking the German mark, but market pressures forced Britain to leave this on Black Wednesday in September 1992. After this time the British economy enjoyed a long period of low inflation and strong growth. The Bank of England was given control of setting interest rates - previously the Government made these decisions, influenced by political considerations. Most European Union countries adopted the euro in 2002, but the UK kept the pound as its currency.

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FURTHER INFORMATION

The Imperial War Museum: http://www.iwm.org.uk

	This Sceptred Isle: The Twentieth Century Publisher: Penguin Books Date: September 2000 Audio CDs		Modern Britain 1914 - Present Publisher: Kingfisher Books Date: May 2002
	Britain's Century Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Date: August 2000

LINKS

Watch British newsreels: Britain/History/News.
Remembrance events: Ideas/Events/November
Photos of the Remembrance Sunday ceremony: Ideas/Album/RemembranceSunday
The royal family and UK countries: Britain/Countries
Houses of Parliament: Travel/Tours/London/Parliament

Home page: Home

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