History (part 3) 20th century Britain

The 20th century Britains decline as a world power

Victoria deaths in 1901 coincided with the decline in the power of the Empire.

World War 1 (1914 1918)

The Central Powers: Germany Austria Hungary The Allied Powers: Britain France Russia (out 1917) the USA (in 1917) The Treaty of Versailles (1919)

The inter-war years (1919 1938)

British women got the right to vote (suffrage) in 1919. The Great Depression of the 1930s began with the Wall Street Crash (1929)

World War 2 (1939 1945)

The Axis Powers (Fascists/Nazis): Germany Italy Japan The Allied Powers: Britain France the USA the USSR The war cost Britain of its national wealth.

Post-war Britain (1945 1960)

An Age of Consensus

Post-war construction
Labors triumph over Conservative in the 1945 election. Clement Atlee became Prime Minister. The nationalization of major industries The Welfare State

Foreign policies
The British Empire had been almost completely dismantled with most of the newly independent nations joining the Commonwealth. Loss of influence in world affairs Britains application for membership of the European Economic Community (EEC) later EU admitted 1973

Britain during the 1960s & 70s

The Swinging Sixties

The 60s & 70s

The Swinging Sixties & Seventies: 1. The rise of pop culture drug & sex (the Sexual Revolution) 2. Music: rock n roll the British Invasion the Beatles & the Rolling Stones 3. Fashion: the mini (car & skirt Mary Quant)

The Rolling Stones

The mini-car

Symbol of the 60s: mini-car & mini-skirt

5-point hairstyle

Bouffant hairstyle

The Hippies

The Thatchers years (1979 1991)

Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher

Thatcherism
Strictly market-oriented, rejected central economic planning Privatization (denationalization) Britain continued to be outperformed by its competitors The weakening of the welfare state

From Tony Blair to David Cameron

Cool Britannia

2 main parties

Conservative vs. Labour

Conservative Party Labour Party

The party of the right The party of patriotism & nationalism Emphasizes on the importance of law & order; the maintenance of strong armed forces

The party of the left The party of social justice Strong links with trade unions Emphasizes on the achievement of wellbeing and opportunity for all members of society

New Labour
An attractive impression of youthful freshness New Labour, New Life for Britain A shift towards the centre from the left a remarkably undoctrinaire Labour

The 21st century

Sept 11, 2001 attacks the US launched a Global War on Terrorism. Britain has become a close ally - the invasion of Afghanistan (2001) & Iraq (2003) The London Bombings (July 7, 2005) Facing public criticism, Tony Blair resigned during his 3rd term (2007)

The 21st century

Gordon Brown, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer became Britains Prime Minister. The worldwide economic crisis in 2008 2009. The general election in May 2010 saw the victory of the Conservative Party . A coalition government (with the Liberal Democrats) David Cameron as PM.