Contemporary Britain - Case Study Example

Contemporary Britain Economy and structure Order No: 188512 No: of pages: 8 Premium – 6530 Introduction: Britain has traversed a war torn path since the 1930’s and 40’s and has ever since strived hard to bring about appropriate changes in every sphere possible. Most of these changes contributed towards the progress of the country, whereas some of them were catastrophic. After the war, which turned out to be in Britain’s favor, the first thing that surfaced was economic planning. People had got used to planning during the war, but planning after the war took on a different dimension altogether. Planning therefore was a transitional process during the conversion of war to peace. Besides the economy getting a face lift, the class structure also changed rapidly due to the major changes that were brought about by the government. How these changes were enforced or brought about is what we are going to discuss in this essay. The War Path: Japan: On July 26th 1945, an important press conference was called for by the Japanese Prime Minister Admiral Kantaro Suzuki to announce that Japan refute the calls of the Allies for unconditional surrender. Ever since it attacked the US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, it had resolutely fought towards a successful completion. The US President Harry Truman, warned Japan of dire circumstances if they failed to comply by surrendering saying that it would result in the “complete and utter destruction” of Japan. But the Japanese were not moved and a rumor was passed that they would shoot their prisoners if the Allied armies attempted to come near them. But after they had won the war, the sole aim of Britain was to regain and reconstruct all that they had lost or all that had been destroyed. Elections: The first step taken by them in this direction was to elect strong leaders who would help them regain their cherished position once again. In the wartime elections carried out in 1945, Foot unexpectedly became the victor in the constituency of Plymouth Devonport, winning over his counterpart, Leslie Hore -Belisha, the former minister. But much to his dismay, he later on realized that he was in for a landslide. Though voting was postponed due to the holidays that came in between, yet it proved well worth the wait for the Labour Party as they came out victorious with 393 seats. Churchill gave in his resignation as Prime Minister and Clement Atlee the leader of the Labour Party was asked by King George VI to form a new government. The Churchill government was in no way competent enough to deal with Britain’s socio – economic problems, unemployment factors and it miserably failed to keep Britain strong enough to stand up against Hitler, hence he had lost his popularity. In 1942, the defeat at Singapore was “the greatest disaster in our history”. (David Childs, “Britain since 1945” – A Political History) The Labor Party: The Labour Party on the other hand was looked upon as the party of the ordinary people or the underdog as it were and it gave a sense of promise and hope to the people towards change and progress. The candidates chosen were an all class party. It had aspiring contenders from the middle class as well as the traditional candidates from the trade Union. British people yearned to be treated with equality and enjoy equal opportunities. They wanted a Britain where unemployment, malnutrition, hate, fear and ignorance was a thing of the past. Attlee set about hand picking the most suitable and very talented people and fixed them in high posts in the government. As Harold Macmillan put it, “These fine men constituted a body of ministers as talented as any in the history of parliament”. (Harold Macmillan, 1945) The British Economy since 1945: There was definitely a clear cut difference between planning during the war and planning during peace. The foremost aim of the government was to reconstruct Britain and bring about economic prosperity and freedom among its people. The progress was rather slow and as described in Correlli Barnett’s “Audit of War” (Alec Cairncross, “The British Economy since 1945”) that people leaned towards central planning due to the insufficient supply on the part of the economy. The State played a major role in industrial reconstruction. Planning was largely based on investment programs which were mostly funded by the public. Investments were meticulously planned and obstacles to modernization were gradually removed to bring about sweeping changes in the British industry. In the years after the war, since 1945, the primary objective of the economic policy was to enable full employment to its citizens. The administration had a direct control over shortages and bottlenecks. In case of any deficit, the government did not allow the rise of foreign exchange but instead it encouraged exports and discouraged imports. Gradually the shortages disappeared and Britain’s economy took on a more balanced position. The textile, building and coal- mining industries which were rather neglected during the war received additional attention towards reconstruction. The other problem faced on the domestic front was the heavy investments which had to be made towards housing because of the great damage to houses destroyed by the bombing during the war. As time passed by, there was a comprehensive change in the social security of the people who looked up to the government to implement what is referred to now as “Welfare State”. (Alec Cairncross, “The British Economy since 1945”) On the international level too, Britain maintained better relations with the United States, Europe and the Commonwealth. Due to the havoc created by the war Britain made short on supply, but instead started importing a lot from other countries. In lieu of this, Britain was unable to pay the exorbitant sums and went deep into debt. The debt incurred was 10,000 million pounds… “it was the largest external debt in history”. (Alec Cairncross, “The British Economy since 1945”) By the 1950’s, Britain’s economy was well underway and production had picked up quite well. The debts had been paid and there was an increase in its reserves. By the 1960’s there was good expansion on the production side but the Labor government had to struggle to maintain a balance on the economic front. The 1970’s again saw a slump in the British economy because of the spiraling of oil prices and the prices of international commodities. This was a period of high inflation and slow economic growth. All through the nineteen eighties, the governments control over the British economy had weakened miserably and the policies related to supply “were downgraded or discarded”. (M.W Kirby, “A Companion to Early Twentieth Century Britain”) Britain was not a country who would rest on its laurels or lament on its past failings. They did face challenging times with the Berlin Wall in 1948, the Suez Canal in 1956 and the Falklands in 1982, (John Ashley Soames Grenville, “A History of the World from the 20th to the 21st Century, 2005) but yet their vision was fixed on enhancing their economy. But Britain had a price to pay when the Labours and the Conservatives criticized each others economic policies. As a result of this the industries that were too sheltered became less competitive and productivity was much less. Hence heavy taxes were levied on the people and the progress of the economy was very slow. Speaking about the present day economy Brotchie says, “The industrial city of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries will rapidly become an artifact from the past, to be visited in the form of an open air museum….while our lives become increasingly dependent on information technologies” (John Brotchie, “Cities of the 21st Century) Social Class and Structure: European class structure has had a great influence over the class structure of Britain. The Queen is the head of the British Monarchy and as such the sovereign head of the social class structure with the House of Lords (upper house of parliament) representing the people in the upper class of society. She has certain powers which she could exercise at her own discretion. The House of Commons (lower house of parliament) represents all the rest of the people. This class of people was differentiated from the upper class by their background, education and interests. Until the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the House of Commons represented the Landed class of people. During the Victorian era, the social class was a National Obsession with the “nouveau riche” class of industrialists who were in the House of Commons strived hard to upgrade their status to the House of Lords by trying to imitate people in the upper classes by way of their dressing, eating and speaking. They also purchased huge property and built grand country houses such as the feudal castles during the aristocratic period. The press was also a powerful player in the arena of politics as they had great influence over public opinion, and hence the term “Fourth estate, was used to describe the press during 19th century. In the 20th and 21st century, the role of the media became more important and significant as technology advanced at a great speed, but the press as a special class is no more considered. Many attempts made to bring about a specific “British” class system failed because it allowed for regional variations. What holds good for England may not hold good for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland because of inter- class relationships. Summing up the economy of Britain we could say that they have had their share of ups and downs but definitely they are making slow but steady progress. They have learnt from their previous mistakes but are optimistic in their outlook by way of pursuing their dream of a safer, healthier and more prosperous Britain. References: Book: Britain since 1945 – A Political History (384 pages) Author: David Childs Publisher: Routledge; 5 edition (January 22, 2001) www.amazon.com/Britain-Since-1945-Political-History/dp/0415248043 Book: The British Economy since 1945 (356 pages) Author: Alec Cairncross Publisher: Blackwell S. Publishing www.booksgoogle.com Book: A History of the World from the 20th to the 21st Century (Pages: 995) Authors: John Ashley Soames Grenville Publisher: Routledge Book: The British Economy in transition: From the Old to the New “Cities of the 21st Century” Author: John Brotchie Publisher: Routledge, 1995 Book: A Companion to Early Twentieth Century Britain (500 pages) Author: Chris Wrigley Publishers: Blackwell Publishing London 1994 Read More