Post-war Britain and modern history

A Long and Illustrious History · 8 min read

After 1945 the Labour government under Clement Attlee created the welfare state. The National Health Service (NHS) began in 1948, guaranteeing a minimum standard of health care for all, free at the point of use. Aneurin (Nye) Bevan led its establishment.

The 1942 Beveridge Report recommended that the government fight five “giants”: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. The 1944 Education Act (the “Butler Act”) introduced free secondary education in England and Wales.

India, Pakistan and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) became independent in 1947. Over the following years many colonies became independent and the Empire was replaced by the Commonwealth.

In the 1950s there were labour shortages and people were encouraged to come from the West Indies, India, Pakistan and later Bangladesh to work.

The 1960s were known as the “Swinging Sixties”, with growth in fashion, music and culture. Laws on divorce and abortion changed. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones became famous worldwide.

British inventions of the 20th century include the television (John Logie Baird), radar (Robert Watson-Watt), the jet engine (Sir Frank Whittle), the hovercraft (Christopher Cockerell), the cash machine/ATM (James Goodfellow), IVF (Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe — the first “test-tube baby” in 1978), MRI scanning (Sir Peter Mansfield) and the World Wide Web (Sir Tim Berners-Lee, 1990). Dolly the sheep (1996) was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell.

The UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973. Margaret Thatcher became the first woman Prime Minister in 1979 and served until 1990. In 1997 Tony Blair’s government introduced devolution: the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly were created in 1999. The Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. In 2010 a Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition was formed.

Key facts

• 1948 — NHS founded (Aneurin Bevan).
• 1942 — Beveridge Report; 1944 — Education Act (Butler Act).
• 1947 — independence for India, Pakistan and Ceylon.
• 1973 — UK joins the European Economic Community.
• 1979–1990 — Margaret Thatcher, first woman PM.
• 1998 — Good Friday Agreement; 1999 — Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly.
• Concorde, a supersonic plane developed by Britain and France, first flew in 1969 and was in service from 1976 to 2003.

Important dates

Important people

• Clement Attlee: Labour Prime Minister 1945–51; built the welfare state.
• Aneurin (Nye) Bevan: Minister for Health who led the creation of the NHS.
• William Beveridge: Economist behind the 1942 Beveridge Report.
• R A Butler: Responsible for the 1944 Education Act.
• Margaret Thatcher: First woman Prime Minister, 1979–90.
• Sir Tim Berners-Lee: Inventor of the World Wide Web.
• Alan Turing: Mathematician whose Turing machine helped lay foundations for computing.
• Dylan Thomas: Welsh poet and writer, author of Under Milk Wood.

Memory tips

• Beveridge’s five giants: “When Doing Its Sums, Idle” — Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, Idleness.
• Inventors: Baird = TV, Whittle = jet, Cockerell = hovercraft, Berners-Lee = web.

Practice questions

Source: Life in the UK: A Guide for New Residents (3rd ed.), ch.3: Britain since 1945