The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

The First World War shattered the Liberal Party and reshaped British politics. Coalition government, internal splits, an

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

Between the two World Wars, British politics shifted dramatically. New voters reshaped elections, Labour replaced the Li

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

The First World War forced the government to take direct control of the economy. Afterwards, outdated industries, bad fi

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

Between 1914 and 1939, British society shifted dramatically. Women gained new freedoms, working-class communities faced

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

After the First World War, British governments passed laws to improve housing, schools, and welfare support for ordinary

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

Between 1916 and 1922, Ireland moved from armed rebellion against British rule to a negotiated split into two separate s

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

The Second World War transformed British politics. Churchill led Britain through the war, but voters then swept Labour i

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

The Conservatives won four elections in a row after 1951 and governed Britain for thirteen years. Labour spent those yea

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

Both World Wars forced Britain to redirect its entire economy towards fighting. After each war, Britain faced a mix of s

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

The Second World War and its aftermath transformed British society. Rationing gave way to a consumer boom, women and you

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

After the Second World War, the Labour government built a Welfare State — a system where the government provides healthc

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

After partition in 1921, Ireland remained deeply divided. Northern Ireland's Catholic minority faced discrimination, and

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

The World Wars and their legacies: Britain, 1914–1964

Both World Wars acted as powerful catalysts for change, reshaping British politics, society, and the economy in ways tha

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

In the mid-1800s, a tiny wealthy elite controlled British politics. Only a small fraction of men could vote, and two shi

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Gladstone and Disraeli dominated British politics from the 1860s to the 1880s. Both men expanded the right to vote, grad

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

By the 1850s, Britain had become the world's dominant industrial and trading nation. From the 1870s, that dominance bega

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Victorian Britain was a deeply unequal society. Industrial wealth made some people very rich, but millions of working-cl

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Victorian Britain produced competing ideas about how to tackle poverty. Some people believed individuals should improve

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Irish tenant farmers campaigned against exploitative landlords in the 1870s–80s. Irish MPs then demanded a separate Iris

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Between 1886 and 1905, the Conservatives dominated British politics. Meanwhile, the Liberal Party fractured over key iss

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Between 1906 and 1914, the Liberal government adopted a new belief that the state should actively help the poor. This tr

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

From the 1870s, Britain's economy slowed sharply as foreign rivals undercut its industries and farming. Politicians fier

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Between the 1880s and 1914, British society shifted dramatically. Workers organised into powerful unions, women fought f

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Between 1906 and 1914, the Liberal government passed laws to help the poor, the sick, and the elderly. These reforms use

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Irish nationalists campaigned for Ireland to govern itself through its own parliament. British politicians introduced th

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

Victorian and Edwardian Britain, c1851–1914

Between 1851 and 1914, Britain underwent profound political, economic, and social change — shifting from a system domina

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964