Britain Transformed, 1918-97 | Edexcel A-Level History (9HI0)

Britain Transformed, 1918-97

158 questions
16 subtopics
Paper 1: the breadth study, one route of eight
Paper 1

A Paper 1 breadth study of Britain from the end of the First World War to the election of New Labour, covering the changing party system and the economy, welfare, health and education, class, gender, race and immigration, and the transformation of living standards and leisure.

The historical interpretations section asks how far Thatcher's governments changed Britain.

Sample questions from Britain Transformed, 1918-97

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

A changing political landscape

Why did the Liberal Party decline after 1918?

Show the answer
The Asquith-Lloyd George split, the extension of the franchise to working men and women, the rise of a class-based Labour vote, and the loss of its Nonconformist and Irish bases.
Change and challenge in the workplace

What new industries grew in the 1930s?

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Motor vehicles, electrical goods, chemicals and light engineering, mostly in the Midlands and the south east, serving a domestic consumer market.
Public health and the National Health Service

What were the founding principles of the NHS?

Show the answer
Comprehensive, universal and free at the point of use, funded from general taxation rather than insurance contributions.
Class and social values

How deep were class divisions between the wars?

Show the answer
Very. Housing, schooling, diet, health, accent and leisure differed sharply, and the depressed regions and the prosperous south lived almost separate lives.
Race and immigration

How was Commonwealth immigration restricted?

Show the answer
Through a series of Immigration Acts from 1962 onwards that limited entry.
Popular culture and entertainment

How important was cinema between the wars?

Show the answer
Enormously. Weekly attendances reached about 20 million by 1939, and picture palaces offered warmth, glamour and shared national experience.
Thatcher’s economic policies

What were the effects of the 1981 Budget?

Show the answer
It raised taxes during a recession, against orthodox advice and a famous letter from 364 economists, and was followed by recovery which the government claimed as vindication.
Political and social division within Britain

What was the significance of the miners' strike of 1984-85?

Show the answer
A year-long confrontation ending in total defeat for the NUM, which broke union power, devastated pit communities and became the emblem of national division.

The 16 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
A changing political landscape	Recall questions on the decline of the Liberals and rise of Labour, the National Government, the post-war consensus, and why historians dispute that term.	10
Economic challenges and responses, 1918-79	Recall questions on the staple industries and the return to gold, the Depression, the managed economy, stop-go, the IMF loan, and North Sea oil.	10
Change and challenge in the workplace	Recall questions on the decline of the staples and the new industries, the General Strike, post-war union strength, and the Winter of Discontent.	10
Providing social welfare	Recall questions on the household means test, the Beveridge Report, the Labour reforms of 1945 to 1951, and the pressures on welfare by the 1970s.	10
Public health and the National Health Service	Recall questions on provision before 1939, the founding principles of the NHS, how Bevan won over the doctors, charges, and the Black Report.	10
Education and widening opportunities	Recall questions on the Butler Act and the tripartite system, the spread of comprehensives, the Robbins Report, the Open University, and the Great Debate.	10
Class and social values	Recall questions on the effect of the two wars, the affluent worker debate, the permissive legislation of the 1960s, and the opposition it provoked.	10
The changing role and status of women	Recall questions on the franchise Acts, the marriage bar, wartime work, the Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Acts, and how complete the advance was.	10
Race and immigration	Recall questions on policy before 1939, the Windrush generation, the colour bar, Notting Hill, the Race Relations Acts, and restriction of entry.	10
Changing living standards	Recall questions on the interwar divide between regions, wartime rationing and austerity, the rise in real incomes to 1979, and the rediscovery of poverty.	9
Popular culture and entertainment	Recall questions on cinema between the wars, Reith's BBC, the coming of ITV, the coronation broadcast, pop music, and pirate radio.	10
Leisure and travel	Recall questions on spectator sport, paid holidays and the holiday camps, the package holiday, mass car ownership, and the Beeching cuts.	9
Thatcher’s economic policies	Recall questions on monetarism and the 1981 Budget, privatisation and Right to Buy, the union legislation, Big Bang, and how the record is judged.	10
Rolling back state intervention and the public sector	Recall questions on what rolling back meant in practice, why spending did not fall, the curbing of local government, and the poll tax.	10
Political and social division within Britain	Recall questions on the north-south divide, the miners' strike, the inner-city riots, widening inequality, Section 28, and the Falklands effect.	10
Thatcherism on politics and party development	Recall questions on what Thatcherism was, how it changed the Conservative Party, why she fell, Major's difficulties, and the making of New Labour.	10

Britain Transformed, 1918-97 is 158 of the 6,832 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £9

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.