Y112: Britain 1900-1951 | OCR A-Level History A (H505)

Y112: Britain 1900-1951

112 questions
10 subtopics
British period study and enquiry, one of thirteen
Y101 to Y113

Britain 1900–1951 is unit Y112 of OCR History A, one of the thirteen options in unit group 1, the British period study and enquiry; a student sits one of them.

Its seven key topics are political issues c.1900–1914, social issues 1900–1918, Britain at war 1914–1918, British politics 1918–1929, British domestic politics 1929–1939, economic issues 1918–1939 and domestic politics 1940–1951. 105 recall questions across 10 subtopics.

Sample questions from Y112: Britain 1900-1951

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

British politics 1918–1929: the coupon election, the coalition’s fall and the 1923 election

Why did the coalition win so heavily in 1918?

Show the answer
Lloyd George was the man who had won the war and promised homes fit for heroes, the electorate had just been trebled and had no settled loyalties, feeling against Germany ran high, and the opposition was split between rival Liberals and an inexperienced Labour party.
British politics 1918–1929: the first Labour government, Baldwin’s government and the 1929 election

What was the Zinoviev Letter?

Show the answer
A letter published four days before the 1924 poll, purporting to come from the Communist International and urging British sympathisers to subversion; almost certainly a forgery, it reinforced the charge that Labour was soft on Bolshevism.
British domestic politics 1929–1939: the second Labour government, the National Government and extremism

Why did the Labour cabinet break up in August 1931?

Show the answer
Ministers accepted most of the economies but split roughly evenly on cutting unemployment benefit by ten per cent, which the TUC refused to countenance; unable to carry his cabinet, MacDonald went to the King to resign.
Economic issues 1918–1939: Post-war economic conditions and problems of the mining industry

What did the Sankey Commission recommend in 1919, and what was done?

Show the answer
Its chairman and half its members favoured nationalising the coal industry, but the government rejected that and returned the mines to their owners in 1921, who immediately imposed wage cuts and district agreements.
Economic issues 1918–1939: impact of the Great Depression and recovery

What were the causes of interwar unemployment?

Show the answer
Chiefly structural — the permanent loss of export markets in the old industries — reinforced by the overvalued pound before 1931, the world depression after 1929, and new machinery that reduced the labour each ton or bale required.
Domestic politics 1940–1951: Churchill’s coalition, the Home Front and the Beveridge Report

What effect did the war have on the nation's health?

Show the answer
Rationing and free milk and vitamins actually improved the diet of the poorest, infant mortality fell, and the Emergency Hospital Service brought voluntary and municipal hospitals under one national direction, showing that a state medical service could work.
Domestic politics 1940–1951: the 1945 election, the Attlee governments and the elections of 1950 and 1951

What balance of payments problems did the Attlee governments face?

Show the answer
The abrupt end of Lend-Lease left a huge deficit met by an American loan whose condition, making sterling convertible in 1947, drained the reserves within weeks and had to be suspended; devaluation from $4.03 to $2.80 followed in 1949, and Marshall Aid helped bridge the gap.
Enquiry: Political issues c.1900–1914 — England in 1900, Trade Unions and problems of industrial unrest

How did the trade unions change between 1893 and 1914?

Show the answer
Membership grew from about one and a half million to over four million as unskilled workers organised, the unions financed and then dominated the new Labour Representation Committee after Taff Vale, and by 1914 the largest of them were prepared to act together in the Triple Alliance.

The 10 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
British politics 1918–1929: the coupon election, the coalition’s fall and the 1923 election	Recall questions on the coupon election of 1918, Liberal decline, the peacetime coalition’s achievements, the Geddes Axe, the fall of the coalition in 1922 and the significance of the 1923 election.	8
British politics 1918–1929: the first Labour government, Baldwin’s government and the 1929 election	Recall questions on MacDonald’s government of 1924, the Campbell case and Zinoviev Letter, Conservative recovery, the gold standard, Chamberlain’s health reforms, the 1927 Trade Disputes Act, equal franchise and the 1929 election.	12
British domestic politics 1929–1939: the second Labour government, the National Government and extremism	Recall questions on the second Labour government and the crisis of 1931, the National Government, the means test, leaving gold and free trade, unemployment policy, the Abdication, Communism and the British Union of Fascists.	20
Economic issues 1918–1939: Post-war economic conditions and problems of the mining industry	Recall questions on post-war economic conditions, the problems of the staple industries, economic unrest, the problems of the mining industry, the causes and failure of the General Strike.	12
Economic issues 1918–1939: impact of the Great Depression and recovery	Recall questions on the impact of the Great Depression, unemployment in the interwar period, causes, extent, regional patterns, the economic policies of the National Government, success and limitations, social policies of the National Government, the recovery, causes, extent, regional variations.	8
Domestic politics 1940–1951: Churchill’s coalition, the Home Front and the Beveridge Report	Recall questions on Chamberlain’s replacement, Churchill’s coalition, wartime food, health, women, industry and housing, the Beveridge Report and the Butler Education Act of 1944.	10
Domestic politics 1940–1951: the 1945 election, the Attlee governments and the elections of 1950 and 1951	Recall questions on Labour’s 1945 victory, national insurance and the NHS, nationalisation, housing, the balance of payments, austerity, Attlee’s leadership and challenges to it, the Labour split of 1951 and the elections of 1950 and 1951.	17
Enquiry: Political issues c.1900–1914 — England in 1900, Trade Unions and problems of industrial unrest	Recall questions on England in 1900, the Conservative government under Balfour 1902–1905, reasons for the Liberal landslide, the origins and development of the Labour Party and the Trade Unions from 1893 to 1914, constitutional crisis, causes, course and results.	9
Enquiry: Social issues 1900–1918 — development of ideas of new liberalism	Recall questions on the development of ideas of new liberalism, the debate over poverty and the debate over national efficiency, education and young people, old Age pensions, national Insurance, measures to protect workers.	8
Enquiry: Britain at war 1914–1918 — Attitudes to war and role of women in the war	Recall questions on attitudes to war, the impact of war on the Home Front, political developments during the war, the splits in the Liberal Party and their importance, the development of the Labour Party and its Constitution of 1918.	8

Y112: Britain 1900-1951 is 112 of the 6,240 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

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.