Y113: Britain 1930-1997 | OCR A-Level History A (H505)

Y113: Britain 1930-1997

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

Britain 1930–1997 is unit Y113 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 Churchill’s view of events 1929–1940, Churchill as wartime Prime Minister, Churchill and international diplomacy 1939–1951, Conservative domination 1951–1964, labour and Conservative governments 1964–1979, Thatcher and the end of consensus 1979–1997, Britain’s position in the world 1951–1997. 100 recall questions across 10 subtopics.

Sample questions from Y113: Britain 1930-1997

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

Conservative domination 1951–1964: the 1951 victory, affluence, immigration and the economy

Describe the tripartite school system and its effect on social mobility.

Show the answer
Children were allocated by the eleven-plus to grammar, secondary modern or technical schools; grammar schools allowed some able working-class children to reach university and the professions, but the great majority in secondary moderns were written off at eleven.
Conservative domination 1951–1964: leaders from Churchill to Douglas-Home, scandals and Labour in opposition

Why was Macmillan such a formidable party leader between 1957 and 1962?

Show the answer
He restored confidence after Suez, presided over rising prosperity and won the 1959 election with a majority of about a hundred, projecting the unflappable Supermac image that mocking cartoonists had intended as an insult.
Labour and Conservative governments 1964–1979: Labour victory 1964 and Labour party divisions

State what the Department of Economic Affairs was set up to do, and what became of it.

Show the answer
Created under George Brown as a counterweight to the Treasury, it produced the 1965 National Plan promising twenty-five per cent growth by 1970, but the plan was abandoned after the deflation of 1966 and the department was wound up in 1969.
Labour and Conservative governments 1964–1979: Heath’s government and Wilson and Callaghan 1974–1979

Why was the 1972 miners' strike such a defeat for the government?

Show the answer
It was the first national miners' strike since 1926 and flying pickets closed the Saltley coke depot, so power supplies failed and a state of emergency was declared; the Wilberforce inquiry then granted a large pay rise, showing that a determined union could beat an elected government.
Thatcher and the end of consensus 1979–1997: election victories, monetarism, privatisation and the Right to Buy

What was the difference between the wets and the dries in Thatcher's Cabinet?

Show the answer
The dries, such as Howe, Joseph and later Lawson and Tebbit, backed monetarist discipline whatever the cost in unemployment, while the wets, such as Prior, Gilmour and Pym, wanted a return to reflation and consensus; by the 1981 reshuffle the wets had largely been removed.
Thatcher and the end of consensus 1979–1997: the Miners’ Strike, the poll tax, Thatcher’s fall and the Major years

What did the riots of 1981 reveal, and how did the government respond?

Show the answer
Disorder in Brixton, Toxteth and other inner cities exposed the mix of youth unemployment, deprivation and hostility between the police and young black men; the Scarman Report criticised heavy-handed stop and search and racial disadvantage, and led to reform of police procedure and complaints.
Britain’s position in the world 1951–1997: the USA, Suez, the Cold War and the first approaches to Europe

How did Thatcher handle relations with Reagan and Gorbachev?

Show the answer
She built an exceptionally close ideological partnership with Reagan and supported his hard line and his missile deployments, while identifying Gorbachev early as a man she could do business with and acting as an interpreter between Washington and Moscow as the Cold War wound down.
Britain’s position in the world 1951–1997: Europe, nuclear policy, the Falklands and decolonisation

How did Britain become a nuclear power in the 1950s?

Show the answer
The first British atomic device was tested off Australia in 1952, and thermonuclear tests near Christmas Island in 1957 gave Britain a hydrogen bomb, which ministers believed bought influence with Washington and a seat at any disarmament table.

The 10 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Conservative domination 1951–1964: the 1951 victory, affluence, immigration and the economy	Recall questions on the Conservative return in 1951, housing and living standards, Caribbean and South Asian migration, Notting Hill, the tripartite schools, Butskellism, stop-go and concern about industrial performance.	8
Conservative domination 1951–1964: leaders from Churchill to Douglas-Home, scandals and Labour in opposition	Recall questions on the Treasury resignations of 1958, the premierships of Churchill, Eden, Macmillan and Douglas-Home, the Vassall, Philby, Argyll and Profumo affairs, Conservative decline by 1964 and Labour’s divisions and defeats.	12
Labour and Conservative governments 1964–1979: Labour victory 1964 and Labour party divisions	Recall questions on labour victory 1964, Wilson as leader 1964–1970, economic problems and policies, relations with the Trade Unions, labour party divisions.	8
Labour and Conservative governments 1964–1979: Heath’s government and Wilson and Callaghan 1974–1979	Recall questions on Heath’s 1970 victory, Selsdon, the Industrial Relations Act, the U-turn and miners’ strikes, the Social Contract, the IMF crisis, survival without a majority, devolution and the Winter of Discontent.	12
Thatcher and the end of consensus 1979–1997: election victories, monetarism, privatisation and the Right to Buy	Recall questions on the Conservative victories of 1979, 1983 and 1987, wets and dries, monetarism and its effects, supply-side measures, privatisation, the Right to Buy and trade union legislation.	9
Thatcher and the end of consensus 1979–1997: the Miners’ Strike, the poll tax, Thatcher’s fall and the Major years	Recall questions on the Miners’ Strike of 1984 to 1985, the riots of 1981, the poll tax, the Education Reform Act, support for and opposition to Thatcher, her fall, Black Wednesday, Conservative divisions and defeat in 1997.	11
Britain’s position in the world 1951–1997: the USA, Suez, the Cold War and the first approaches to Europe	Recall questions on the special relationship, the Suez crisis, relations with the Soviet Union, Thatcher, Reagan and Gorbachev, the UN Security Council, Korea, and Britain’s absence from and failed applications to the Common Market.	8
Britain’s position in the world 1951–1997: Europe, nuclear policy, the Falklands and decolonisation	Recall questions on entry to the European Community and Maastricht, Thatcher and Europe, the British bomb and Trident, nuclear protest, the Falklands and Gulf wars, the wind of change, Rhodesia and Hong Kong, and the Commonwealth.	12
Enquiry: Churchill’s view of events 1929–1940 and Churchill as wartime Prime Minister	Recall questions on why Churchill was out of office 1929–1939, his attitude to the Abdication Crisis, attitude towards Germany after 1933, why Churchill became Prime Minister, stance in 1940 and style of leadership.	11
Enquiry: Churchill as wartime Prime Minister, Churchill and international diplomacy 1939–1951	Recall questions on plans for reconstruction and loss of 1945 election, Churchill s view on Britain s world and imperial role, relations with other wartime leaders, contribution to international conferences, plans for post-war Europe, Iron Curtain speech.	9

Y113: Britain 1930-1997 is 100 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.