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Gordon Richards |
The Return of Churchill
In 1951 George VI and Queen Mary opened the Festival of Britain on the South Bank at Waterloo, the centrepiece of which was the Dome of Discovery. The only permanent building of this exhibition was the Royal Festival Hall.
Attlee's government was struggling. The National Health Service had proved far more expensive to run than they had foreseen. This coupled with the expense of the war in Korea was crippling for an already deflated economy. The government decided to introduce charges for spectacles and false teeth. Bevan and Harold Wilson resigned in protest.
By the end of the year the country went to the Polls and the Conservatives and Winston Churchill were voted back into office.
Ernest Bevin (1881-1951)- Born in Somerset and orphaned aged 6.
- He was self-taught and became involved in trade-unionism.
- He was responsible for creating the National Transport and General Workers' Union which became very powerful.
- He became the Union's General Secretary in 1921, played a large part in the organisation of the General Strike in 1926 and in the longer term, in linking the Labour Party to the Trade Unions.
- In 1940 he became minister of labour and national service in Churchill's coalition government.
- He became Foreign Secretary under Attlee in 1945 and was the European mastermind of the naegotiations which brought about the setting up of NATO.
- He retired due to ill health in 1951 and accepted the post of Lord Privy Seal.
- He died soon after.
In 1951 British oil interests in Iran were threatened by the Iranian intention to nationalise Anglo-Iranian Oil.
An Extract From Churchill'S Election Broadcast
The uncertainty at home has got to come to an end if we are to play our part in the world and receive due consideration for our British point of view and, still more, if we are to keep a decent standard of life for our people and even keep them all alive. Remember we have brought into being through the progress of Victorian times 50 million people in an island which grows the food for only 30 millions and that all the rest has to be provided for by the goods and services we can render to other countries. There never was a community of 50 million people standing at our high level of civilization on such an insecure foundation. We have maintained ourselves there by the qualities of our race, by the soundness of our institutions, by the peaceful progress of our democracy, and by the very great lead which we had gained in former generations. Thus we have been able to withstand and surmount all the shocks and strains of this terrible twentieth century with its two awful wars. We shall endanger our very existence if we go on consuming our strength in bitter party or class conflicts.
 
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| 1946 | National Insurance Act is passed
National Health Act is passed
The United Nations is founded
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| 1947 | India becomes independent
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| 1948 | Gandhi is assassinated
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| 1949 | NATO is formed
Ireland become independent
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| 1950 | Korean War breaks out
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| 1951 | Churchill becomes Tory Prime Minister
The Festival of Britain begins
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| 1952 | George VI dies
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| 1953 | Elizabeth II crowned
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| 1955 | Eden becomes new Conservative Prime Minister
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| 1956 | The Suez crisis and invasion
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| 1957 | Macmillan succeeds Eden as Conservative Prime Minister
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