A constitutional crisis over the role and power of the unelected House
of Lords is the backdrop to two general elections in the same year,
1910. The Liberal Party wins both, and the Lords' power to veto
legislation is trimmed. Home rule for Ireland is one of the most
fiercely debated political issues. Edward VIII dies, but the
constitutional monarchy remains strong, and George V becomes king.
Britain's declaration of war on Germany effectively suspends party
politics, and from 1915 Britain has a coalition war government.
Laissez-faire Britain experiences a dramatic expansion in the power and
authority of government. A 1916 rebellion in Dublin and its suppression
by Britain mark the beginning of the Irish war for independence.
A split in the Liberal Party marks its decline as one of the two main
parties. The granting of universal male suffrage and limited women's
suffrage triples the electorate. It makes Britain's move from
aristocracy to democracy largely complete, and provides the base of
support for the working-class Labor Party. In 1921 dominion status is
conceded to the Irish Free State (Southern Ireland).
In 1924 the Labor Party, under Ramsay MacDonald, forms its first
(minority) government. It lasts just one year but marks Labor's
replacement of the Liberals as the main alternative party. The 1926
General Strike is a turning point in industrial relations. Trade union
power is curbed, and the number of strikes declines. In 1926 Britain
formally recognizes its imperial dominions as autonomous.
The year 1931 sees the greatest political upheaval in peacetime Britain.
Faced with the fallout of the Great Depression and a sterling crisis,
MacDonald's second Labor government falls, replaced by an emergency
national coalition government. A general election ends in a Conservative
landslide that transforms the make-up of the coalition. A series of
national coalitions rules Britain for a decade.
In 1936 newly crowned King Edward VIII causes a political storm when he
abdicates to marry an American divorcée. Faced with a fascist uprising
in Spain, Germany's military buildup, and Italy's invasion of Ethiopia,
Britain follows an overall foreign policy of nonintervention and
appeasement. Nevertheless, vast air force and naval programs ready
Britain for war.
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) begins a bombing campaign in Britain,
demanding that British troops withdraw from Ireland. As World War II
begins, a British setback in Norway discredits Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain; Winston Churchill replaces him. The war overrides Britain's
tradition of individual liberty: Conscription is mandatory, and jobs are
made to serve the war effort.
A Labor landslide ends Churchill's coalition government, and Clement
Attlee becomes prime minister. Labor's first parliamentary majority
marks a political change of direction for the country towards socialism,
with sweeping economic and social reforms. At Yalta, then Potsdam, the
victorious Allies -- Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States --
meet to divide up postwar Europe.
The Conservatives under Churchill are returned to power in 1951, where
they remain for the next 13 years. They retain the welfare state and
continue most other Labor policies. "Consensus Britain," in which
political parties broadly agree on Keynesian economic policy, will last
for three decades. Queen Elizabeth II accedes to the throne of an empire
in retreat in 1952.
In 1955 Churchill retires, and Anthony Eden becomes prime minister.
After Egyptian President Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, Britain
tries to reoccupy it in a belated attempt to arrest the retreat from
empire. But international pressure forces Britain to withdraw and Eden
to resign. His replacement, Harold Macmillan, successfully patches up
Britain's damaged relationship with the U.S.
The long Conservative tenure comes to an end, and a Labor government
comes into power. The economic situation in 1966 forces Harold Wilson's
government to resort to crisis management. Unrest in Northern Ireland
increases; the British army takes over responsibility for security, and
troops will remain for 30 years. In 1969 the legal voting age is lowered
to 18.
Edward Heath, the new Conservative prime minister, tries to break the
increasing power of the trade unions as strikes and industrial disputes
proliferate. He attempts to ban strikes and calls a general election
over the question, "Who governs Britain?" But Labor wins the election,
and Harold Wilson, prime minister for the second time, complies with the
unions' demands.
Labor's government grows fragile when it loses its majority in a series
of by-election defeats and defections. Labor-sponsored referendums in
Wales and Scotland to create devolved assemblies meet with defeat.
Harold Wilson and his successor, James Callaghan, cannot come to terms
with the labor unions. The result is crippling all-out strikes, the
"Winter of Discontent."
The year 1979 marks a milestone in British history, with the election of
the first woman prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, at the head of a
rejuvenated Conservative Party. Thatcher renounces the years of
political consensus and sets out to end socialism in Britain. In 1982
Britain successfully repels an Argentine force from the contested
Falkland Islands, and Thatcher's popularity soars.
Thatcher wins a resounding second victory in the 1983 general election,
with a huge majority in Parliament. She begins a gradual limitation of
the power of the trade unions that ends with a yearlong strike by the
National Union of Mineworkers over the closure of 20 coal mines
considered unproductive. The government's victory in the standoff marks
a major shift in political power.
Thatcher wins an unprecedented third general election in 1987. But her
insistence on replacing local property taxes with a deeply resented poll
tax (a fixed per capita levy unrelated to ability to pay) and her
unwillingness to fully integrate the pound into a common European
currency alienates many in her own party. Faced with internal
opposition, she resigns in 1990 and is replaced by John Major.
The Conservatives win their fourth consecutive election in 1992, but as
an economic recession lingers, their popularity plummets. The question
of Britain's union with Europe splits the party, but in 1993 Major
ratifies the Maastricht Treaty with Britain's social chapter and single
currency opt-outs. Personal scandals and the "mad cow disease" crisis
embarrass the government.
Tony Blair's rejuvenated "New Labor" Party wins the 1997 election in a
landslide. Purged of its traditional socialism, Labor now accepts many
of Thatcher's reforms. Referendums establish "devolved" regional
assemblies in Wales and Scotland. In 1998 the Good Friday accord is
signed, and a new elected Northern Ireland assembly established. Labor
is triumphantly reelected in 2001.
Tony Blair and the Labor Party maintain dominance; Conservative leader
Iain Duncan Smith fails to revive the opposition. But Blair faces
opposition within his party and public protest as he pursues a strong
alliance with the United States over possible war with Iraq. The Good
Friday accord in Northern Ireland falls apart, and the province is again
under direct British rule.
Tony Blair wins Commons backing for joining the U.S. in war against
Iraq, but divisions over the war and the government's failure to deliver
on promises to improve public services lead to a major Labor Party
rebellion. Several Labor MPs resign, including Commons leader Robin
Cook. Unlike U.S. president Bush, Blair advocates a strong role for the
U.N. in post-conflict Iraq.
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