Western Front Sources Questions

Andy Gamage 11B 2. Study sources C Use your knowledge of the Western Front to explain why the Government encouraged advertisements like source C to be published in Britain in 1915. The British had 250,000 men at the start of the war. By the summer, they had lost half to dead and injured. The number of casualties after five battles fought with the French in 1915 was an outrageous 298,000. Soldiers on the front line of the Western Front would have been living in extremely harsh conditions. They would have been shelled all day and all night. They had insufficient rations. Disease was rife due to poor sanitary conditions. Consequently, morale was very low. 1915 had not gone well for the allies. They needed to do something for the morale of the soldiers. This would also lift the spirits of their families back home. Source C is a perfect example. This is something that would give the soldiers something to do, smoke. The Government would approve of this picture. The soldiers are looking happy. They are smart, not afraid and living in good conditions. They are being protected by big guns in the background. Advertisements like these were trying to make people think that they were fighting an easy war, one that they would win. If you look at the advertisement you can see soldiers looking calm and cheerful having a smoke in a trench. Their

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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Political Party. Parties are organizations which contest elections in order to control or influence the exercise of

Political Party. Parties are organizations which contest elections in order to control or influence the exercise of government power according to Stephen B. Wolinetz (Party Systems). They are also important structures essential for the smooth functioning of liberal democratic systems (Wolinetz, S. Political Parties pxvi). In this regard they have many functions in structuring politics including: the formulation of public policies, as conductors or critics of government and as an intermediary between individuals and government (Scarrow, H. Functions of Political Parties) Parties are fairly easily identifiable actors (Blondel, J. & Cotta, M Party & Government) and as such have an important role in lowering the costs of democracy by providing an ideological shorthand for the electorate. After all political parties are functional responses to voting by a mass electorate (Epstein, L. Political Parties in Western Democracies p98) and are needed to provide clarity and continuity for an enlarged electorate. Political parties also play a significant part in the selection of prime ministers and other cabinet members (Blondel, J. & Cotta, M. Party & Government). Parties have evolved over time from small cacus parties to the mass and catch-all parties of today. This is because of a variety of circumstances according to Epstein such as the enlargement of suffrage, social structure the

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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M. Gilbert, The Roots of Appeasement (1966), p. 187. In this extract Gilbert defends the policy of appeasement and breaks with the orthodox view of Cato.

3. M. Gilbert, The Roots of Appeasement (1966), p. 187. In this extract Gilbert defends the policy of appeasement and breaks with the orthodox view of Cato. Gilbert points out that appeasement was a policy that the government had adopted after the First World War and had continued to follow after the Second World War. The notable exception to this rule being Suez, which helps to underline how any other policy would be misguided. Gilbert points out that it is wrong to blame the National Government, though mainly Chamberlain, for the policy of appeasement as it was merely the continuation of a long-term policy. It was an attempt to prevent the mistakes of the past, the First World War, being repeated again. Appeasement would help to correct the mistakes of the Treaty of Versailles, notably legitimate German grievances. It was hoped that through this peace could be achieved in Europe. It is pointed out that it was only through the "aggressive, irresponsible behaviour" that appeasement failed, not through the British government. Gilbert also recognises the "morality" in appeasement, suggesting that it was moral as the government had gone through all avenues to attain peace before going to war. Gilbert's The Roots of Appeasement is an example of how the view of Cato's Guilty Men was finally being challenged by the mid 1960s. This orthodox view had

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  • Subject: Social studies
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Colvin, The Chamberlain Cabinet (1971), p. 9. In this extract Colvin talks of the effect that the Public Records Act of 1967 will have on the view of the actions of the Chamberlain government, and Chamberlain himself, in the lead up to war.

4. I. Colvin, The Chamberlain Cabinet (1971), p. 9. In this extract Colvin talks of the effect that the Public Records Act of 1967 will have on the view of the actions of the Chamberlain government, and Chamberlain himself, in the lead up to war. When he talks of those the advantage of "human memory" he is talking about himself, as Colvin had been a Journalist for the News Chronicle reporting from Berlin in the lead up to the war. Colvin believes that these papers will be of particular interest to those who experienced these events, as it will give a fuller picture of the events to these people. Those who have the benefit of "human memory", Colvin believes, have an advantage over the later historians who will study these papers, as they could not have as good an understanding of the events as they have not experienced them first hand. Although Colvin does not mention how this experience can cloud the vision of a critical analysis of the Chamberlain government. In The Chamberlain Cabinet, Colvin uses the 1967 act to confirm the orthodox view of Chamberlain and appeasement that had been put forward by Cato and many others. Namely, that appeasement was a misguided policy. Colvin believes that Czechoslovakia should never have been surrendered to Germany and that the government failed to rearm in time. He also accuses Chamberlain of being an

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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The General Strike, 1926

The General Strike, 1926 The Conservative Government proclaimed that by undertaking a General Strike the wide variety of essential industries that were threatening to discontinue their work were being unconstitutional. However it was more that the Conservative Government felt threatened by the potential uprising and possible revolutionary action that could result from the growing support of the labor unions. The Conservative Government became justifiably concerned by the fact that the Labor unions were beginning to acquire control of who was able to work and hence had the power to virtually construct a rival Government in opposition to the Conservatives. With such a large following the potential new Government could have brought about revolutionary changes in the Government at the time and hence the Conservatives were threatened. As a result Baldwin believed that a national strike was an unconstitutional attempt to undermine parliamentary democracy and, in response, he broke off negotiations with the Labor unions. The so-called attack on the community that Sir John Simon alluded to (Ln 5) and the fact that the miners had been deprived of sympathy (Ln 6) were respective to the fact that by joining the miners in their plight, various other labor intensive essential industries such as transport and electricity were also depriving the greater community of the essentials to

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  • Subject: Social studies
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Birmingham airport and It's development

Birmingham airport and It's development Introduction Birmingham airport is one of the fastest growing airports in the UK today. In the 2000 the passenger numbers hit 7,000,000 million and are expected to hit the 10 million mark by the year 2005. But at the moment the government are making a £260 million expansion plan to be ready by the year 2007. They are also thinking of a relocation planning scheme to move between Coventry and Rugby (which is been protested). A major problem for the government is that protected land between Birmingham and Coventry. Expansion proposals The government are making plans to expand the main airports in the UK not just Birmingham: Three new runways at Stansted , a short runway at Heathrow, New runway at Birmingham or east midlands, A two runway airport between Coventry and Rugby, Major new terminal at Manchester, Possible expansion at Bristol airport, Expansion of Cardiff airport, New runway in Scotland by 2030, no expansion at Gatwick before 2019, Option of new airport at Cliffe, in north Kent, Possible expansion of Luton, Freight airport at Alconbury. This proves that the UK is hitting a major problem in its passenger numbers. The growth in passenger numbers between the year 1991 and 2000 is 83,959,000 which is a 43% increase from the beginning of the decade. The Birmingham airport. The Birmingham airport has made dramatic

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Social studies
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