CONTEMPORARIES (1945 and after)

Between the 1940s and the 1950s some events (the independence of India in 1947, the failure of British troops in Palestine in 1948 and the Korean Conflict in 1949-53) damaged Britain which had lost her supremacy and most of her colonies too.

After George VI's death, Elizabeth II (1952-) came to the throne and the Conservative Party tried to fight inflation, unemployment and some problems concerning foreign policy. In fact in 1956 the President of Egypt, Nasser, nationalised the Suez Canal which had been controlled by Britain. British troops invaded Egypt but then they had to come back.

The Empire began to collapse and the Commonweath, an association of ex-colonies, meant that Britain did mantein some degree of preferential contact with these countries.

The relationships between the countries which had been allied during World War II became problematic. In fact in 1946 USSR imposed a blockade on Berlin as a reaction to the monetary reform promoted by the USA, Britain and France. In 1948 the north atlantic treaty organization (nato) was formed by the United States and her European allies.

After the signing of the warsaw pact (1955), which united the Communist countries, the world was now divided into two opposed factions: a weastern block (dominated by the United Satas) and an eastern block (dominated by the USSR).

Various events increased the tensions between these two blocks which contributed to the building of the berlin wall (1961-1962).

In 1964 a Labour Government was elected and the Prime Minister Sir Harold Wilson tried to solve the problems of economic cisis and unemployment by attempting to join the european economic community (1967), but the French President (General De Gaulle) refused to admit her. During this period British troops began a military occupation on Northern Ireland to put down the fighting between the Catholic minority and the Protestant.

During the 1979s, the Conservatives came into power again and the Prime Minister EDWARD HEATH began a campaign for re-privatisation focused on individual enterprise as opposed to a state-controlled economy. But the Goverment did not achieve its main goals and this period was characterised by a mixed economy with co-operation between private and public sectors.

In 1973 the Arab oil-producing countries imposed a price increase and Britain knew an ECONOMIC RECESSION. In the same period Britain entered in the EEC and the Labour Party, which won the elections, tried to intriduced some social reforms but the country had to seek financial help from the European Monetary Fund.

The Conservative Party won the election of 1979 and MARGARET THATCHER became Prime Minister. One of the main aims of this Government was to dismantle the Welfare State, in fact Mrs Thatcher carried out significant cuts in public expenditure and denationalisation of the major industries. These reforms were made to encourage the birth and development of private enterprise, and to reduce the power of the trade unions.

In this period Britain had also to face a crisis in the Falkland Islands, one of the last British dominions which was claimed by Argentina as part of its national territory. A short war was easily won by Britain, the Government enjoyed the support of popular public opinion and Mrs Thatcher proved her leadership qualities and her party won the following elections (1983).

The British economy continued his decline and the Government proceeded to make heavy cuts in social programmes and demanded hard work and self-help from the nation. In 1984 a prolonged strike was led by miners but then they had to accept the Government's closure of many pits and a llot of miners lost the job. Moreover, all the important sectors (as British Railways and British Shipbuilders) had been privatised.

In 1987 Mrs Thatcher was re-elected and the most significant events were the reform of the NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE and the introduction of a POLL TAX, which meant that every adult in Britain had to pay a new fixed tax, no matter of his income. This create some social tentions and even the Conservatives desagreed over it.

In 1990 the Conservative Prime Minister John Major continued with Thatcher's programmes, but with less rigidity over social issues. Mr Major had to face some problems concerning unemployment and economic policy. In fact the economic crisis in the USSR and the revolutions in many Eastern communist countries, culminating in 1989-90 with the FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL and GERMANY 'S REUNIFICATION which meant considerable savings in military expenditure, but also a new responsability for Weastern countries in terms of financial help.

In 1991 the GULF WAR broke out and the USA had full support from Britain.

When Mr Major and his party won the elections of 1991, a FREE MARKET between all European States within the EEC was begun.

Moreover in 1994 Sinn Féin and IRA leaders declared their intention to negotiate to find a solution to the IRISH QUESTION.

During the post-war years, the new policy of social asistance (National Health Service and National Assistance Act) and the Marshal Plan increase the standard of living of the lowest classes. A high rate of inflation, better working conditions, less expenses and usually higher wages encouraged people to spend money. This caused an increase in demand and production which marked the beginning of the CONSUMER SOCIETY.