The Making of Modern Britain, 1951 - 2007

Question	Answer
Age of Affluence	period of consumer prosperity and rising living standards from 1950 to 1973, sometimes known as 'the long post-war boom.'
apartheid	term used in the Republic of South Africa before 1994 to define the policy of 'racial separation'.
BSE	Bovine spongiform encephalitis, an incurable disease in cattle that destroys the nervous system. An outbreak of BSE in the 1990s caused major disruption to British agriculture.
Butskellism	term invented by economists to describe 'consensus' centrist policies merging the ideas of Conservative moderates, symbolised by R. A. Butler, and Labour moderates, symbolised by Hugh Gaitskell.
balance of payments	the relationship between government expenditure and income, particularly in terms of exports and imports.
Big Bang	deregulation of the London Stock Exchange on 27 October 1986.
clause four	clause in the Labour Party constitution committing the party to nationalisation, i.e. state ownership of the 'commanding heights of the economy'.
collectivist policies	policies based on the idea of government intervention in society and the economy.
decolonisation	the process by which colonial powers gave up control and granted national independence to former colonies.
deflationary pressures	usually caused by government policies to fight against the dangers of inflation, 'deflating' the economy by cutting spending and borrowing.
demographic change	changes in population, including birth and death rates, generational change and patterns of population movement.
devaluation	action to reduce the value of the pound sterling in relation to other currencies, such as the US dollar.
deregulation	removing government controls and allowing greater competition. In the 1980s, there was deregulation of the financial markets; there was also deregulation in other areas, such as public transport.
détente	term used to define attempts to limit the dangers of the Cold War by reducing tensions and improving relations between the Soviet Bloc and the West.
devolution	allowing a degree of self-government to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
EEC	European Economic Community formed by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 created by the 'the six'. The EEC became the EU in 1992.
EFTA	European Free Trade Area, formed in 1959. Member states were: Britain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Portugal and Switzerland.
Eurosceptic	people in Britain who opposed to any steps towards further European integration or who demanded renegotiation of the terms of Britain's membership.
EU	European Union, the name of the EEC after the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992.
Falklands Factor	the effect of victory in the 1982 Falklands War in boosting the popularity of the government.
first-past-the-post-system	an electoral system in which seats are won by a simple majority, not by proportional representation.
flying pickets	mass pickets taken by bus to the scene of industrial disputes in order to add pressure on workers to join strikes.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)	a term for the measurement of the national wealth, by adding together the value of all economic production.
hard left	term used in the 1970s and 1980s to define extreme socialist movements within the Labour Party, such as the Militant Tendency.
infrastructure	term used to define the framework of a modern industrial economy, such as - roads, railways, telecommunications, power stations and public utilities.
long post-war boom	the period of prosperity and rising living standards in Britain and Europe after WW2, from about 1950 to 1973.
mass picketing	large group of picketers organised to intimidate workers and to try to force workplaces to shut down by preventing access.
monetarism	ideas particularly associated with the 'Chicago School' of economists, led by Milton Friedman. Monetarism proposed strict controls over the supply of money in order to combat inflation.
National Service	compulsory military service by young males for two years from the age of 18. National service was introduced in 1947 and abandoned in 1960.
NATO	the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, a military alliance formed in 1949 under American leadership to defend the West against the threat of Soviet communism.
negative equity	when house prices fall and a homeowner is paying more for a mortgage than could be obtained by selling the property. This was a particular problem in early 1990s.
New Commonwealth	countries that gained independence from Britain after 1945; as opposed to the 'old' white dominions, such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Night of the Long Knives	name for Harold Macmillan's ruthless cabinet reshuffle in 1962 in which one-third of the cabinet was sacked.
OMOV	One Member One Vote: the change to the Labour Party constitution in 1993, giving the vote on party matters individual members of the party. This measure reduced the power of the trade unions because it ended the former system of block voting.

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The Making of Modern Britain, 1951 - 2007

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