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2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007

  • 38 subtopics
  • 94 things to know
  • Component 2

What 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007 covers

Option 2S is a depth study of modern Britain, taken as one of the Component 2 choices. It runs from the affluent society of the 1950s through the end of the post-war consensus and Thatcherism to New Labour.

Where it is assessed

Component 2

A depth study, of which a student sits one.

Check the AQA specification ↗

The 38 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

How did the post-war economic boom contribute to Conservative political dominance between 1951 and 1964?

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What issues divided the Bevanites and Gaitskellites within the Labour Party?

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What annual house-building target did Housing Minister Macmillan achieve by 1953?

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What were the key characteristics of the post-war economic boom through the 1950s?

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What consumer goods reflected rising living standards in the 1950s and early 1960s?

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What mechanisms transformed British society through consumerism during this period?

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What were the dominant societal expectations for women in the 1950s?

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Which countries were members of EFTA when it was established?

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What was the Nassau Agreement of 1962?

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What two elements combined in Harold Wilson's ideology for modernising Britain?

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What growth target did the National Plan of 1965 aim to achieve?

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What approach to wages did the National Plan rely upon?

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Why did the National Plan of 1965 fail?

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What was the purpose of the Prices and Incomes Board established in 1965?

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Why was the Industrial Reorganisation Corporation created in 1966?

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What did 'In Place of Strife' propose regarding strike ballots?

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To what age was the school leaving age raised in 1964?

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When and why were British troops deployed to Northern Ireland?

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What was the initial status of the 1965 abolition of capital punishment?

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Under the 1969 Divorce Reform Act, how could adultery be used as evidence?

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How long did a couple need to be separated with consent to prove irretrievable breakdown?

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What was Radio Caroline and when did it begin broadcasting?

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What did the Theatres Act 1968 abolish?

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What changes in moral attitudes occurred during the 1960s?

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What factors influenced Wilson's refusal to commit troops to Vietnam?

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What did 'withdrawal East of Suez' announced in 1968 mean?

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What was the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) and when was it issued?

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What was unexpected about the outcome of the 1970 general election?

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What was the free-market orientation of Heath's initial economic approach outlined at Selsdon Park in 1970?

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What was Heath's initial position on taxation as outlined at Selsdon Park?

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What mechanism did the Industrial Relations Act 1971 introduce to delay strike action?

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Who organised the flying pickets during the 1972 miners' strike?

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What action by OPEC triggered the 1973 oil crisis?

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What economic condition did the 1973 oil crisis contribute to in Britain?

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What was the outcome of the February 1974 election?

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What was the Council of Ireland proposed in the Sunningdale Agreement?

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What was the result of the October 1974 general election?

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What conditions did the IMF attach to its 1976 loan to Britain?

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Which workers' strike during the Winter of Discontent created particularly emotive media coverage?

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What reproductive rights did second-wave feminists campaign for in 1970s Britain?

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When was the Equal Pay Act 1970 actually implemented?

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What new form of discrimination did the Race Relations Act 1976 outlaw?

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Which band became the most notorious symbol of punk rock in Britain?

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When did Britain officially join the European Economic Community?

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How did Britain's relative decline affect the special relationship?

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When did Margaret Thatcher become leader of the Conservative Party, and when did she become Prime Minister?

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What distinguished 'wets' from 'dries' within the Conservative Party under Thatcher?

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Who led the Labour Party from 1980 to 1983, and what was the electoral outcome?

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What happened during the 1981 hunger strikes, and who was the most notable participant?

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What was the Medium Term Financial Strategy of 1980?

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Define privatisation as implemented under Thatcher.

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What was the North-South divide, and how did it develop during the 1980s?

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What triggered the miners' strike of 1984-85?

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How did the government coordinate police during the miners' strike?

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What was the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's role in extra-parliamentary opposition during the 1980s?

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What happened in Toxteth in 1981?

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How large was the British naval task force sent to the Falklands, and how far did it travel?

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What does the term 'Falklands Factor' refer to?

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How was the special relationship with the USA strengthened under Thatcher?

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What was Britain's role in the 1986 US raid on Libya?

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What was negotiated at Fontainebleau in 1984, and what phrase did Thatcher use?

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What divisions emerged within the Conservative Party over Europe?

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Why did Michael Heseltine resign from Cabinet in 1986?

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What criticism did Geoffrey Howe make in his resignation speech that helped trigger Thatcher's downfall?

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What pattern of ministerial behaviour contributed to sleaze allegations under Major?

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What was the Downing Street Declaration and who issued it?

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What was the purpose of Kinnock's policy review?

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When did Tony Blair become Labour leader and what term did he use to rebrand the party?

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How did Conservative divisions over Europe contribute to Labour's 1997 victory?

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What role did Tony Blair's personal qualities play in Labour's 1997 victory?

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How many seats were the Conservatives reduced to in 1997?

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Who were the Young British Artists and name one prominent member?

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How many women MPs were elected in Labour's 1997 intake and what were they nicknamed?

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What barrier to trade was removed by the single market?

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What freedom regarding services did the single market establish?

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What opt-out did Britain secure regarding the single currency at Maastricht?

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What opt-out did Britain secure regarding social policy at Maastricht?

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What was Britain's military involvement in Bosnia during the 1990s?

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When did Tony Blair become Labour leader, and what event created the vacancy?

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What were the key characteristics of Blair's leadership style as Prime Minister?

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What was the Third Way?

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Why did House of Lords reform remain incomplete under New Labour?

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What was the purpose of tax credits under New Labour?

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What criticisms were made of the economy during the 1997-2007 period despite positive indicators?

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Name the four Conservative Party leaders between 1997 and 2005.

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What was the main source of Conservative divisions over Europe?

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What factors explain Conservative electoral failure in 2001?

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When did David Cameron become Conservative leader, and what did he promise?

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What did the 2001 census reveal about ethnic minorities in Britain?

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What was Blair's doctrine of liberal interventionism?

Process

What did punk rock reject, and what new concerns entered 1970s politics?

Process

When did Thatcher lead the Conservatives, and what marked her style?

Process

When did David Cameron become Conservative leader, and what marked trade unions and the labour market under New Labour?

Process

What brought about Thatcher's fall in 1990?

Take 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

  • Monetarism vs Keynesianism

    Monetarism: approach prioritising control of money supply and inflation. Keynesianism: approach using demand management to sustain employment and growth.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Who served as Conservative Prime Minister from 1951 to 1955, bringing the party back to power after six years in opposition?

    Model answer

    Winston Churchill

  2. 2

    Who succeeded Churchill as Prime Minister in 1955, having previously held the position of Foreign Secretary?

    Model answer

    Anthony Eden

  3. 3

    Who became Prime Minister in 1957 following Eden's resignation after the Suez Crisis?

    Model answer

    Harold Macmillan

  4. 4

    Which Prime Minister served from 1963 to 1964 after renouncing his peerage to take the position?

    Model answer

    Alec Douglas-Home

  5. 5

    How did the post-war economic boom contribute to Conservative political dominance between 1951 and 1964?

    Model answer

    Rising living standards and sustained economic growth allowed the Conservatives to claim credit for prosperity, making voters reluctant to change government

  6. 6

    What were the two main factions within the Labour Party whose conflicts weakened the opposition during the 1950s?

    Model answer

    The Bevanite left wing and the Gaitskellite right wing

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2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007 revision questions

What does 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007 cover in AQA A-Level History?
38 subtopics: the conservative prime ministers, 1951 to 1964, the long boom and stop-go, women, youth, immigration and the notting hill riots, foreign policy, suez and decolonisation, 1951-1964, harold wilson and the national plan, devaluation and labour's economic policy, 1965-1969, in place of strife, education and northern ireland, the abolition of hanging and divorce reform, the media, the permissive society and race in the 1960s, vietnam, the eec veto and the atlantic alliance, heath, the 1970 election and selsdon park, the industrial relations act and the 1972 strike, the oil crisis and the second miners' strike, northern ireland from bloody sunday to sunningdale, the social contract, the imf crisis and the winter of discontent, feminism, equality legislation and immigration in the 1970s, punk and the new politics of the 1970s, britain's entry into the eec and the 1975 referendum, the special relationship and detente in the 1970s, thatcher's rise and her political creed, labour's divisions and the sdp, northern ireland, monetarism and privatisation, right to buy and the miners' strike, protest, the riots of 1981 and the falklands war, the falklands factor and the reagan alliance, thatcher, gorbachev and europe, the poll tax and the fall of thatcher, major, black wednesday, sleaze and the peace process, major's leadership challenge and the making of new labour, the landslide of 1997 and society in the 1990s, stephen lawrence and the single european market, maastricht, bosnia and the end of the cold war, blair's leadership and downing street government, constitutional reform and the good friday agreement, new labour's social and economic policy, the conservative opposition, 1997 to 2005, society and multiculturalism under new labour and blair's foreign policy, iraq and britain by 2007. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007 organised?
By the AQA 7042 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

Every question in 2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007, on a schedule.

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