Why is south Wales in the 1900s often compared with the United States?

It was, in proportion to its size, one of the few places in the world attracting more incomers than it lost, drawing migrants on a scale second only to America.

Give two general demographic trends visible across Wales and England in the early twentieth century.

The birth rate was falling as family size shrank, and life expectancy was rising as infant mortality declined.

Why did a falling birth rate and a longer-lived population create a political problem?

It increased the proportion of elderly people dependent on relatives or the Poor Law at a time when families were smaller and less able to support them.

WJEC AS-Level History 601-5817-7

Government, Rebellion and Society in Wales and England c.1485-1603Period study

Topic overview Henry VII and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty The revolution in government under Henry VIII Wolsey, Cromwell and Cecil as chief ministers Elizabeth, the privy council and Parliament The Henrician Reformation Religion under Edward VI and Mary I The Elizabethan Church Settlement The Pilgrimage of Grace and the Tudor rebellions Trade, industry and the growth of towns The rise of the gentry and social change Poverty, vagrancy and the poor laws The Acts of Union and the government of Wales Religion, the Welsh Bible and Welsh identity

Government, Revolution and Society in Wales and England c.1603-1715Period study

Topic overview James I and the Stuart accession Charles I and the drift to conflict The causes and course of the Civil War Regicide and the experiment in republic The Restoration of 1660 Charles II, Parliament and the succession crisis James II and the Glorious Revolution The Revolution Settlement and party politics

Politics, Protest and Reform in Wales and England c.1780-1880Period study

Topic overview The unreformed electoral system and early demands for reform The French Revolution, British radicalism and repression 1789-1812 Radical discontent and Lord Liverpool's governments 1812-1822 The Liberal Tory reforms 1822-1830 The Reform Act crisis and the Great Reform Act of 1832 The Merthyr Rising of 1831 Rural protest: the Swing riots and the Rebecca riots Chartism in Wales and England The motives for social reform and the new Poor Law Factory, mines, public health and education reform 1833-1848 Peel, the Anti-Corn Law League and the repeal of the Corn Laws The Liberal party, Gladstone and Disraeli 1859-1880

Politics, People and Progress: Wales and England c.1880-1980Period study

Topic overview The Liberal welfare reforms 1906-1914 Economic problems and responses in the 1920s and 1930s The Labour governments of 1945-1951 The changing fortunes of the Liberal Party The Conservative Party and coalition government The growth of the Labour Party The impact of the Boer War and the First World War The social and economic impact of the Second World War The changing economy, work and employment 1918-1980 The Welsh language, culture and demands for political change Social, religious and cultural change 1918-1980 The campaign for women's suffrage before 1918 Women, the franchise and changing status 1918-1980

Political and Religious Change in Europe c.1500-1598Period study

Topic overview The Catholic Church in the early sixteenth century Exploration, the New World and its impact on Europe The growing power of the nation states Renaissance culture and humanism Luther and the challenge to Rome The spread of Lutheranism: printing, towns and social pressures From the Schmalkaldic League to the Peace of Augsburg The Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent Francis I and the French monarchy Habsburg-Valois rivalry Charles V and the government of the Holy Roman Empire Philip II: finance, government and foreign policy Suleiman the Magnificent and Ottoman expansion The Christian reaction and the battle of Lepanto

Europe in the Age of Absolutism and Revolution c.1682-1815Period study

Topic overview Peter the Great's reform of government and society The Church, the economy and the armed forces under Peter the Great Westernisation and the building of St Petersburg The Great Northern War and Peter the Great's foreign policy Frederick the Great's accession and the Prussian inheritance Frederick the Great's domestic reforms Frederick the Great as an enlightened despot France under Louis XV and the ancien régime The structure of the French state: crown, finance and Church Louis XVI and the causes of the French Revolution The Baltic and the Great Powers after the Great Northern War The War of the Austrian Succession and the Diplomatic Revolution The Seven Years War The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and the balance of power

Revolution and New Ideas in Europe c.1780-1881Period study

Topic overview The Napoleonic wars, the Vienna settlement and the Congress System The revolutions of 1830 and 1848 The Eastern Question and the Crimean War Italian nationalism after 1815 and the revolutions of 1848 Cavour, Napoleon III and the war of 1859 Garibaldi, the Thousand and the completion of Italian unity German nationalism, the Zollverein and the revolutions of 1848 Bismarck, Prussia and the wars of 1864 and 1866 The Franco-Prussian War and the German Empire Napoleon III: 1848, the coup d'état and the Second Empire The policies and collapse of the Second Empire Nicholas I and Russia 1825-1855 Alexander II and the emancipation of the serfs The great reforms and the growth of opposition to 1881

Europe in an Age of Conflict and Co-Operation c.1890-1991Period study

Topic overview Alliances, ententes and the causes of the First World War Reconciliation and rivalry 1918-1929 The League of Nations and the road to the Second World War Liberal Italy in crisis and the rise of Mussolini Fascist Italy: domestic policies, opposition and resistance The Weimar Republic and its problems 1918-1933 The Nazi seizure and consolidation of power Nazi domestic policies, opposition and resistance to 1945 The 1905 revolution and the fall of tsarism The Bolshevik revolution, civil war and consolidation to 1924 Stalin's transformation of the Soviet Union to 1945 The post-war division of Europe and the origins of the Cold War The drive for European economic co-operation and integration Co-existence, détente and the end of the Cold War

The Mid Tudor Crisis in Wales and England c.1529-1570Depth study

Topic overview Lawlessness in Wales and the Council in the Marches The Acts of Union 1536 and 1543 The King's Great Matter and the royal supremacy Thomas Cromwell and the dissolution of the monasteries Opposition to religious change and the Pilgrimage of Grace Edward VI's minority: Somerset, Northumberland and faction The Edwardian Prayer Books and Acts of Uniformity The rebellions of 1549 and the response of authority Mary Tudor's accession, marriage and the Wyatt rebellion Catholic restoration and persecution under Mary Society, the economy and the Welsh gentry after the Acts of Union The Elizabethan Church Settlement and the Welsh Scriptures Puritanism and the Catholic threat to 1570

Royalty, Rebellion and Republic c.1625-1660Depth study

Topic overview The legacy of James I and the character of Charles I Parliament, war and the Petition of Right 1625-1629 The ministers and methods of Personal Rule The finances of Personal Rule and Ship Money Laud, Arminianism and Puritan opposition Scotland, the Bishops' Wars and the recall of Parliament The Long Parliament and the attack on Personal Rule Ireland, the Grand Remonstrance and the outbreak of war Wales and the Welsh in the Civil War Leadership, the New Model Army and the defeat of the King The failure of settlement, the Second Civil War and the regicide Radicalism, religious dissent and the reaction in Wales The republic, the Protectorate and the rule of the Major-Generals The collapse of the republic and the Restoration

Reform and Protest in Wales and England c.1783-1848Depth study

Topic overview Pitt, the French Revolution and the corresponding societies Popular protest from Luddism to Peterloo Lord Liverpool's government and the Six Acts The Liberal Tory reforms 1822-1830 The unreformed electoral system and the pressure for reform The Merthyr rising, Captain Swing and the Reform Bill crisis The Great Reform Act of 1832 The Whig reforms 1833-1841 The New Poor Law and the opposition to it Chartism in Wales and England The Rebecca riots and rural Wales Peel, the Conservative party and the repeal of the Corn Laws Social reform, Shaftesbury and public health

Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939Depth study

Topic overview Population change and the surveys of Booth and Rowntree Conservative government to 1905 and the 1906 election The Liberal welfare reforms 1906-1914 The People's Budget and the Parliament Act 1911 Heavy industry, agriculture and the Welsh economy before 1914 Industrial unrest in Wales: the Penrhyn lockout, Tonypandy and Llanelli Trade unions and the rise of the Labour Party Women, the vote and war work Religion, education and Welsh culture Wales and the Great War: voluntarism, conscription and the home front Industrial decline, the coal disputes and the General Strike of 1926 The Depression in Wales: unemployment, migration and government response Politics between the wars: from the Lloyd George coalition to the National Government Society, leisure and popular culture between the wars

The Religious Reformation in Europe c.1500-1564Depth study

Topic overview The Church in Europe in 1500: power, wealth and daily life Criticism of the Church: anticlericalism, heresy and the humanists Indulgences, Tetzel and the Ninety-Five Theses From Leipzig to Worms: Luther's break with Rome The development of Lutheran doctrine The Knights' Revolt and the Peasants' War Zwingli, the radicals and division among the reformers Printing, princes and cities: the spread of Lutheranism The Augsburg Confession and the Schmalkaldic League Charles V, the Schmalkaldic War and the Peace of Augsburg Anabaptism and the Münster rebellion John Calvin, Geneva and the spread of Calvinism The Catholic revival: Paul III, the Inquisition and the Council of Trent Loyola, the Jesuits and the reforming orders

France in Revolution c.1774-1815Depth study

Topic overview The three estates: privilege and burden under the Ancien Régime Government, finance and the ideas of the philosophes Turgot, Necker and Calonne: the failure of reform The Assembly of Notables, the cahiers and the Estates General 1789: the National Assembly, the Bastille and the Great Fear The October Days and the reforms of the National Assembly The Church, refractory priests and the Constitution of 1791 Varennes, the Legislative Assembly and the coming of war The fall of the monarchy and the September Massacres The Convention, the execution of Louis and the Vendée The Terror: government, Robespierre and the factions Thermidor, the Directory and the rise of Bonaparte Napoleon's reforms as Consul and Emperor War, the Continental System and the fall of Napoleon

The Crisis of the American Republic c.1840-1877Depth study

Topic overview North and South: two societies by 1840 The institution of slavery in the South Manifest Destiny, the Mexican War and the Wilmot Proviso The Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave Law Abolitionism: Garrison, Stowe and John Brown The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas The Republican party and the Dred Scott decision Lincoln and the Lincoln-Douglas debates Harpers Ferry, the election of 1860 and secession The resources, commanders and strategy of North and South Campaigns, the home fronts and the defeat of the South Lincoln's war presidency and emancipation Johnson, Congress and the Reconstruction amendments Radical Reconstruction, the Klan and Redemption

Germany: Democracy and Dictatorship c.1918-1945Depth study

Topic overview The revolution of 1918 and the Weimar Constitution The Treaty of Versailles and its impact on Germany The Spartacists, the Kapp Putsch and the threats to the republic Reparations, the Ruhr and the hyperinflation of 1923 The early Nazi party and the Munich Putsch Stresemann, the Dawes and Young Plans and Locarno The Nazi party 1924-1932 and the growth of its support The Depression and the collapse of parliamentary government Hitler's consolidation of power 1933-1934 Propaganda, terror and the extent of Nazi control Nazi racial policy and the persecution of the Jews Young people, women, workers and the churches under the Nazis The Nazi economy: recovery, rearmament and total war Nazi foreign policy and the Second World War

Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939

14 subtopics
42 things to know
AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4
Units 2 and 4, one depth study of eight, taken in two halves

What Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939 covers

Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939 is examined in Units 2 and 4, the depth study — one of eight options, taken in two halves across the course. It covers population change and the surveys of Booth and Rowntree, conservative government to 1905 and the 1906 election, the Liberal welfare reforms 1906-1914, the People's Budget and the Parliament Act 1911, heavy industry, agriculture and the Welsh economy before 1914, industrial unrest in Wales: the Penrhyn lockout, Tonypandy and Llanelli, trade unions and the rise of the Labour Party, women, the vote and war work, religion, education and Welsh culture, Wales and the Great War: voluntarism, conscription and the home front, industrial decline, the coal disputes and the General Strike of 1926, the Depression in Wales: unemployment, migration and government response, politics between the wars: from the Lloyd George coalition to the National Government and society, leisure and popular culture between the wars.

Where it is assessed

AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4

The depth study, one option of eight, taken in two halves across the course.

Check the WJEC specification ↗

The 14 subtopics

Each one has its own page. WJEC AS History students sit this topic in the first year.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Numbers

Name two other domestic measures passed by the Conservative governments before 1905.

Numbers

Which two Liberal measures of 1906 and 1908 were of direct benefit to Welsh miners?

Numbers

What was the South Wales Miners' Industrial Union, and how did miners resist it?

Numbers

Name two domestic reforms of the Lloyd George coalition after 1918.

Key term

How did the abdication crisis of 1936 arise?

Key term

How did opinion in Wales respond to the drift towards war in the later 1930s?

Key term

Describe the overall pattern of population growth in Wales between 1901 and 1911.

Key term

Who introduced the budget of 1909, and what was it nicknamed?

Key term

Name the ports through which the south Wales coalfield exported.

Key term

Give three underlying causes of industrial conflict in Wales before 1914.

Numbers

Give two reasons for the rapid growth of trade union membership between 1900 and 1914.

Numbers

What was the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, and who led it?

Key term

How dominant was Nonconformity in Welsh life at the start of the twentieth century?

Key term

How did Lloyd George justify the war to a Welsh audience in 1914?

Key term

How did the Wall Street Crash of 1929 affect Britain?

Key term

What did the Hadow Report of 1926 recommend?

Key term

Which part of Wales absorbed almost all of that growth, and why?

Key term

What did the Unemployed Workmen Act of 1905 provide?

Key term

What was introduced by the Education (Administrative Provisions) Act of 1907?

Key term

What two kinds of spending did the 1909 budget have to pay for?

Key term

Who developed the docks at Barry, and why?

Key term

Which quarry was the scene of the great dispute that began in 1900, and who owned it?

Numbers

What was the Labour Representation Committee, and when was it founded?

Key term

Distinguish the suffragists from the suffragettes.

Key term

Name the main Nonconformist denominations in Wales.

Numbers

What was the Welsh Army Corps?

Key term

Give three reasons for the decline of the south Wales coal industry after 1918.

Key term

Roughly what proportion of insured Welsh workers were unemployed at the worst of the Depression?

Key term

Describe health provision before the Second World War.

Key term

What was happening to the population of rural Wales while the coalfield grew?

Key term

Why did the Taff Vale judgment matter so much to the unions?

Key term

Who qualified for the old age pension introduced in 1908?

Key term

Name three of the new or increased taxes in the People's Budget.

Key term

Which industry dominated the economy of the Swansea and Llanelli district?

Key term

What was the main issue in the Penrhyn dispute?

Numbers

Which Welsh constituency returned the first independent Labour member, and who was he?

Numbers

What was the Cat and Mouse Act, and why was it passed?

Key term

What was the Welsh Revival of 1904 and 1905, and who led it?

Numbers

Roughly how many Welshmen served in the armed forces during the war?

Key term

Why was the export trade in Welsh coal so vulnerable?

Key term

Give an example of the regional variation in Welsh unemployment.

Key term

How did the growth of paid holidays change the Welsh coast?

Take Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939 further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

Suffragist vs Suffragette
Suffragist: a member of the constitutional National Union founded in 1897 and led by Millicent Fawcett, which worked for the women's vote by lawful pressure, petition and argument. Suffragette: a militant of Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union, prepared to break the law to force the question on the government.
General Strike vs Miners' lockout
General Strike: the nine-day national stoppage of May 1926 in support of the coalfield, called and then called off by the Trades Union Congress. Miners' lockout: the coalfield dispute in which the men stayed out alone from May until the winter of 1926 and were finally forced back on longer hours, lower wages and district agreements.
Black Friday 1921 vs Red Friday 1925
Black Friday 1921: the day in April when the railwaymen and transport workers withdrew from the promised sympathetic strike, leaving the coalfield to fight alone. Red Friday 1925: the day in July when the government averted a coal stoppage by agreeing to subsidise wages for nine months while a royal commission inquired into the industry.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
Describe the overall pattern of population growth in Wales between 1901 and 1911.
Model answer
The population grew rapidly from just over two million to about 2.4 million, the fastest rise of any decade in Welsh history.
2
Which part of Wales absorbed almost all of that growth, and why?
Model answer
Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, because the expanding coalfield drew in workers from rural Wales, the west of England and Ireland.
3
Why is south Wales in the 1900s often compared with the United States?
Model answer
It was, in proportion to its size, one of the few places in the world attracting more incomers than it lost, drawing migrants on a scale second only to America.
4
What was happening to the population of rural Wales while the coalfield grew?
Model answer
Counties such as Cardiganshire, Montgomeryshire and Merioneth lost people steadily as the young left the land for the coalfield or for England.
5
Give two general demographic trends visible across Wales and England in the early twentieth century.
Model answer
The birth rate was falling as family size shrank, and life expectancy was rising as infant mortality declined.
6
Why did a falling birth rate and a longer-lived population create a political problem?
Model answer
It increased the proportion of elderly people dependent on relatives or the Poor Law at a time when families were smaller and less able to support them.

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Government, Rebellion and Society in Wales and England c.1485-1603

Government, Revolution and Society in Wales and England c.1603-1715

Politics, Protest and Reform in Wales and England c.1780-1880

Politics, People and Progress: Wales and England c.1880-1980

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AUniversal male suffrage was kept.

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Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939 revision questions

Is Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939 examined at AS in WJEC History?: Yes. It sits in AS Unit 2 and A2 Unit 4, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.
What does Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939 cover in WJEC AS-Level History?: 14 subtopics: population change and the surveys of booth and rowntree, conservative government to 1905 and the 1906 election, the liberal welfare reforms 1906-1914, the people's budget and the parliament act 1911, heavy industry, agriculture and the welsh economy before 1914, industrial unrest in wales: the penrhyn lockout, tonypandy and llanelli, trade unions and the rise of the labour party, women, the vote and war work, religion, education and welsh culture, wales and the great war: voluntarism, conscription and the home front, industrial decline, the coal disputes and the general strike of 1926, the depression in wales: unemployment, migration and government response, politics between the wars: from the lloyd george coalition to the national government and society, leisure and popular culture between the wars. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Politics and Society in Wales and England c.1900-1939 organised?: By the WJEC 601-5817-7 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

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