Hello, and thank you for joining me for another Oak Academy history lesson.

My name is Mrs. Knox, and today I'll be taking you through the resources and materials you need to be successful with this lesson.

So let's get started now.

Today's lesson is part of a unit of work on post-war Britain.

We are asking the question for whom did the United Kingdom become a New Jerusalem? Today's lesson we'll focus on social democracy and nationalisation in post-war Britain.

By the end of the lesson, you'll be able to explain why the post-war Labour government nationalised key industries and describe the effects of this process.

Now, there's some key vocabulary that will come across in the lesson today.

Let's start the lesson by having a look at those words now.

The first term that we'll use today is the term social democracy.

Social democracy is a democratic welfare state that incorporates both capitalist and socialist practises.

We'll also use the word nationalise.

Nationalise means to transfer an industry or business from private to government ownership.

Our lesson today will be in three parts, part one, which we'll start now.

We'll focus on social democratic beliefs and nationalisation.

In 1945, British politicians not only had welfare challenges to deal with but also serious economic problems. World War II had left the country with large debts, buildings and roads had been damaged, and many traditional industries like coal, iron, and steel were in decline.

To tackle these problems, the Labour Party looked to find a way to combine the best elements of capitalism and socialism.

Capitalism is an economic system based on markets and profit, whereas socialism is an economic system based on the satisfaction of people's needs.

Labour defined the compromise between the extremes of capitalism and socialism as social democracy.

Social welfare was central to their policies in building a better Britain, for example, the creation of the National Health Service.

A second aspect of their recovery plan focused on the nationalisation of industries.

This will be done by transferring key industries from private ownership to government ownership.

Here's a quick check of your understanding so far.

I'd like you to answer this question.

Social democracy is a practical middle course between which two political beliefs.

Is it a, liberalism and socialism, b, communism and socialism, or c, capitalism and socialism? Press pause and when you have your answer ready, press play for the answer.

You should have said that the correct answer was c.

Social democracy is a middle course between capitalism and socialism.

Labour's leader Clement Attlee believed that putting the control of major industries into government hands would make these industries more efficient and would allow them to run them in the interests of the people.

He set out how a Labour government would invest in and modernise failing industries leading to growth and recovery.

At the same time, Labour would improve working conditions for employees and create more jobs.

Keeping prices low for customers would be prioritised over making a profit.

Labour set out their plans to nationalise industries in their manifesto called Let's Face the Future, promising economic recovery.

Labour argued that planning from the centre would give them the power to intervene, to control production and distribution.

They won the 1945 general election with a large majority and they immediately started to put their plans into action.

Here's another check of your understanding.

Who would control key British industries under at Attlee's nationalisation plans? A, private companies, b, the government or c, workers councils? Press pause and then when you have your answer ready, press play for the answer.

Well done if you said that the correct answer was b, nationalisation would put British industries under the control of the government.

Here's another question for you now.

True or false? There was strong support for the proposal to nationalise industries at the end of World War II.

Press pause and when you've got your answer, press play.

That's right, you should have said that the correct answer is true.

I'd like you to pause the video again now and explain why the answer is true.

Welcome back.

You could have explained that the reason why the answer is true is that the public overwhelmingly voted for a Labour government in 1945, so clearly they believe that nationalisation would build a better Britain.

Finally, in this section, I'd like you to answer this question.

Explain two reasons why Labour wanted to nationalise major British industries at the end of World War II.

To help you with your answer, you could include these points, the economic problems caused by World War II and the Labour Party's belief in social democracy.

Press pause to complete your answer, and then when you're ready to see what you could have written, press play.

Time to see how you got on.

Your answer might have included some of the following.

One reason why Labour wanted to nationalise major British industries after World War II is because of the scale of the challenge of restoring Britain's economy after the war.

The country had large debts, part of its infrastructure had been destroyed, and important industries like coal were in decline.

The Labour Party believed that by taking industries out of the control of private companies and bringing them under state control, they would be able to invest in and modernise these industries to make them more efficient and productive leading to economic recovery and growth.

Your answer might also have included the following.

A second reason why Labour wanted to nationalise major British industries after World War II is because of their belief in the ideas of social democracy.

They wanted to run industries in the interest of the people rather than prioritising profits.

By taking key industries into government hands, they argued that they'd be able to improve working conditions for employees, key prices low for customers, and create jobs.

We're now ready to move on to the second section of the lesson today.

This section will focus on the nationalisation of key industries.

Coal was Britain's most important industry and was the first to be nationalised in 1946.

The National Coal Board, the NCB, was created to manage the process of coal mining.

For many years prior to World War II, the coal industry in Britain had been underfunded and under productive.

Nationalisation meant that 900 coal pits were taken out of the control of private coal companies and put under public ownership.

The NCB set out to increase co-production, but also to improve working conditions, pay and hours worked by miners.

By the end of Labour's term and government in 1951, mining had become one of the highest paid industries in the UK.

A five-day-week had been introduced for minors and this helped to attract more miners to the mines.

Nevertheless, some opponents of nationalisation said that the policy was simply a way of propping up declining industries.

It kept wages artificially high, cost the taxpayer a lot of money and contributed to making pits unprofitable in the longer term.

Time to check your understanding of this.

Which of the following students is explaining the negative impact nationalisation had on the coal industry in Britain? Press pause now whilst you read through the views of Sofia, Andeep and Alex, and when you've got your answer ready, press play to hear the correct answer.

You should have said that Alex was explaining the negative impact nationalisation had on the coal industry.

Alex says, "It cost the government a lot of money as they had to support what was essentially a declining, unprofitable industry." Other industries followed on from the nationalisation of coal.

These included electricity in 1947, the railways and gas industry in 1948, and the iron and the steel industry in 1949.

Here's another quick question before we move on.

Which industries had Labour nationalised by 1951? A coal, electricity, iron and steel, b, transportation of goods and sugar refining or C, construction, agriculture and fishing.

Press pause and when you're ready your answer, press play.

That's right.

You should have said that the industry is nationalised by Labour by 1951, were coal, electricity, iron and steel.

Up until the nationalisation of iron and steel in 1941, there had been little opposition in parliament to Labour's nationalisation programme.

One reason for this is because during the war, it had been necessary to control industrial production and therefore the principle of government control of industries had become established as the norm.

However, Labour's plan to nationalise iron and steel did cause controversy because unlike the other nationalised industries, they were making profit.

The Conservative Party argued there was no need to nationalise them as they were being run successfully and had a good record of employer-employee relations.

However, the Labour Party eventually managed to push through the nationalisation of iron and steel in 1950 despite being accused by the Conservatives of abusing government power.

Moreover, despite the criticisms of the Conservatives when they regained power after the 1951 general election, they allowed these industries to remain in government hands.

There was a political consensus that nationalisation had helped the economy to recover in the short term by creating jobs and it had proved popular with the British public.

Here's another check of your understanding.

I'd like you to discuss this question with a partner.

Why did the Conservative government allow nationalised industries to remain in government hands when they were elected in 1951? Press pause to have your discussion and when you're finished, press play to see what you could have discussed.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look at what you could have discussed.

You could have said that they came to agree that state intervention was a good thing for the economy and the people in the short term.

It had the broad support of the public because nationalisation had created jobs and Churchill wanted to maintain the low unemployment figures he had inherited.

Finally, in this section, I'd like you to attempt this question.

You're going to read an incorrect statement and I'd like you to correct it by rewriting it, using what you've learned.

Let's have a look at the incorrect statement.

Nationalisation made no contribution to economic recovery after World War II and there was therefore no benefit to the investment the government had made.

Press pause now to write a corrected version of the statement and then press play to see what you should have written.

Welcome back.

Let's see what you could have written.

Nationalisation made some contribution to economic recovery after World War II.

For example, it provided jobs and higher wages.

However, there was some criticism of the cost to the taxpayer.

We're now ready to move on to the final section of today's lesson.

This section we'll look at nationalisations legacy.

Labour's ambitious nationalisation programme did deliver improvements in several respects.

For example, parts of the countryside previously without electricity were brought onto the electric grid, and several railway lines were also constructed linking more parts of the country together.

One in 10 British workers was employed by a nationalised industry by 1950 and they benefited from improved working conditions such as paid holidays and sickness pay.

However, critics argued that the cost of nationalisation was too high.

For instance, the government spent 2,700 million pounds in compensation to the former owners of these industries.

Furthermore, the experiment in central economic planning did not really deliver the main objective of modernising British industry in the longer term.

By the 1970s, the economy was stagnant and much of the blame was laid at the door of nationalised industries, which were soaking up resources which could have been spent developing new industries such as electronics.

The ideas of social democracy had aimed to balance worker welfare with the capitalist need to make a profit.

However, nationalisation had shown it was difficult to strike this balance successfully.

Here's a check of your understanding now.

How much did Labour's nationalisation programme cost? Was it a, £27 million, B, £270 million, or C, £2700 million? Press pause and then press play to hear the correct answer.

You should have said the correct answer was C.

The cost of Labour's nationalisation programme was £2700 million.

The ambition of creating a fairer more equal society, which was one of the goals of nationalisation, has in more recent times given way to a more individualistic profit-oriented society.

In the 1980s, all of the previously nationalised industries were sold back into private ownership.

The conservative governments of Margaret Thatcher believed that social democracy was a failure and only capitalist economic solutions could repair Britain's weak economy.

Here's another quick question for you now.

True or false, Margaret Thatcher was a supporter of the ideas of social democracy and the policy of nationalisation.

Press pause and again if you're ready to hear the answer, press play.

You should have said that the correct answer is false.

Press pause again now so that you can explain why the answer is false.

You could have said in your explanation that Thatcher believed that private ownership of industry within a capitalist economic system was better for the economy than social democracy and nationalisation.

Today, most of the industries which were sold off have been the subject of a great deal of criticism for putting profits before people.

For example, the lack of investment in the railways combined with the high cost of travel and overcrowding, has led to calls for the railways to be renationalized.

In addition, water companies have been criticised for the pollution of the waterways of Britain, and energy companies have been criticised for the high cost of energy bills and making huge profits for shareholders.

It is clear that the debate about nationalisation versus private ownership in Britain still continues to this day.

Finally, today I'd like you to attempt this question.

In the short term, nationalisation helped build a better Britain, but in the long term the policy failed.

How far do you agree with this statement? Try to write a balanced answer.

That could mean one paragraph supporting the statement, one paragraph arguing against the statement, and one paragraph that explains how far you agree.

Press pause now to complete your answer and then press play when you're ready to see what you could have written.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you got on with your answer.

Your answer might have included the following, in the short term, nationalisation did help build a better Britain as the impact of World War II meant that there was a need for the government to take control of and support British industries.

One of the goals of social democracy was to create a fairer, more equal society, and nationalisation did this to some extent by providing jobs in the aftermath of the war and by improving working conditions for millions of workers.

By 1950, one in ten British workers was employed by a nationalised industry.

However, as time went on, it became clear that nationalised industries were a drain on government resources.

They were unprofitable due to high production and labour costs and were only surviving due to government subsidies.

This prevented the government from investing in new industries which would've provided new jobs and growth.

In conclusion, nationalisation was a popular policy after World War II and broadly supported by the two main political parties at the time, Labour and the Conservatives.

However, it proved difficult to balance the welfare of workers with the needs and costs of running competitive and modern businesses, and therefore, in the long term nationalisation was unable to deliver on the promise of a better Britain.

We've now reached the end of today's lesson.

So let's have a recap of the key things that you should take away.

Labour's commitment to the ideas of social democracy led them to introduce nationalisation after World War II.

Labour hoped it would help with Britain's recovery by providing more jobs and better working conditions for British workers.

By 1951, major industries such as coal, gas, electricity, iron and steel had been taken under government control.

They remain nationalised after 1951, but the state was unable to run competitive modern industries.

So they were sold back into private ownership in the 1980s.

Thank you for all of your hard work in our lesson today.

I hope that you feel confident that you've understood the material and I look forward to you joining me in a future history lesson.