Hello and welcome to another Oak Academy history lesson.

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

So let's begin.

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

We'll be asking the question for whom did the United Kingdom become a new Jerusalem? Today's lesson, we'll focus on the aims of the post-war labour government.

And by the end of the lesson, you'll be able to recall that the Labour Party came into government in 1945 with a plan to implement the results of the "Beveridge Report." Now the lesson today, we'll use some key words, so let's take a look at those now.

The first word we'll come across is the word consensus.

A consensus is a general agreement among opposition parties.

We'll also use the word manifesto, which is a written declaration of a party's policies produced before an election.

We'll also use the word nationalisation.

Nationalisation is taking privately controlled companies and industries, and putting them under government control.

And finally, we'll use the word landslide.

In politics, this means when the overwhelming majority of the votes are for one party in an election.

Now our lesson today will be in three sections, so let's get started with section one, which will focus on Britain by the end of the Second World War.

The Second World War ended in Europe in May 1945.

Almost six years of fighting had left Britain in a desperate state.

An aerial bombardment campaign known as the Blitz had destroyed or damaged 4 million homes, and over 61,000 civilians had been killed.

Both the rich and the poor suffered during the Blitz, and some people found themselves reliant on government support for the first time in their lives.

Rationing was introduced in 1939 to ensure that all families, regardless of their social class, were able to receive their fair share of provisions.

Rationing continued after the war and was widely supported as the shared experiences of suffering during the war helped to unite the country.

Other aspects of the economy had been controlled during the war, as well as public safety and war production.

For example, the government introduced the government evacuation scheme.

The government intervened in the economy and in British life much more during the war years than they had in the past.

Previously, individual freedom and effort had been favoured over state control and support.

However, even after the war had ended, many people in Britain still saw a need for continued government help.

Okay, let's have a quick check of your understanding so far.

I'd like you to answer this question.

"How many homes were destroyed or damaged in Britain during the Blitz?" Was it A.

1 million? B.

4 million? or C.

10 million? Press pause and when you're ready to hear the answer, press play.

Well done if you said the correct answer was B.

4 million homes were destroyed or damaged in Britain during the Blitz.

One area, the war highlighted as in need of government attention was the issue of tackling poverty.

Before World War II, there had been some awareness of poverty in the UK.

However, the social problems within society were greatly highlighted by the war.

At the start of the war, around one and a half million people, mainly children, were moved from British cities to the countryside for safety.

Middle class families who looked after the mostly inner city evacuees were shocked at the condition of the children they received, and became convinced that the government needed to do more to help poor families.

For example, 20% of the children evacuated from Liverpool were found to have lice, and their clothes were dirty and worn.

This led the Labour Party to call for the introduction of measures to support these families living in poverty.

Time for another quick check of your understanding.

Here's a true or false question.

"Evacuation made people think the government needed to do more to help the poor." Is that true or false? Press pause and then when you're ready to hear the answer, press play.

You should've said the correct answer was true.

But why was the answer true? Is it because A.

People who looked after child evacuees blamed their parents for their poor state of health and clothing? Or B.

People who looked after child evacuees were shocked that the government allowed children to live in such poverty? Press pause and when you're ready to hear the answer, press play.

You should've said the correct justification was B.

People who looked after child evacuees were shocked that the government allowed children to live in such poverty.

During World War II, an all party coalition government had been formed to unify the nation.

The influence of labour politicians, such as Clement Attlee, led to the development of plans to help support the nation through the difficult years of the war.

For instance, government subsidies were provided to increase the number of free school meals available for children.

State nurseries were also set up to allow women to take part in war work, and supplementary pensions were provided for widows and elderly people.

The impact of the Second World War created a situation where many more people from different social classes continue to need state support.

Here's another quick check of your understanding again.

True or false? "World War II resulted in the government being more actively involved in British society and the economy." Press pause and when you've got your answer ready, press play.

You should've said the correct answer was true.

But why was the answer true? Is it because A.

The government formed a coalition which controlled industries, food distribution and public welfare? Or B.

Churchill led a minority government which supported private companies and favoured the rich? Press pause and then press play to hear the correct answer.

You should've said the correct answer was A.

The government formed a coalition which controlled industries, food distribution and public welfare.

Finally in this section, it's time to put what you've learned so far into practise.

I'd like you to have a go at answering this question.

"Explain why there was increased support for state action at the end of the Second World War." In your answer, try to give two reason.

On the screen, there are some sentence starters that you can use to help you to structure your answer.

So press pause now to complete the work, and then press play when you're ready to see what you could have written.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you got on.

In your answer, you could've said the following.

"One reason why there was increased support for state action at the end of the Second World War was that the public had become used to state control during the war, for example, through rationing.

A second reason for the increased support for state action was because there were many social problems which needed to be tackled after the Second World War, such as poverty and housing shortages." We're now ready to move on to the second section of the lesson today.

This section will look at the 1945 General Election and a New Jerusalem.

The damaged state of Britain at the end of the Second World War, combined with the fact that leading politicians at the day had been working together for most of the war, resulted in there being a consensus in the 1945 General Election about the sorts of policies that were needed to support post-War Britain.

Both the Labour Party and the Conservative Party made promises about creating a modern health service, improvements to education, and a system of national insurance to protect against things like unemployment.

Here's a quick check of your understanding.

"Both main parties shared a consensus on improving which of the following in their 1945 election manifestos?" Was it A.

The environment, economy and migration? B.

Defence, foreign aid and crime? Or C.

Health, education and social security? Press pause and then press play to see the correct answer.

You should've said the correct answer was C.

Both Labour Party and the Conservative Party had a consensus over the need to improve health, education and social security.

However, despite the consensus, the public seemed to view the Labour Party as more committed than the Conservatives to the idea of a welfare state.

Whereby the government would protect the health and well-being of the British people as they had done during the war.

The Conservatives talked more about winning the war against Japan in the election campaign, whereas the Labour Party focused more on the idea of improving the lives of British people straight away.

It was also true that the way the coalition government had worked during the war was that the labour politicians had essentially been managing issues at home, whereas Conservative politicians had been running the war.

Therefore, it seemed to many voters that the Labour Party was better placed to understand the problems at home, as well as more in tune with the mood of the British people.

Labour gave their manifesto the title Let Us Face The Future.

It offered big changes such as a national health service and the nationalisation of major industries.

Many of the ideas in the manifesto were based on the findings of a 1942 investigation that had been conducted into poverty.

The "Beveridge Report," as it was called, was written by the economist William Beveridge, and proved to be very influential.

Labour promised that they would bring in Beveridge's reforms, and this helped take them to victory over the Conservatives.

The idea of a New Jerusalem, which came from the Bible and referred to the hope of better times ahead, struck a chord with voters and led to Labour winning a landslide victory with a 146 seat majority.

Here's another check of your understanding now.

"Which of the following men led the Labour Party to victory in 1945?" Was it A.

Winston Churchill? B.

Clement Attlee? Or C.

William Beveridge? Press pause and when you're ready to hear the answer, press play.

You should've said the correct answer was B.

Clement Attlee was the leader of the Labour Party, and took the party to victory in 1945.

Although many of the ideas in the manifesto were from the "Beveridge Report" written by William Beveridge.

Here's another check of your understanding.

"Attlee's promise of a New Jerusalem was popular with the British public." Is that true or false? Press pause and when you're ready to hear the answer, press play.

You should've said the correct answer was true.

But why was it true? Was it because A.

The British public supported Labour's immediate focus on the post-war recovery? Or B.

The British public supported the Conservative's focus on defeating Japan, and then focusing on British recovery? Press pause and then press play to hear the correct answer.

You should've said the correct justification was A.

The British public supported the promise of a New Jerusalem because they liked Labour's immediate focus on post-war recovery.

Finally in this section, let's have a go now at this task.

I'd like you to read Laura's opinion and provide two reasons to support her answer.

Let's have a read now of Laura's opinion.

Laura says, "The Labour government won a landslide victory in the 1945 General Election because they promised the British people a New Jerusalem." Press pause to complete your answer, and then press play to see which reasons you could have given.

Welcome back.

Let's have a look at how you got on.

Your answer could have included that "British voters supported Labour's focus on solving social problems in Britain, rather than the Conservative's focus on ending the war with Japan." You could also have said that "They thought that the Labour Party was more committed to implementing the findings of the "Beveridge Report" than the Conservatives were." We're ready now for the final section of the lesson today.

This section, we'll look at the influence of the "Beveridge Report." With such a large majority, the Labour government was able to take forward fully the ideas in the "Beveridge Report." The main suggestion in the report was the need to establish a social security system in the UK, which would tackle want meaning poverty.

This would ensure that the government was able to look after British citizens from the cradle to the grave.

People in need of support would have access to the food, shelter and clothing they needed if they fell on hard times for reasons such as sickness, ill health, old age, and unemployment.

The scheme would be paid for through having a state insurance fund, which would be paid into by everyone in work.

Here's another check of your understanding again.

"How did the Labour Party plan to pay for looking after British people from the cradle to the grave?" Was it A.

Through taxing the richest in society to pay for the less well-off, known as income tax? B.

Through establishing a national insurance fund, which everyone in work would pay into? Or C.

Through increasing the taxes paid by businesses known as corporation tax? Press pause and when you're ready to hear the answer, press play.

You should have said the correct answer was B.

They plan to pay for it through establishing a national insurance fund, which everyone in work would pay into.

Given the fact that World War II had been such a levelling experience for rich and poor, it is unsurprising that many people voted Labour as a result of their commitment to this idea.

There was an acceptance of the need for government intervention to tackle the huge problem of poverty, which had clearly existed before the war but had been made much worse by it.

"Beveridge's Report" also highlighted other social problems in Britain, which needed to be addressed after so many years of focus on international rather than national issues.

They were named the five giants.

And in addition to want included disease, idleness, which meant unemployment, ignorance, which was about poor education, and squalor, which was inadequate housing.

Beveridge's ideas proved to be very influential, not just in the post-war recovery, but also in raising living standards in the longer term.

The report created the principle of state protection as a right, and committed subsequent governments to the notion of state responsibility, which today is accepted by both of the main political parties.

Time for another quick check of your understanding.

"Which one of the statements below justifies Izzy's opinion?" Let's read Izzy's opinion.

She says, "The 'Beveridge Report' helped to improve the lives of the British people as its set out the need to abolish the five giants." Here are the justifications you can choose from.

Is it A.

The "Beveridge Report" only built on state efforts that had already been started during the war, and put an extra burden on workers' pay? Or B.

The "Beveridge Report" was popular with the public, brought a Labour government into power and lead the basis of the welfare state? Press pause and when you've got your answer ready, press play.

You should've said the correct justification for Izzy's point of view is B.

The "Beveridge Report" was popular with the public, brought a Labour government into power and lead the basis of the welfare state.

Time now to put everything you've learned today into practise.

Firstly, I'd like you to match each of Beveridge's five giants to the social problem it referred to.

Press pause and when you're ready for the answers, press play.

Let's see how you got on.

For want, you should've said it refers to poverty.

For disease, it refers to ill-health.

For squalor, it refers to poor housing.

For idleness, it refers to unemployment.

And for ignorance, it refers to a lack of education.

Secondly, I'd like you to attempt this question.

"In your opinion, why were the principles set out in the "Beveridge Report" so popular in the aftermath of World War II?" You might want to consider the following in your answer.

The scale of the social problems in Britain.

The growing acceptance and expectation of state intervention.

And the British public shock at the inequalities in British society highlighted by World War II.

Press pause and when you're ready to see what you could've written, press play.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you got on.

You could've said, "There are several reasons why the 'Beveridge Report' was popular in the aftermath of World War II.

Firstly, the British public had been shocked by the inequalities the war revealed.

For instance, evacuation had highlighted the extent of poverty faced by many city children.

20% of the children evacuated from Liverpool were found to have lice and their clothes were dirty and worn.

Similarly, rich and poor people had all suffered equally during World War II and there was increased sympathy for the plight of the poor.

As a result, many in Britain wanted to combat poverty and called for change.

Secondly, there were also serious and wide ranging social problems to be overcome after World War II, such as food and housing shortages.

Therefore, the 'Beveridge Report's' findings showed that a more radical solution to these problems seemed necessary to the majority of Britain's population.

Finally, the experience of state control of industries and the economy during the war led to a growing acceptance and expectation of state intervention.

Many people now believe that there should be a greater role for the British government in supporting British citizens, even in peacetime." We've now reached the end of today's lesson, so time for a quick summary.

"After the end of the Second World War, Britain was in need of rebuilding, not just to replace the housing destroyed by the Blitz, but to reduce the inequalities that had been highlighted by the war.

Clement Attlee, the Labour Party leader, said that post-war Britain could become a Mew Jerusalem.

Labour won a landslide victory in the 1945 General Election due to changing attitudes about state involvement in people's lives caused by World War II.

Labour's aims for post-war Britain were based in part on the 'Beveridge Report,' which had argued that the state had a responsibility to protect citizens from the cradle to the grave.

Thanks for all of your work in our lesson together today.

I hope that you feel that you've met your learning objective, and I look forward to you joining me in a future lesson.