Twentieth Century British History - current issue

The National Insurance Acts 1911-1947, the Approved Societies and the Prudential Assurance Company

Heller, M. — 2008-05-03

The role of the British major life assurance companies in administering the National Insurance Acts in the guise of approved societies has long been controversial. The companies have been accused of profiteering rather than civic duty or social altruism. This article, using the Prudential Assurance Company as a case study, questions this argument. Life assurance companies such as the Prudential were fundamental to the operational running of national health insurance in the first half of the twentieth century due to their scale, scope and expertise. In addition, they were keen to extend the scope of national health insurance and campaigned to make the acts more comprehensive. Finally, while the companies certainly did see benefits in administering the acts, these were related more to corporate identity, branding and public relations than to direct pecuniary gain. An analysis of the inclusion of the life insurance companies in the administration of the National Health Insurance Acts is thus as important for an understanding of twentieth-century Britain as it is for the development of modern social welfare.

Black Sailors on Red Clydeside: Rioting, Reactionary Trade Unionism and Conflicting Notions of 'Britishness' Following the First World War

Jenkinson, J. — 2008-05-03

The riot at Glasgow harbour in January 1919 was the first in a wave of rioting around Britain's ports in 1919. Violence was triggered by increased job competition in the merchant navy at the end of the war. Seamen's unions fuelled animosity between competing groups as they sought to protect white British access to jobs by imposing a ‘colour’ bar on sailors from racialized ethnic minorities. Many of the seamen targeted in this way were British colonial subjects from Africa and the Caribbean. Black colonial sailors in Glasgow resisted attacks by white rioters and asserted their rights to employment as British subjects. The riot was connected to wider industrial unrest on Clydeside as leaders of the union campaign for a reduced working week (to maintain full employment following demobilization) brought unskilled labour, including merchant seamen, into a general strike alongside skilled workers. Strike leaders, including Shinwell and Gallacher, linked the 40-hours movement to the seamen's unions’ protests against overseas labour by stressing the common interests of both in preserving the job prospects of (white) labour. The campaigns proved unsuccessful in the face of government fears over the revolutionary potential of the general strike and as the merchant shipping industry slid in to depression.

Women and Work after the Second World War: A Case Study of the Jute Industry, Circa 1945-1954

Morelli, C., Tomlinson, J. — 2008-05-03

This article examines the attempts by the Dundee jute industry to recruit women workers in the years circa 1945–1954. It locates its discussion of these attempts in the literature on the impact of the Second World War on the participation of women in the British labour market more generally, and the forces determining that participation. It stresses the peculiarities of jute as a traditional major employer of women operating in very specific market conditions, but suggests that this case study throws light on the broader argument about the impact of war and early post-war conditions on women's participation in paid work.

Myxomatosis in 1950s Britain

Bartrip, P.W.J. — 2008-05-03

In 1953 myxomatosis, a viral disease of rabbits, broke out in Britain for the first time. It rapidly killed tens of millions of the animals from Kent to the Shetlands. Many farmers and foresters welcomed a disease that virtually eliminated a long-standing and serious agricultural pest. Others were horrified by the sight of thousands of dead and dying animals. With meat still rationed, consumers rued the loss of a cheap and nutritious foodstuff. Rough shooters deplored the loss of prey and hatters and furriers the unavailability of the fur on which their businesses depended. Rabbits also had champions within the ‘establishment’; these included Winston Churchill who was personally influential in making deliberate transmission of the disease a criminal offence. The arrival in Britain of myxomatosis presented the authorities with difficult questions: should they try to contain it, spread it or do nothing; should they take advantage of rabbit depopulation and try to exterminate such a destructive animal? In the event the outbreak was allowed to run its course and rabbit extermination became government policy. This article considers who or what was responsible for the disease reaching the UK and how it then spread throughout the country. It examines the responses of government, other institutions and members of the public. Finally, it explores the impact of rabbit de-population on agriculture, the natural environment and public opinion.

Britain's Pensions Crisis: History and Policy. Edited by Hugh Pemberton, Pat Thane and Noel Whiteside.

Blackburn, R. — 2008-05-03

Between Empire and Revolution: A Life of Sidney Bunting, 1873-1936. By Allison Drew.

Hyslop, J. — 2008-05-03

Anglo-American Media Interactions, 1850-2000. Edited by Joel H. Weiner and Mark Hampton.

Ellwood, D. W. — 2008-05-03

Debating Nationhood and Governance in Britain, 1885-1945: Perspectives from the 'Four Nations'. Edited by Duncan Tanner, Chris Williams, Wil Griffith and Andrew Edwards.

Ward, P. — 2008-05-03

Mutualism and Health Care: British Hospital Contributory Schemes in the Twentieth Century. By Martin Gorsky and John Mohan with Tim Willis.

Reinarz, J. — 2008-05-03

Women Police: Gender, Welfare and Surveillance in the Twentieth Century. By Louise A. Jackson.

Williams, C. A. — 2008-05-03

Labour and the Countryside: The Politics of Rural Britain 1918-1939. By Clare V. J. Griffiths.

Burchardt, J. — 2008-05-03

The Conservative Party and European Integration since 1945: At the heart of Europe? By N. J. Crowson.

Hendley, M. — 2008-05-03

From Dreams to Disillusionment: Economic and Social Planning in 1960s. By Glen O'Hara.

Ritschel, D. — 2008-05-03

Liberal government and politics, 1905-1915. By Ian Packer.

Tanner, D. — 2008-05-03

Triumph of the South: A Regional Economic History of Early Twentieth Century Britain. By Peter Scott.

Carter, H. — 2008-05-03