AQA A-level History · 1G

Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

50 exam-style questions with answers for 1G Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964 in AQA A-level History (spec 7042). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 1G, Part one
Who could vote in borough elections after 1832? [1 mark]
Answer:
Men occupying property worth £10 a year; the electorate was still small.
Question 2 · Spec 1G, Part one
Why did the parties realign before 1867? [2 marks]
Answer:
The Conservatives split over Corn Law repeal in 1846 (1); Whigs, Peelites and Radicals formed the Liberal Party in 1859 (1).
Question 3 · Spec 1G, Part one
Describe the bases of Liberal support under Gladstone. [2 marks]
Answer:
Nonconformists and the industrial middle class (1); skilled workers and the Celtic fringe of Wales and Scotland (1).
Question 4 · Spec 1G, Part one
Define the term ‘Tory democracy’. [1 mark]
Answer:
Disraeli’s idea that the Conservatives could win working-class support through social reform, patriotism and empire.
Question 5 · Spec 1G, Part one
Why was Britain called ‘the workshop of the world’ in the 1850s? [1 mark]
Answer:
It produced a large share of the world’s manufactured goods, coal, iron and textiles.
Question 6 · Spec 1G, Part one
State two causes of the Great Depression in agriculture after 1873. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: cheap American grain (1); refrigerated meat from abroad (1); poor harvests in the late 1870s (1); free trade (1).
Question 7 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was the Education Act (1870)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Forster’s Act set up elected school boards to provide elementary schools where none existed.
Question 8 · Spec 1G, Part one
What did the Ballot Act (1872) introduce? [1 mark]
Answer:
Secret voting in elections.
Question 9 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was the Irish Land League? [1 mark]
Answer:
A movement founded in 1879 by Michael Davitt and Parnell to campaign for tenants’ rights (the ‘three Fs’).
Question 10 · Spec 1G, Part one
What happened to the first Home Rule Bill (1886)? [2 marks]
Answer:
It was defeated in the Commons (1); the Liberals split, as Liberal Unionists such as Joseph Chamberlain left the party (1).
Question 11 · Spec 1G, Part one
State two reasons for Conservative dominance from 1886 to 1905. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the Liberal split over Home Rule (1); alliance with the Liberal Unionists (1); popular imperialism (1); Salisbury’s leadership (1); villa Toryism (1).
Question 12 · Spec 1G, Part one
What were the Fabians? [1 mark]
Answer:
A socialist society founded in 1884, including Sidney and Beatrice Webb, who wanted gradual reform.
Question 13 · Spec 1G, Part one
When was the Labour Representation Committee formed? [1 mark]
Answer:
1900.
Question 14 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was the Taff Vale case (1901)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A legal ruling that unions could be sued for losses caused by strikes, which pushed unions towards Labour.
Question 15 · Spec 1G, Part one
Define the term ‘New Liberalism’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The belief that the state should intervene to tackle poverty and give people a fair chance.
Question 16 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was the People’s Budget (1909)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Lloyd George’s budget raising taxes on the rich and land to pay for pensions and the navy (1); the Lords rejected it, causing a constitutional crisis (1).
Question 17 · Spec 1G, Part one
What did the Parliament Act (1911) do? [2 marks]
Answer:
The Lords lost the power to veto money bills and could only delay other bills for two years (1); elections had to be held at least every five years (1).
Question 18 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was tariff reform? [1 mark]
Answer:
Joseph Chamberlain’s campaign from 1903 for imperial preference and protective tariffs.
Question 19 · Spec 1G, Part one
Define the term ‘syndicalism’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The idea that workers should use general strikes to take control of industry.
Question 20 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was the National Insurance Act (1911)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It introduced health insurance for workers and unemployment insurance in some trades.
Question 21 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was the third Home Rule Bill (1912)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A bill for Irish self-government that Ulster Unionists resisted with the Ulster Volunteer Force; it was suspended in 1914.
Question 22 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was the Second Reform Act (1867)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Disraeli’s act giving the vote to male householders in boroughs.
Question 23 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was the Third Reform Act (1884)? [1 mark]
Answer:
It extended the household franchise to the counties.
Question 24 · Spec 1G, Part one
What was new unionism? [1 mark]
Answer:
The growth of unions for unskilled workers after the match girls’ and dockers’ strikes (1888–1889).
Question 25 · Spec 1G, Part two
Explain why the Liberal Party declined after 1916. [2 marks]
Answer:
It split between Asquith and Lloyd George (1); war undermined Liberal principles, and Labour replaced it as the main alternative to the Conservatives (1).
Question 26 · Spec 1G, Part two
What did the Representation of the People Act (1918) do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It gave the vote to all men over 21 and women over 30 who met a property qualification.
Question 27 · Spec 1G, Part two
When was the first Labour government? [1 mark]
Answer:
1924, a minority government led by Ramsay MacDonald.
Question 28 · Spec 1G, Part two
Why did the General Strike (1926) fail? [2 marks]
Answer:
The government was prepared, with the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies and volunteers (1); the TUC lacked commitment and called it off after nine days (1).
Question 29 · Spec 1G, Part two
When did Britain leave the Gold Standard? [1 mark]
Answer:
September 1931.
Question 30 · Spec 1G, Part two
What was the National Government (1931)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A coalition led by MacDonald but dominated by Conservatives, formed in the financial crisis.
Question 31 · Spec 1G, Part two
Why did Edward VIII abdicate in 1936? [1 mark]
Answer:
He wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorcée, which the government and Church would not accept.
Question 32 · Spec 1G, Part two
Who led the British Union of Fascists? [1 mark]
Answer:
Oswald Mosley.
Question 33 · Spec 1G, Part two
What was the Jarrow Crusade (1936)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A march by 200 unemployed men from Jarrow to London to petition for jobs.
Question 34 · Spec 1G, Part two
What was the Easter Rising (1916)? [1 mark]
Answer:
An armed rebellion in Dublin for an Irish republic, crushed by the British, who executed its leaders.
Question 35 · Spec 1G, Part two
What did the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) create? [1 mark]
Answer:
The Irish Free State, a dominion, while Northern Ireland remained in the UK.
Question 36 · Spec 1G, Part two
Why did Labour win a landslide in 1945? [2 marks]
Answer:
Voters wanted the Beveridge reforms and blamed the Conservatives for the 1930s (1); Labour’s wartime ministers had proved competent (1).
Question 37 · Spec 1G, Part two
What were the five giants identified by Beveridge (1942)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Want, Disease, Ignorance (1); Squalor, Idleness (1).
Question 38 · Spec 1G, Part two
What did the Butler Education Act (1944) do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It made secondary education free for all up to 15, with grammar, secondary modern and technical schools.
Question 39 · Spec 1G, Part two
When was the NHS founded? [1 mark]
Answer:
1948.
Question 40 · Spec 1G, Part two
Define the term ‘Butskellism’. [1 mark]
Answer:
The post-war consensus between Labour and Conservative economic policies, from the names Butler and Gaitskell.
Question 41 · Spec 1G, Part two
Define the term ‘stop-go’. [1 mark]
Answer:
Alternating government policies to boost the economy and then restrain it when inflation or the balance of payments worsened.
Question 42 · Spec 1G, Part two
What did Macmillan claim in 1957? [1 mark]
Answer:
That most Britons had ‘never had it so good’.
Question 43 · Spec 1G, Part two
What were the Notting Hill riots (1958)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Attacks by white youths on West Indian residents in London.
Question 44 · Spec 1G, Part two
What did the Commonwealth Immigrants Act (1962) do? [1 mark]
Answer:
It restricted immigration from the Commonwealth using a work voucher system.
Question 45 · Spec 1G, Part two
Who won the 1964 general election? [1 mark]
Answer:
Labour, under Harold Wilson.
Question 46 · Spec 1G, Part two
What happened in the Divis Street riots (September 1964)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Rioting in Belfast after police removed an Irish tricolour from a republican office.
Question 47 · Spec 1G, Part two
What was the Campaign for Social Justice (1964)? [1 mark]
Answer:
A Northern Ireland group that publicised discrimination against Catholics, an early step in the civil rights movement.
Question 48 · Spec 1G, Part two
What was the Geddes Axe (1922)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Cuts in government spending recommended by Eric Geddes.
Question 49 · Spec 1G, Part two
What was the Housing Act (1919)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Addison’s act providing subsidies for council houses (‘homes fit for heroes’).
Question 50 · Spec 1G, Part two
What were the Special Areas Acts (1934)? [1 mark]
Answer:
Measures to support depressed regions such as South Wales and the North East.

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Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964

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