The Beliefs of the Parties in the 1940s

Beliefs of the Conservatives

Parties at this time stood for broad principles - not just specific policies. At the start of Peel's Conservative ministry these were:

1. Monarchy was important in the British political system. Conservatives believed that the Monarch should be allowed to exert real power when it was appropriate. Queen Victoria should be entitled to select her own ministers and the government belonged to her.
2. Conservatives had a high regard for the traditional British constitution. They regretted passing the 1832 Reform bill, but they were prepared to accept necessary changes.
3. They believed that the landowning aristocracy were the given rulers of the country, and they deserved that role due to the background, education and wealth. The stability of the country depended upon a landowning class that had a sufficient stake in the system to act in it's best interests. In contrast to the French revolution that was going on at the same time, the British aristocracy were not opposed to a political role for the wealthy middle classes. This was shown when Peel favored free trade.
4. The Conservatives believed that the Church of England was the keystone of the social system. The monarch was the head of the Church and the bishops were often members of the House of Lords.

Beliefs of the Liberals

1. The liberals had a much greater acceptance of reform and change. For example, in 1832 Earl Grey (PM) said "the reform act was the most aristocratic measure ever put before parliament."
2. They were more suspicious of the powers that the Monarch had. They restricted a monarch's rights in the Bill of Rights of 1689. They believed in the Rule of Law, which meant that everyone regardless of their status or position must keep to the laws of the land.
3. Liberals were happy to allow the middle class into the heart of the political framework. This was shown when they allowed the £10 householder the vote in the 1832 reform act.
4. They weren't too concerned about the Church of England, but instead wanted more religious liberty. Liberals often showed sympathy to non-conformists. They wanted to use the Church's powers for things like education.
5. Liberals were keen on the government having a lower role, and influencing the economy less, for example by having lower taxation. This is very similar to what Conservative Margaret Thatcher wanted and Nobel prize winning economist Hayek.

Standard Chartered - The tip of an Iceberg?

Standard Chartered - The tip of an Iceberg? 

August this year, the UK based bank Standard Chartered was accused of illegally scheming with Iran to launder money by a young aspiring regulator from New York. Of course the bank denied the bulk of the charges, (they admitted of hiding $14m of transactions, not the alleged $250bn.) Yet I will not be focusing on the relatively minor misdemeanours of the bank but instead what the allegations really mean and entail.
In order to do this, we are going to need to zoom out of the bank accusations and look at the bigger picture. In the US there is a large Jewish lobby who have influence over politics and other important areas of the country. Recently the Americans have been pressured by the lobby to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. However, rather than straight out going to war with Iran, America is imposing economic sanctions to persuade Iran to stop.
In order for this method to work, America wants all countries to obey the sanctions. They went about this by asking at the UN for others to follow. Both China and Russia disagreed and would not comply - why should they agree? However, due to our long-standing relationship with the US, Britain agreed to the sanctions.
Now that we have had a glimpse of the big picture, we can zoom back in and have a closer look the bank. According the the BBC, British bankers are saying that this is looking increasingly like an assault on the city of London by the US authorities. So, could it be that some Americans are misusing Britain’s compliance with the economic sanctions against Iran to bring business from London to New York? Some politicians have spoken of a perceived “anti-British” bias in Washington designed to weaken London as a financial center, even more so as the accusers threaten to revoke Standard Chartered’s New York trading license.
On one hand, these accusations may only be to bring business to New York, but on the other hand by looking at the bigger picture we can that ultimately Iran only want a Nuclear weapon to assure their own security, as the Isrealis have one which the Americans have them.
In conclusion, with no recognition of the offence this causes to the Palestines and the Arab world, along with increasing tension, this could spark into a devastating conflict.

Coastline Under Pressure Case Study : Lyme Bay

What's meant by a coastline under pressure?
A coastline with a lot of human activity that can possibly damage the area.

Lyme Bay

Lyme Bay is a coastline on the South of England that is under pressure.

Scallop Dredgers
The Scallop industry is profitable and generates over £180,000/year. However, scallop dredging involves dragging heavy fishing equipment along the seabed. This causes high levels of physical damage. The dragging stirs up the sediment on the sea floor and smothers sensitive species.
In the long term, this can have a large effect on people who use the bay.

The Wildlife
Around Lyme Bay there are many natural habitats for animals, such as rocky reefs and the like. These areas have lots of sea-grass and maerl. Furthermore, these habitats are nursery grounds for commercially valuable fish. In turn, these fish are the food for sea birds such as the Auks and Gulls.
These habitats are extremely sensitive to physical damage, and must be looked after.

Anglers
Anglers bring a  large amount of money to the local economy, roughly £250,000/year. They mainly fish things such as cod and bass.
However, angling actually has a minimum impact on the marine habitat, but the fishing lines may snag sensitive species, such as Pink Sea Tanks.

Tourism

Tourism brings lots of money to the local economy which can be used on leisure services such as:

• Sightseeing
• Sailing
• Waterskiing
• Jet-Skiing
• Power Boating
• Wind Surfing

The problem is, that you need to have an an attractive and healthy environment to continue to attract tourists, so it is vital for Lyme Bay to remain safe and balanced.

Persecution of Jews

Once in power, Hitler put his anti-Semitic ideas outlined in 'Mein Kampf' into operation. 

• In 1933, Jewish shops and businesses were boycotted.
• In 1934, any Jews who were employed in Civil servant jobs were fired.
• Jews were banned from Public Places.
• The Nuremburg Laws of 1935, took away the Jew's rights to be German citizens. Marriages between Jews and non-Jews were banned.
• Many Jews began to leave Germany
• In November 1938, Jewish shops and synagogues were ransacked and destroyed in Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass).
• Thousands of Jews were arrested over the following weeks, and 30,000 were sent to concentration camps.
• After 1939, the Final Solution (The extermination of Jewish people) began. This resulted in 6m Jews being killed.

Persecution of Other Groups

• Anyone who was not 'Aryan' suffered under the Nazis. Including, Blacks and Gypsies.
• People not 'socially useful' were put into concentration camps. e.g. Mentally and physically ill and tramps.

Why/How did Hitler become Chancellor?

Why/How did Hitler become Chancellor?

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Long Term Reasons (1920s)

1. Anger about WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles.
2. Weaknesses with the current government.
3. Financial Support from wealthy businessmen.
4. Nazi Propaganda.
5. The Stormtroopers (SA) attacked the Jews and those who were opposed to Hitler.
6. Hitler was a brilliant speaker and promised something to everyone.

Short Term Reasons (1929-1933)

1. After the Wall Street crash of 1929, the US called it's loans on Germany, causing the German economy to collapse. Unemployment grew, people starved on the streets. In the crisis people wanted someone to blame, they looked for extreme solutions - Hitler offered both of these.
2. Franz Von Papen was the current chancellor, but he could not get enough support in the Reichstag (due to the Nazis disrupting it). Hidenburg and Von Papen had to govern by emergency decree under Article 48 of the constitution. They offered Hitler the role of Vice-Chancellor, but he demanded to be made Chancellor. On the 30 January 1933, Hitler was made Chancellor.

How did the Depression help the Nazis? 1929

How did the Depression help the Nazis?

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What was the depression?

• In 1929 the Wall Street Crash forced US banks to recall their loans to Germany.
• German industry was hit by a fall in demand and was unable to pay back loans from the USA.
• Millions of workers were unemployed as factories closed down.
• None of the government's methods to combat the Depression had any effect, which brought out all the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic.
• Coalition Groups were formed as different parties disagreed on how to solve the depression. This lead to it being increasingly hard to setup a coalition government.
• After 1929, a presidential emergency was declared, and Germany was ruled by the President.

How did these problems help the Nazis?

The Depression was a gift to Hitler & the Nazis as for every problem the people had, the Nazis had an explanation or a promise.

• The Weimar government is weak: You need strong leadership. Hitler is your man.
• Unemployment? The Nazis will get people back to work through road-building and public works.
• Worried about the communists? Look at the Nazi's SA, they know how to deal with them.

Summary: How did the Nazis do it?

The Depression was only part of the reason that the Nazis had such success. 

• Organisation
• The Nazis were extremely organised. Most of them had been soldiers in WW1, and carried the same obedience and determination with them into the party. They has skilled leaders at almost every level.
• Propaganda
• The Nazi National leaders were masters at propaganda. They trained their local groups with propaganda skills. They knew all the tricks in the book. They stirred up violence at election meetings, just so the SA could crush it and be seen as crushing the communist threat.
• Support of the Industrialists
• Hitler made sure to become friends with some of the rich right-wing parties in order to gain large amounts of financial support.
• Use of Technology
•  Hitler made the use of radio to make sure he really brought his message home, and every home in Germany could hear him. Furthermore, he made good use of aircraft so that Hitler could give up to 4 or 5 speeches at massive rallies each day. This hugely increased the number of people supporting him.
• Promise to Voters
• Every sector of German society heard what it wanted to hear. Workers were promised jobs, Employers were promised profits, farmers were promised higher prices and shopkeepers were promised protection against competition.
• Flexibility
• The Nazis were extremely flexible with their ideas. If an idea was losing them support, they would simply no longer mention it again. For example, they said they would nationalise industry, but the industrialists did not like that, so they simply never mentioned it again. They realised it doesn't matter what you promise, as long as people trust you. Furthermore, they promised many vague things, such as 'making Germany great again'.
• Hitler
• Hitler was the Nazi's party superman. He was the driving force behind things, and he kept improving and improving. He improved his speech writing, and was displayed in propaganda as a physically strong leader. He refused to wear spectacles in public, so had his speeches written in 12mm high print.
• Weakness of Opposition
• Other parties were very weak and consistently underestimated the Nazis. They often just argued amongst themselves, rather than uniting together to overcome the Nazis.

The Nazi Party 1924-33

The Nazi Party, 1924-33

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As the German economy improved, the Nazi party made very little progress. It only held 12 seats in the Reichstag in 1925. However, during this time it gained lots of members. By 1928 it had 100,000 members. Support for the Nazis grew, especially among certain groups of Germans who were attracted by                                                                                                                               nazi ideas.

• Nationalists who wanted to destroy the Treaty of Versailles.
• Racists who hated Jews and thoughts that Germans were superior.
• Business people who feared communism.
• Young people attracted by the parades and the future hope of a 'Great Germany'.

Growth of Support from 1929 to 1933.

Effects of Depression

• The Weimar republic could not solve the problems of Depression.
• The Nazis promised to end the Depression and unemployment.
• The Nazis were well organised and used propaganda to convey their messages. 

Electoral Gains

• 1930 Reichstag Election: 107 seats won.
• July 1932 Reichstag Election: 230 seats won. Largest party.
• November 1923 Reichstag Election: 196 Won. Remains largest party.
• April 1932 Presidential Election: Hitler lost to Hidenburg, but 13 million Germans voted for him.