History > UK, British empire, England

Early 21st century, 20th century

United Kingdom, British Empire

Timeline

in articles, pictures and podcasts

Steve Bell

political cartoon

G

27 July 2004

https://www.theguardian.com/cartoons/stevebell/
0,7371,1267868,00.html 

Hybrid character.

Left: Margaret Thatcher

Right: Tony Blair.

Steve Bell

political cartoon

G

2000

https://www.theguardian.com/
Thatcher/graphic/0,5543,401742,00.html

Tony Blair    /    Margaret Thatcher

2000s - 2010s

British troops in Afghanistan
 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/04/
uk-soldiers-more-likely-die-us-troops-war-terror

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/19/
more-afghan-interpreters-eligible-to-move-to-uk-under-new-rules

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/31/
wars-without-end-
why-is-there-no-peaceful-solution-to-so-much-global-conflict

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/nov/18/
uk-army-war-crimes-iraq-afghanistan-bbc-panorama

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/nov/17/
british-government-army-accused-covering-up-war-crimes-afghanistan-iraq

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/13/
british-troops-afghanistan-appease-trump-war

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/may/26/
afghan-interpreters-uk-army-failed-british-government-commons-report

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/09/
how-the-heroin-trade-explains-the-us-uk-failure-in-afghanistan

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/sep/22/
uk-military-investigating-hundreds-of-alleged-abuses-in-afghanistan

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/aug/17/
heroes-of-helmand-british-army-afghanistan-review

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/09/
uk-afghanistan-troops-increase-david-cameron

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/23/
afghan-taliban-seize-key-district-sangin-helmand-province

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/22/
much-of-sangin-in-taliban-hands-
amid-reports-uk-and-us-have-deployed-special-forces

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/28/
rightwing-ideology-lost-britiain-war-afghanistan-
and-is-destroying-state-and-country

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/28/
camp-bastion-helmand-uk-troops-hand-over-afghanistan

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/27/
guardian-view-britain-armed-forces-after-withdrawal-helmand-afghanistan

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/26/
british-troops-leave-helmand-as-afghans-take-over-camp-bastion

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/13/
taliban-advance-sangin-helmand-afghanistan

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/
06/military-afghanistan

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/10/
uk-forces-helmand-afghanistan

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/30/
afghanistan-war-cost-britain-37bn-book

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/26/
10-troops-injured-afghanistan-bomb

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/mar/29/
afghanistan-british-army-crimes

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/dec/02/
wikileaks-cables-afghan-british-military

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/25/
british-troops-afghan-civilian-shootings

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/25/
british-shootings-afghan-civilians-lis

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/apr/01/
british-troops-afghan-culture

https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2009/sep/17/
afghanistan-casualties-dead-wounded-british-data

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/aug/16/
afghanistan-british-troop-deaths

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/aug/28/
afghanistan

2010s

British military withdrawal from Iraq
 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/18/
british-militarys-8-years-in-iraq-ends

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/dec/18/
uk-troop-withdrawal-iraq-brown

https://www.theguardian.com/news/blog/2008/dec/17/
iraq-military

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/dec/17/
gordon-brown-iraq

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/10/
uk-iraq-withdrawal-troops

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/19/
usa.military

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/sep/03/
iraq.iraq

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/oct/24/
uk.iraq

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/sep/25/
uk.iraq

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/may/19/
iraq.iraq

Tony Charles Lynton Blair

Prime Minister 1997-2007


Iraq War
 

flawed information

about Saddam Hussein’s

alleged weapons

of mass destruction

(WMDs)

2005 general election campaign

IRA orders end

to armed campaign

Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam    1949-2005

Robert "Robin" Finlayson Cook    1946-2005
 

David Christopher Kelly    1944-2003

Terror laws

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/tonyblair 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/iraq-war-inquiry

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/david-kelly

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/19/
tony-blair-kuwait-artillery-gulf-war

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/sep/23/
the-british-spy-who-tried-to-stop-iraq-war

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/sep/22/
katharine-gun-whistleblower-iraq-official-secrets-film-keira-knightley

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/sep/22/
keira-knightley-interview-official-secrets-film

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/jun/18/
the-rehabilitation-of-tony-blair

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/28/
an-inconvenient-death-establishment-david-kelly-affair-miles-goslett-review

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2016/jul/10/
tony-blair-and-his-beliefs

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/09/
iraq-war-after-blair-and-bush-met-the-tempo-changed

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/07/06/
484964871/7-years-in-the-making-report-finds-british-rushed-into-iraq-war

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/
spy-agencies-flawed-information-saddam-wmds-iraq-chilcot

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/
tony-blair-deliberately-exaggerated-threat-from-iraq-chilcot-report-war-inquiry

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/18/
tony-blair-warpath-from-early-2002-
colin-powell-memo-chilcot-inquiry-invasion-iraq

http://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/jan/21/
chilcot-inquiry-iraq-the-guardian-briefing

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/picture/2013/sep/24/
photography-tony-blair-alastair-campbell

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/12/iraq-dossier-case-for-war

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/oct/22/
david-kelly-suicide

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2010/mar/18/
tony-blair-george-bush-iraq-letters

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/29/
tony-blair-chilcot-iraq-inquiry

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/oct/08/
humanrights.iraq

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/nov/10/uksecurity.terrorism1 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/nov/10/uk.topstories3 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/sep/25/uk.iraq

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/aug/28/uk.iraq

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/aug/19/labour.uk 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/aug/19/obituaries.northernireland 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/aug/06/terrorism.july7

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2004/jul/07/energy.nuclearindustry 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/aug/08/guardianobituaries.labour  

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/aug/07/uk.labour 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/aug/07/uk.labour1 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jul/28/northernireland.devolution3 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/jul/28/northernireland.devolution1 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/sep/26/northernireland.northernireland3 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/july7 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/may/07/election2005.policy 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/may/07/uk.election2005

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/may/06/politics.ukgeneralelection2005   

http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3933079

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/may/06/politics.ukgeneralelection2005 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/may/06/uk.election200511

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/may/03/election2005.comment 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/election2005 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/02/iraq.australia 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/02/iraq 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/may/02/uk.iraq2 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/29/antiwar.uk 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/29/uk.iraq3 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/28/
uk.world3

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/28/uk.world1 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/28/election2005.uk3 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/05/labour.election2005 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jan/19/iraq.military3

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/gall/
0,9352,1315592,00.html  

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jul/22/labour.politicalcolumnists

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/mar/05/iraq.iraq

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jan/20/
uk.davidkelly

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/sep/27/
iraq.iraq

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/aug/29
/wrap.andrewbrown

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/mar/18/
foreignpolicy.iraq1

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/sep/24/
foreignpolicy.houseofcommons

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/sep/24/
iraq.speeches

https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/
vo030318/debtext/30318-06.htm#30318-06_spmin2

Robert Finlayson Cook    1946-2005

London terrorist attacks - 7 July 2005

Iraq war

17 March 2003

Iraq war

Robin Cook's resignation speech

to the House of Commons

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
List_of_terrorist_incidents_in_London

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/aug/08/
guardianobituaries.labour

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/aug/07/
iraq.politics 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/jul/08/
july7.development

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/mar/17/
labour.uk

Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother    1900-2002

Excellent portrait of young Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,

the future Duchess of York & Queen Mother of England.

Location: London, United Kingdom

Date taken: 1914

Photographer: E. O. Hoppe

Life Images

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=e4ab089544340392 - broken link

The Duke of York

(later King George VI)

with Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

(later Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother),

posing for their official engagement photograph,

1923.

Photograph: PA Images, via Getty Images

A Spare Who Spared Himself Nothing

Sally Bedell Smith’s

“George VI and Elizabeth:

The Marriage That Shaped the Monarchy”

explores a wholly different epoch in the Windsor saga.

NYT

Published April 6, 2023

Updated April 7, 2023    11:21 a.m. ET

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/
books/review/george-vi-and-elizabeth-sally-bedell-smith.html

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon,

later Queen Elizabeth,

was the Queen Consort

of King George VI

of the United Kingdom

and the British Dominions

from 1936 until his death

in 1952
 

Bertie’s and Elizabeth’s love story

had improbable beginnings:

She turned him down twice

before finally agreeing to marry him.

But Bertie persisted,

and they wed in 1923.

The deep and lasting mutual devotion

they came to feel for each other

helped them weather the many difficulties

they faced throughout their marriage

— starting with the constitutional crisis

occasioned by Edward VIII’s abdication

in 1936.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/
books/review/george-vi-and-elizabeth-sally-bedell-smith.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/obituaries/
queen_mother/

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/
books/review/george-vi-and-elizabeth-sally-bedell-smith.html

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/30/queenmother.monarchy12 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/apr/09/queenmother.monarchy8  

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/apr/09/poetry.queenmother  

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/30/queenmother.monarchy10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/622457.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/obituaries/queen_mother/default.stm

1999

House of Lords Act

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
House_of_Lords_Act_1999

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/
evolutionofparliament/houseoflords/
house-of-lords-reform/from-the-collections/
from-the-parliamentary-collections-lords-reform/
lords-reform-1963-1999/houseoflordsact1999/

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2000/jan/20/
lordreform.constitution5

15 August 1998

Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland

Omagh bomb attack

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/
omagh

https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/
story/0,,1019591,00.html 

Diana    1961-1997

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1997/sep/01/
monarchy.matthewengel 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/1997/sep/01/
guardianobituaries.monarchy

1997

Hong Kong handover

Hong Kong is returned to Chinese rule

https://www.theguardian.com/world/1997/jul/01/
china.andrewhiggins1 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/hk/

John Major    PM 1990-1997

'Back to basics'

Steve Bell

cartoon

The Guardian

1.10.2002

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/oct/01/
uk.past 

https://www.theguardian.com/cartoons/stevebell/
0,7371,802554,00.html 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/673348.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/britain/post_major.shtml 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/feb/10/politics.conservatives 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/feb/10/uk.freedomofinformation 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/oct/01/uk.past

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1993/dec/16/northernireland.michaelwhite

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1993/oct/09/
conservatives.past

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/1992/nov/14/past.comment

February 9 1996

Northern Ireland conflict

IRA Docklands Bomb

IRA smash ceasefire

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1996/feb/10/
northernireland.davidpallister

1995-1988

Liverpool dockers' strike

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/jul/02/
fiachragibbons

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/
no-going-back-at-liverpool-docks-1240426.html
- 21 September 1997

July 21 1994

Tony Blair

becomes the leader

of the labour party,

following the death

of John Smith

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/
newsid_2515000/2515825.stm

1990

anti-poll tax demonstrations

sweep across Britain,

culminating in violence

in central London

on the final day of March 1990

Anti-poll tax protesters

jeer councillors from the east London borough of Newham

as they leave a meeting on 7 March 1990.

Photograph: Robin Mayes

for the Observer

Poll tax riots revisited - in pictures

O

Saturday 28 March 2015    14.12 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/gnm-archive/gallery/2015/mar/28/
poll-tax-riots-revisited-in-pictures

15 April 1989

The Hillsborough disaster

was a fatal human crush

during a football match

at Hillsborough Stadium

in Sheffield,

South Yorkshire, England,

on 15 April 1989.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Hillsborough_disaster - 3 December 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Hillsborough_disaster - 3 December 2020

https://www.theguardian.com/
football/hillsborough-disaster

1985

Handsworth riots

The second Handsworth riots

took place

in the Handsworth district

of Birmingham, West Midlands,

from 9 to 11 September 1985.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
1985_Handsworth_riots - April 29, 2021

the arrest of a local resident

for a traffic offence

led to two days of disturbances,

causing 122 injuries

and the deaths

of two innocent civilians.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/10/
riots-police-black-community

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
1985_Handsworth_riots - April 29, 2021

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/apr/29/
drinkers-and-dreamers-martin-parrs-
favourite-images-of-postwar-britain-in-pictures

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/10/
riots-police-black-community

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1985/oct/08/
ukcrime.fromthearchive1

The miners' strike    The Battle of Orgreave    1984-1985
 

Police and pickets at Orgreave, South Yorkshire

during the miners strike in1984

Photograph: Don McPhee for the Guardian

UK miners' strike 30 years on:

share your photos and stories

G

Tuesday 24 February 2015    16.25 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/24/
uk-miners-strike-30-years-on-share-your-photos-and-stories 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/
miners-strike-1984-85

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/
arthur-scargill

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/mar/03/
grimethorpe-hit-rock-bottom-then-bounced-back 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/01/
scottish-miners-must-get-justice

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/24/
uk-miners-strike-30-years-on-share-your-photos-and-stories

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/28/in-search-of-arthur-scargill-miners-strike

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gallery/2010/sep/12/miners-strike-1984-85-david-peace

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/12/david-peace-miners-strike

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/aug/29/margaret-thatcher-undermine-miners-union

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/aug/29/margaret-thatcher-soviet-aid-miners

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/may/04/peter-heathfield-obituary

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/gallery/2009/feb/23/
don-mcphee-miner-strike-photography 

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/oct/28/
norman-west-obituary 

1988

Scotland

Lockerbie plane bombing

Margaret Thatcher

PM 1979-1990

1988

The Law Lords rule

against the government

and allow the publication

of Peter Wright's

contentious book,

Spycatcher

https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/
story/0,12269,1326319,00.html 

1986

Jeffrey Archer,

deputy chairman

of the conservative party,

is forced to resign

amid allegations

he has been sleeping

with a prostitute

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1986/oct/27/
fromthearchive

1982

South Atlantic

Falkland islands

The Falklands war

The Falklands,

a British territory comprising

a group of windswept islands

250 miles off

Argentina’s southeast coast,

had been a source of dispute

between Britain and Argentina

for 150 years

when an Argentine

military dictatorship

staged an invasion

in April 1982.

The landings on the islands

— which the Argentines

call the Malvinas

but were named

by the British in 1690

for Viscount Falkland,

treasurer of the British Navy —

brought a major military

response by the government

of Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher

in support

of nearly 2,000 settlers,

most of British descent.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/
world/europe/john-woodward-leader-of-british-navy-in-falkland-islands-war-dies-at-81.html

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/may/13/
uk.falklands

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/05/
uk-ministers-urged-to-unseal-files-on-falklands-attack-that-killed-56

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/world/europe/
john-woodward-leader-of-british-navy-in-falkland-islands-war-dies-at-81.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/falklands25years/

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/mar/02/
the-conversation-falklands-veterans-experiences 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2007/mar/29/falklands

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/feb/25/falklands.military

The Guardian > Special report > The Falklands

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/
falklands

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/sep/06/falklands.world

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/1982/may/27/argentina.military

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1982/jun/15/
falklands.world1

https://www.theguardian.com/world/1982/may/27/
argentina.military

1981

Greenham Common peace camp

The first camp

was set up

on 5 September 1981

to raise awareness

of plans to install

nuclear Cruise missiles

at the Berkshire base.

(...)

The airbase

was closed in 1993

but the camp

remained until 2000.

The first missiles

were delivered

to Greenham Common

in November 1983.

The last one was removed

in March 1991.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-14775384

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/
greenham 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/17/
helen-john-greenham-protester-drones

1981

Brixton riots

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2021/apr/12/
remembering-brixton-riots-40-years-on-today-in-focus-podcast

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1981/apr/13/
fromthearchive

1981

New Cross fire

a blaze killed 13 black teenagers

at a London house party

in a suspected racist attack.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/17/
forty-years-on-from-the-new-cross-fire-what-has-changed-for-black-britons

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/17/
forty-years-on-from-the-new-cross-fire-what-has-changed-for-black-britons

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jan/17/
remembering-a-tragedy-culture-inspired-by-the-new-cross-fire

July 1980

UK lifts ban on arms sales to Chile

Conservatives reverse

previous government's

decision to ban sale of weapons

to General Pinochet's

military regime

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/23/
pinochet-chile-thatcher-arms-sales - From the archive, 23 July 1980

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/23/
pinochet-chile-thatcher-arms-sales - From the archive, 23 July 1980

27 August 1979

Northern Ireland conflict

IRA bomb

kills Lord Mountbatten

The Queen's cousin,

Lord Louis Mountbatten,

is killed by a bomb blast

on his boat in Ireland

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/27/newsid_2511000/2511545.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/27/
newsid_2511000/2511545.stm

1998-1999

Northern Ireland conflict

Good Friday Agreement

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/ni/good_friday.shtml

https://www.theguardian.com/world/
good-friday-agreement

1976-1977

Grunwick strike

One sweltering summer afternoon

in August 1976,

Jayaben Desai decided

she wasn't going

to take it anymore.

Desai,

who had arrived from India

eight years earlier,

was working

in the dispatch department

of the Grunwick film

processing plant

in Willesden, London.

The workforce

was predominantly

made up of Asian women,

some of whom were unhappy

with their working conditions.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/20/
asian-women-trade-union-grunwick 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/24/
has-labour-party-outlived-its-usefulness

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/20/
asian-women-trade-union-grunwick

https://www.theguardian.com/society/gallery/2010/jan/20/
grunwick-strike-women

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/dec/27/
jayaben-desai-dies-aged-77

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/27/
newsid_2520000/2520097.stm

James "Jim" Callaghan (1912-2005)

PM 1976-1979

The 'Winter of Discontent'

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/mar/22/
james-callaghan-labour-1979-thatcher 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/30/archives-callaghan-labour-memo-1978

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/30/james-callaghan-missile-defence-fears

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/dec/30/james-callaghan-crisis-winter-1978

http://www.economist.com/people/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3809548

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/mar/27/obituaries.politics 

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,1446472,00.html

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,1446468,00.html

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,1446862,00.html

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/labour/story/0,9061,1446802,00.html

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/28/labour.obituaries1

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/mar/27/obituaries.politics

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/timelines/england/pwar_strikes_winter_discontent.shtml

6 June 1975

A national referendum

backs UK membership of the EEC

https://www.theguardian.com/world/1975/jun/07/
eu.past

6 March 1974

Miners' strike comes to an end

British coal workers

have called off

a four-week strike

following a 35% pay offer

from the new Labour government

in what is being seen

as a resounding victory

for the miners.

Around 260,000 miners

have accepted weekly pay rises

ranging from Ł6.71 to Ł16.31.

The offer is worth more

than double the figure on offer

under Edward Heath's

government.
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/6/newsid_4207000/4207111.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/6/
newsid_4207000/4207111.stm

James Harold Wilson    (1916-1995)

Second term as Prime Minister    1974-1976
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/16/
newsid_2524000/2524099.stm

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1995/may/25/
obituaries 

Sir Edward Heath (1916-2005)    PM 1970-1974  

Sir Edward Heath.

Photograph: Jane Bown

The Guardian    p. 1    18 July 2005

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/30/
how-edward-heath-taking-bath-exposed-lax-security-chequers

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/jul/18/
guardianobituaries.conservatives 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/politicsobituaries/
page/0,1441,1530967,00.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4691051.stm

July 1972

National dock strike begins

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/jul/28/
1972-dockers-strike

2 February 1972

Northern Ireland conflict

Police in Dublin

charged rioters

with batons last night

after cheering crowds

had burned out

the British Embassy.

Hatred of Britain

in the Republic

reached fever pitch

as the embassy's interior

blazed fiercely, watched

by several thousand.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1972/feb/03/northernireland.bloodysunday

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1972/feb/03/
northernireland.bloodysunday

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/2/
newsid_2758000/2758163.stm

30 January 1972

Northern Ireland

Second Bloody Sunday
 

British troops open fire

on a crowd of demonstrators

in the Bogside district

of Londonderry,

killing 13 civilians.

https://www.bbc.com/news/
uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-47433319

https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/bsunday/chron.htm

1972

Industrial effect of the miners' stoppage

Power cuts

https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/
story/0,12269,1149432,00.html

Ibrox disaster    2 January 1971

 The funeral of Peter Easton, Douglas Morrison and Bryan Todd,

three teenagers from Markinch who died at Ibrox in 1971.

Photograph: Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy

'Singing and dancing to their deaths':

football’s forgotten tragedy

In 1971,

an Old Firm derby at Ibrox

ended with the death of 66 fans as they celebrated a late goal.

John Hodgman survived the terrifying crush and, 50 years on,

asks how Rangers avoided taking responsibility

G

Thu 3 Dec 2020    06.00 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/dec/03/
rangers-football-forgotten-tragedy-ibrox-stadium-disaster-glasgow

The 1971 Ibrox disaster

was a crush

among the crowd

at an Old Firm football game,

which led to 66 deaths

and more than 200 injuries.

It happened

on 2 January 1971

in an exit stairway

at Ibrox Park

(now Ibrox Stadium)

in Glasgow, Scotland.

It was the worst

British football disaster

until the Hillsborough disaster

in Sheffield, England, in 1989.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
1971_Ibrox_disaster - 3 December 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
1971_Ibrox_disaster - 3 December 2020

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/dec/03/
rangers-football-forgotten-tragedy-ibrox-stadium-disaster-glasgow

James Harold Wilson (1916-1995)

First term as Prime Minister    1964-1970

Time Covers - The 60S

Time cover: 10-11-1963 of Harold Wilson.

Date taken: October 11, 1963

Life Images

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=bf5a62ede5553f67

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1995/may/25/
obituaries

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/21/
buried-50-years-britain-shamesful-role-biafran-war-frederick-forsyth

The Mangrove Nine

The Mangrove Nine

were a group of British black activists

tried for inciting a riot at a protest,

in 1970,

against the police targeting

of the Mangrove Restaurant,

Notting Hill, in west London.

Their trial lasted 55 days

and involved

various challenges

by the Nine

to the legitimacy

of the judicial process.

They were all acquitted

of the most serious charges

and the trial became

the first judicial

acknowledgement of behaviour

motivated by racial hatred

within the Metropolitan Police.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangrove_Nine - 3 October 2020

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/oct/15/
the-story-of-the-mangrove-nine

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/oct/03/
steve-mcqueen-our-marlon-brandos-are-on-building-sites-or-driving-buses

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/25/
mangrove-review-racial-prejudice-steve-mcqueen-small-axe

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/06/
british-black-power-from-shrug-to-school-syllabus-in-six-short-years

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/nov/29/
mangrove-nine-40th-anniversary

1968

Thirty thousand

demonstrators

march through London

in protest against

the Vietnam war

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1968/oct/28/
fromthearchive

7 October 1968

Edward Heath

launches the Conservative Party's

mid-term report

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1968/oct/07/
past.mainsection

1967

Abortion Act

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1967/87/contents

Sexual Offences Act 1967

partial decriminalisation

of homosexuality

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2017/jun/18/
glad-to-be-gay-the-story-of-the-filming-of-david-is-homosexual

Clement Attlee    1883-1967

South Arabia

The Aden emergency

escalated in 1967

and hastened the end

of British rule

in the territory

which had begun in 1839

(...)

Aden

became the capital

of the People's Republic

of Southern Yemen in 1967

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gallery/2012/apr/18/
colonial-archives-kenya-malaya-aden

Aden, commanding

the entrance to the Red Sea,

was an important

British air and naval base

on the route to India

and had been occupied

since 1839.

In January 1963,

this British colony

was merged with the sheikhdoms

of the Aden Protectorates

to form

the Federation of South Arabia.

This was done against the wishes

of much of Aden city's population.

In 1964

Britain announced

that independence

was to be granted

to the Federation by 1968,

but that British forces

would remain in Aden.

http://www.nam.ac.uk/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/aden-emergency

Arab nationalists

resented this and,

egged on by

President Nasser of Egypt,

formed the National

Liberation Front (NLF)

in Yemen, which itself

had designs on Aden

and its hinterland.

An insurgency

against British rule

known as the Aden Emergency

began with a grenade attack

by the NLF against

the British High Commissioner

on 10 December 1963,

killing one person

and injuring 50.

http://www.nam.ac.uk/exhibitions/online-exhibitions/aden-emergency

https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/aden-emergency-1963-67

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/gallery/2012/apr/18/
colonial-archives-kenya-malaya-aden 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/apr/18/
sins-colonialists-concealed-secret-archive 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/apr/18/
colonial-papers-fco-transparency-myth 

1966

George Blake, a soviet spy,

escapes from Wormwood Scrubs

and makes his way to Russia

https://www.theguardian.com/world/1966/oct/24/russia.
keithharper

21 October 1966    Wales    Aberfan disaster

Aberfan, Glamorgan, Wales, GB, 1966

On 21 October, 1966,

a slag heap at Merthyr Vale colliery collapsed

on to Pantglas Junior School in Aberfan village,

killing 116 children and 28 adults.

David Hurn

travelled the same day to document the tragic aftermath.

Soon after, he decided to move back to Wales from London

where he began a long-term photographic engagement

with the country.

Photograph: © David Hurn

Magnum Photos/courtesy Martin Parr Foundation

Drinkers and dreamers:

Martin Parr’s favourite images of postwar Britain – in pictures

From A1 road trips to the abandoned north,

these images from the Martin Parr Foundation tell a story of the nation

... and photography itself

G

Thu 29 Apr 2021    07.00 BST

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2021/apr/29/
drinkers-and-dreamers-martin-parrs-favourite-images-of-postwar-britain-in-pictures

after days of hard rain,

a mountain of coal

waste and slurry

slid through Aberfan

in a black avalanche,

crushing the town’s

school in its path

and killing 28 adults

and 116 children.

At the inquest,

when a child’s cause of death

was listed as asphyxia

and multiple injuries,

one father famously said:

“No, sir. Buried alive

by the National Coal Board.

That is what I want to see

on the record.”

It was one of the world’s

first televised tragedies,

and it has marked

British attitudes

toward authority ever since.

The National Coal Board

was later accused

in an official inquiry

of extreme negligence

and “bungling ineptitude,”

and Parliament

passed legislation

regarding public safety

in mines and quarries.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/22/world/europe/aberfan-disaster-wales.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/22/world/europe/aberfan-disaster-wales.html

http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/europe/
100000004723037/scenes-from-aberfan-in-1966.html - Oct. 21, 2016

British Pathé archives

Labour romps home

in the 1966 election

British Pathé archive clip

showing the aftermath

of the 1966 general election

in which Harold Wilson's

Labour party

won a decisive victory

over Edward Heath's

Conservatives

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/may/04/
past-general-election-2010 - broken link

1965

First Race Relations Act

The Race Relations Act 1965

was the first piece of legislation

in the UK to address

the prohibition

of racial discrimination

and followed

previously unsuccessful bills.

The Act banned

racial discrimination

in public places

and made the promotion

of hatred on the grounds

of ‘colour, race,

or ethnic or national origins’

an offence.

The Bill received

Royal Assent

on 8 November 1965,

and came into force

a month later

on 8 December 1965.

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/
private-lives/relationships/collections1/race-relations-act-1965/race-relations-act-1965/

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/oct/01/
paul-stephenson-
the-hero-who-refused-to-leave-a-pub-and-helped-desegregate-britain

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/
private-lives/relationships/collections1/
race-relations-act-1965/race-relations-act-1965/ 

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/04/20/
603884872/an-anti-immigration-speech-divided-britain-50-years-ago-
it-still-echoes-today

1964

Channel tunnel plan

https://www.theguardian.com/world/1964/feb/07/
france.transport

1963

Bristol bus boycott

The 1963 Bristol protest

took place

after 18-year-old Guy Bailey

was turned away

from a job interview

at the state-owned

Bristol Omnibus Company.

A manager told him:

“We don’t employ

black people.”

The policy,

an open secret in the city,

was entirely legal.

Inspired by events

including the 1955

Montgomery bus boycott,

when Rosa Parks refused

to give up her seat,

a boycott

of the whole bus network

was organised.

After four months,

the bus company relented.

The victory proved

to be a watershed moment

and a step on the road

towards the UK’s first laws

against racial discrimination.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/oct/28/
how-the-bristol-bus-boycott-changed-uk-civil-rights

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/oct/28/
how-the-bristol-bus-boycott-changed-uk-civil-rights

Cold War sex scandals    The 'Profumo affair' case    1963

Mandy Rice-Davies leaving court

after testifying on her relationship with Lord Astor in 1963.

Photograph: Associated Press

Mandy Rice-Davies, Figure in Sex Scandal, Dies at 70

NYT

DEC. 19, 2014

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/
world/europe/mandy-rice-davies-profumo-affair-figure-obituary.html

the Profumo affair —

revelations

that a government minister,

John Profumo,

had shared a mistress,

Christine Keeler,

with a Soviet defense attaché,

Yevgeny Ivanov.

The scandal raised questions

about national security

and rocked

the Conservative government

of Harold Macmillan.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/world/europe/
mandy-rice-davies-profumo-affair-figure-obituary.html

John Dennis Profumo    1915-2006

Profumo

shortly after he was appointed secretary of state for war in 1960.

He could not escape the public humiliation of the events of 1963

Photograph: Jimmy Sime/Getty

Obituary        John Profumo

The Guardian        p. 35        11 March 2006

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/
john-profumo

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/26/
mi5-abandoned-stephen-ward-profumo-scandal

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/05/
obituaries/christine-keeler-75-central-figure-in-a-british-scandal-dies.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/20/
world/europe/mandy-rice-davies-profumo-affair-figure-obituary.html

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/dec/11/stephen-ward-profumo-50-years

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/dec/02/profumo-affair-wrongful-conviction-judges-stephen-ward

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2013/may/01/christine-keeler-nude-photograph-art

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/30/profumo-affair-sketch-mystery-woman

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/apr/27/profumo-affair-sex-1963

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/picture/2013/mar/22/profumo-affair-picture-of-the-day

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/jan/04/an-english-affair-richard-davenport-hines-review

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/mar/10/conservatives.politics 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/mar/10/guardianobituaries.conservatives 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/mar/10/guardianobituaries.conservatives  

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/mar/10/conservatives.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2001/apr/10/past.derekbrown

https://www.theguardian.com/century/1960-1969/Story/0,,105601,00.html

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1963/dec/06/past.mainsection

18 April 1960

Thousands protest against H-bomb
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/18/
newsid_2909000/2909881.stm

March 1959

Malawi

Britain, which ruled

what was then Nyasaland,

imposed

a state of emergency

to stop violent protests

by political activists

of the Nyasaland

African Congress,

led by Hastings Kamuzu Banda,

who were fighting for self-rule.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/20/
malawians-seek-compensation-for-nyasaland-massacre-during-british-rule

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/20/
malawians-seek-compensation-for-nyasaland-massacre-
during-british-rule

Harold Macmillan    1894-1986

Prime Minister    1957-1963

"You've never had it so good."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/10/
newsid_3783000/3783251.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/29/
newsid_2547000/2547307.stm

11 April 1957

Britain agrees to Singapore self-rule

The British government

is to allow

the island colony of Singapore

to govern itself

under a new constitution

agreed in London.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/11/newsid_2828000/2828903.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/11/
newsid_2828000/2828903.stm

6 March 1957

Africa

The colony Gold Coast becomes,

as Ghana,

the first black African nation

to be granted independence

from Britain

 http://www.newsint-archive.co.uk/pages/main.asp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/6/
newsid_2515000/2515459.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/6/
newsid_2515000/2515459.stm

January 9, 1957

Sir Anthony Eden

resigns as Prime Minister

following ill health

and controversy

surrounding the Suez crisis

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/
world/europe/clarissa-eden-dead.html

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1957/jan/10/
conservatives.past  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/9/
newsid_2800000/2800833.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5193202.stm

March 24, 1956

Pakistan becomes independent

https://www.theguardian.com/world/1956/mar/24/
kashmir.india

1956

The Suez crisis / Suez and the end of empire
 

23 December 1956

British and French forces

withdraw from Suez

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/jul/10/
pressandpublishing.egypt 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jul/11/
egypt.past 

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1956/dec/24/
fromthearchive 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/mar/14/
past.education1 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/1956/nov/01/
iraq

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5199392.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5195068.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/suez_01.shtml

https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/sceptred_isle/
page/219.shtml?question=219 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5194576.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5195582.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/5193202.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5195068.stm

6 November 1956

Allied forces take control of Suez

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/6/
newsid_3115000/3115888.stm

26 July 1956

Egypt seizes Suez Canal

Egypt's president,

Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser,

has announced

the nationalisation

of the Suez Canal Company

to provide funding

for the construction

of the Aswan High Dam.

The British Government

and French stockholders

who own shares

in the Suez Canal Company

have reacted with shock

to the news.

In a two-and-a-half hour speech

delivered to a mass gathering

in Alexandria, President Nasser

said the Nationalisation Law

had already been published

in the official gazette.

He said

all company assets in Egypt

had been frozen

and stockholders would be paid

the price of their shares

according to today's closing prices

on the Paris Stock Exchange.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/26/newsid_2701000/2701603.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5168698.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/26/
newsid_2701000/2701603.stm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/suez_01.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5204490.stm

1956

UK / USSR

Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1956/feb/13/
fromthearchive

1956

Women return to the workforce

in part-time employment

https://www.theguardian.com/fromthearchive/
story/0,12269,1585368,00.html

British Pathé archives

1955 election    May 27, 1955

The Conservatives

increase their majority to 60 seats

as Anthony Eden's party beats

the former prime minister,

Clement Attlee
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/27/
newsid_3850000/3850389.stm

British Pathé archive

The Queen greets Haile Selassie

Footage from 1954

in which the Queen,

the Duke of Edinburgh

and prime minister

Winston Churchill

welcome Ethiopia's emperor

to London

for a three-day state visit

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2010/oct/15/
british-pathe-archive-queen-haile-selassie-video - broken link

17 September 1953

British soldiers

return from prison camps

in North Korea

https://www.theguardian.com/news/1953/sep/17/
mainsection.fromthearchive

1953

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II

Control off sweets

http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/europe/
100000004345567/the-coronation-of-queen-elizabeth-ii.html - Apr. 20, 2016

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1953/jun/03/
monarchy.fromthearchive 

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1953/feb/05/fromthearchive

1953

The Egyptian Republic

Anglo-Egyptian relations

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1953/jun/20/
fromthearchive

1953

Great floods

https://www.theguardian.com/weather/page/0,,2208302,00.html 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/nov/09/weather.world4

http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/weather/features/great_flood.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/understanding/1953_flood.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/senseofplace/floods1953.shtml

August 1953

Iran

Mohammad Mossadeq

is overthrown in a coup

engineered by the British

and American intelligence

services

General Fazlollah Zahedi

is proclaimed as prime minister

and the Shah returns

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/806268.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/806268.stm

The Great Smog of 1952

https://www.npr.org/2017/10/17/
558316674/death-in-the-air-revisits-
5-days-when-london-was-choked-by-poisonous-smog 

Kenya    Mau Mau rebels    "Kenya emergency"    1952

British Pathé archives    1951 election

British Pre-Elections

Burrows, Chat, Castle, Haas, Kauffman, W.Smith

Date taken: 1950

Photographer: Larry Burrows

Life

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=62589e07a454804e

1951 general election,

won by Winston Churchill's

Conservative party

thanks to the first-past-the-post

electoral system

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2010/apr/30/
general-election-1951 - broken link

the 1951 election

(...)

sent Labour into opposition

for 13 years,

but confirmed the greatness

and safeguarded the achievements

of the outgoing Attlee government

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/04/
electionspast.past

April 1951

Iran

Parliament votes

to nationalise

the oil industry,

which is dominated

by the British-owned

Anglo-Iranian

Oil Company

Britain imposes

an embargo and a blockade,

halting oil exports

and hitting the economy.

A power struggle between

the Shah and Mossadeq ensues

and the Shah flees the country

in August 1953.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/806268.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/806268.stm

1951

Korea

Korean War > British battles

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
battles/korea/

1950s

Cold War

Intelligence / Espionage

The Cambridge Five > Double agents

George Blake (né Behar)    1922-2020

John Cairncross    1913-1995

Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby    1912-1988

Donald Duart Maclean    1913-1983

Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess    1911-1963

The five were contemporaries

at Cambridge University in the 1930s,

and were attracted to communism

mainly because of the Wall Street crash

and in opposition to appeasers

in the British and other governments

during the rise of Hitler.

Burgess

was at the centre of the ring,

all of whom had Soviet controllers

based in London.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/23/
mi5-mi6-coverup-cambridge-spy-ring-archive-papers

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/
george-blake-treachery-born-of-idealism-still-a-waste

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/26/
george-blake-obituary

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/26/
george-blake-mi6-spy-cold-war-double-agent-dies-aged-98

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/24/
confession-of-british-spy-for-the-soviets-kim-philby-
made-public-for-first-time

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/26/
spy-named-orphan-donald-maclean-roland-philipps-review

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/23/
spy-named-orphan-enigma-donald-maclean-roland-philipps-review

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/28/
cambridge-spy-guy-burgess-charmed-observer-files

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/14/
guy-burgess-the-spy-who-knew-everyone-stewart-purvis-jeff-hulbert-review

https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/feb/06/
cambridge-spy-ring-files-whitehall-public

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/23/
mi5-mi6-coverup-cambridge-spy-ring-archive-papers

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/16/
cambridge-spy-ring-maclean-burgess-whitehall-admits-security-lapses

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/20/
stalins-englishman-guy-burgess-andrew-lownie-review

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/sep/10/
stalins-englishman-lives-guy-burgess-andrew-lownie-review

https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2013/aug/04/
letters-cambridge-five-so-called-traitors

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/28/
kim-philby-david-astor-observer

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/jun/08/
archive-missing-foreign-office-men-now-in-paris-1951

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/nov/07/
books.world

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2003/may/10/
weekend7.weekend2

10 October 1951

Winston Churchill

Britain's relationship with America

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1951/oct/10/
uk.past 

1950s

Anthony Eden

France and UK consider 'merger'

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jan/15/
france.eu

25 May 1950

Petrol rationing ends

https://www.theguardian.com/business/1950/may/27/
oil.secondworldwar

Malaya

Malayan Emergency

Malaya, a British colony

in the post-war period,

saw the emergence

of a communist-inspired

armed revolt from 1948.

The British

proclaimed an emergency,

fighting the rebels

by military means

but also encouraging

a non-communist

independence movement.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/sep/24/2

alleged massacre

by Scots Guards

of 24 villagers in Batang Kali

- December 1948

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/18/
colonial-office-eliminations-malayan-insurgency 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/18/sins-colonialists-concealed-secret-archive

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/apr/18/colonial-papers-fco-transparency-myth

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gallery/2012/apr/18/colonial-archives-kenya-malaya-aden

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/09/malaysia-human-rights

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/sep/24/
2 

1937 to early 1950s

Mass Observation

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/16/
worktown-astonishing-story-mass-observation-david-hall-review

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jul/21/
mass-observation-photographers-gallery

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2013/jul/20/
mass-observation-photographers-gallery-exhibition

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/19/
mass-observation-75-years

1950

India becomes a republic

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/10/
newsid_3485000/3485587.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/26/
newsid_3475000/3475569.stm

30 September 1949

The Tory party conference agenda

is overtaken by an emergency resolution

on the economic crisis

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/1949/sep/30/
past.comment 

1948

London Olympics

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/mar/30/
london-1948-olympics-austerity-games

Palestine    British mandate    1920-1948

National Health System    1948

Aneurin Bevan    1897-1960

Br. Laborite Aneurin Bevan

standing on a soap-box

and making an election campaign speech

on a farm while a small boy is mimicing him.

Date taken: May 10, 1955

Photographer: Carl Mydans

Life Images

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=5025a75966408a26

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bevan_aneurin.shtml

https://www.theguardian.com/century/1940-1949/
Story/0,6051,105132,00.html 

https://www.theguardian.com/century/1940-1949/
Story/0,6051,105133,00.html

Race Relations Act 1965

The Race Relations Act 1965

was the first piece

of legislation in the UK

to address the prohibition

of racial discrimination

and followed previously

unsuccessful bills.

The Act banned

racial discrimination

in public places

and made the promotion of hatred

on the grounds

of ‘colour, race, or ethnic

or national origins’

an offence.

The Bill received Royal Assent

on 8 November 1965,

and came into force a month later

on 8 December 1965.

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/
private-lives/relationships/collections1/race-relations-act-1965/race-relations-act-1965/

https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/
private-lives/relationships/collections1/race-relations-act-1965/race-relations-act-1965/

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/04/20/
603884872/an-anti-immigration-speech-divided-britain-50-years-ago-
it-still-echoes-today

Winston Churchill    1874-1965

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/winston-churchill

https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/churchill/  

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/churchill_winston.shtml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/24/
newsid_2506000/2506493.stm

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/jan/02/sidney-street-siege-100-years 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jan/02/secondworldwar.conservatives 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/jan/01/secondworldwar.politics 

https://www.theguardian.com/century/1960-1969/Story/0,6051,105637,00.html  

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/1955/apr/06/past.fromthearchive

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/1950/feb/21/uk.mainsection 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/1940/may/11/secondworldwar.past 

https://www.theguardian.com/news/1940/may/11/mainsection.fromthearchive

https://www.theguardian.com/news/1899/nov/17/
mainsection.fromthearchive 

UK / USA    Special relationship

The US president [George W. Bush]

 inspecting the Guard of Honour at Buckingham Palace

The Guardian

November 2003

http://www.guardian.co.uk/picture/page/0,13302,1089266,00.html - broken link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/02/99/e-cyclopedia/1186166.stm

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/apr/08/
comment.politics

1947

The great floods

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/25/weather.flooding1 

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jul/24/weather.world3 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6448525.stm

 15 August 1947

British empire

India and Pakistan win independence

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/india-and-pakistan-win-independence

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/empire/episodes/episode_89.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/indiapakistan/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6947226.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/6947504.stm

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/aug/16/fiction

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/aug/15/india.pakistan 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/aug/13/fiction 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007wv67

1947

Partition of Palestine

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/middle_east/
israel_and_the_palestinians/key_documents/1681322.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2001/
israel_and_palestinians/key_maps/6.stm

https://www.theguardian.com/century/1940-1949/
Story/0,6051,105143,00.html  

https://www.theguardian.com/century/year/
0,6050,128354,00.html 

1946

Victims of UK's cold war torture camp

Archive pictures of German prisoners held by the British

following the second world war.

Photographs: Martin Argles

The postwar photographs

that British authorities tried to keep hidden

· Treatment of suspected communists revealed

· Four court martialled after police inspector's inquiry

The Guardian

Monday April 3, 2006

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/apr/03/
uk.freedomofinformation  

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/apr/03/
germany.topstories3

1942

William Beveridge's

cradle-to-grave social insurance plan

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/26/
welfare-system-beveridge-75-years

WW2

On 23rd May 1937,

thousands of children

were sent to the UK

following

the bombing of Guernica

https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2017/may/23/
guernica-spain-war-refugees-80-1937-southampton

Children fleeing the Spanish civil war

arrive by boat in Southampton, 1937.

Photograph: Frank Rust

Daily Mail/Rex

Guernica at 80:

Nearly 4,000 child refugees arrive in the UK – archive, 1937

On 23rd May 1937,

thousands of children were sent to the UK

following the bombing of Guernica

G

23 May 2017

https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2017/may/23/
guernica-spain-war-refugees-80-1937-southampton#img-1

https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2017/may/23/
guernica-spain-war-refugees-80-1937-southampton

Albert Frederick Arthur George / King George VI

(r. 1936-1952)    1895-1952

[ King George VI

Elizabeth Queen Of England Consort Of George VI ]

Undated

Life Images

http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=683db1a383fda5b8

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth

stand amid the bomb damage

at Buckingham Palace.

Photograph: PA

Fascism, abdication and war: the story of a turbulent era

O

Sunday 19 July 2015    00.05 BST

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/19/
timeline-nazism-abdication-war-turbulent-royal-era

George VI

became King unexpectedly

following the abdication

of his brother, King Edward VIII,

in 1936

http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/
KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheHouseofWindsor/GeorgeVI.aspx - broken link

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2703403.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/6/
newsid_2711000/2711265.stm

https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/
king-george-vi-addresses-the-nation/zky9f4j

James Ramsay MacDonald    1866-1937

(né James McDonald Ramsay)

British politician who served

as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,

the first who belonged to the Labour Party,

leading minority Labour governments

for nine months in 1924

and again between 1929 and 1931.

From 1931 to 1935,

he headed a National Government

dominated by the Conservative Party

and supported

by only a few Labour members.

MacDonald was expelled

from the Labour Party as a result.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Ramsay_MacDonald

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Ramsay_MacDonald

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/jan/13/
the-wild-men-by-david-torrance-review-inside-labours-first-cabinet

Oswald Mosley's

British Union of Fascists

1936

Battle of Cable Street

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/sep/30/
thefarright.past  

Edward Windsor / King Edward VIII    r. 1936

(1894-1972)

1936

The Jarrow march / crusade

Mass unemployment

and extreme poverty

in the north-east of England

drove 200 men

to march in protest

from Jarrow to London.

Their MP, Ellen Wilkinson

was with them

as they came south

to petition parliament

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/jarrow_01.shtml

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/
jarrow_01.shtml

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/sep/28/
jarrow-crusaders-win-fight-council-fees 

1932

The Lancashire 'hunger-marchers'

reach Brentford

https://www.theguardian.com/news/1932/oct/27/
mainsection.fromthearchive 

1931

Depression

https://www.theguardian.com/century/year/
0,6050,128330,00.html  

https://www.theguardian.com/century/1930-1939/
Story/0,6051,126796,00.html

1929

USA > Wall Street Crash

UK > 1930s >

Depression and unemployment

The 1929 (...) American stock market crash

set off global economic shock waves.

British exports,

already falling in the 1920s,

fell by half again

and unemployment

rose to three million.

The National Government of 1931

cut benefits of insured workers

by ten per cent.

The Prime Minister,

Ramsay MacDonald,

faced the prospect

of millions of workers

relying on 'poor law relief',

paid for by local ratepayers,

who were hard pressed

themselves.

It became clear

that the unemployed had

to be supported

from national taxation

and not local rates

- a process

that was completed

by 1934.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/
alevelstudies/1930-depression.htm

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/alevelstudies/
1930-depression.htm

Herbert Henry Asquith    1852-1928

Prime Minister    1908-1916

TITLE: H.H. Asquith

CALL NUMBER: LC-B2- 4064-14[P&P]

MEDIUM: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.

CREATED/PUBLISHED: [no date recorded on caption card]

FORMAT: Glass negatives.

REPOSITORY:

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Herbert_Henry_Asquith.jpg 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/08/
margot-asquith-diaries-insolent-churchill-ignorant-kitchener

1921

The Anglo Irish treaty
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/events/northern_ireland/history/
64206.stm