If this is your course, you are studying two connected but differently assessed parts of British history. First, you investigate political, social and wartime change from around 1900 to 1918 through contemporary sources. Then you study Britain from 1918 to 1951 through politics, economics, war and welfare.

This is not simply a list of prime ministers. You need to connect parties and elections to poverty, workers, women, regional inequality, economic crisis and changing expectations of government.

This guide gives you a calm foundation for the complete unit. When you are ready to go further, you can add precise evidence, deeper source evaluation and more demanding OCR essay practice.

First, check that this is your course

• OCR A-level History A, H505;
• Unit Group 1: British period study and enquiry;
• Unit Y112: Britain, 1900–1951;
• Enquiry topic: England and a New Century, c.1900–1918;
• British period study: Britain, c.1918–1951.

This is not OCR Y113, which begins in 1930 and continues to 1997 with a Churchill enquiry. It is also not the former AS unit Y142. A-level candidates enter Y112 as part of H505.

Your course in one view

Enquiry topic: England and a New Century, c.1900–1918

1. Political issues, c.1900–1914.
2. Social issues, 1900–1918.
3. Britain at war, 1914–1918.

British period study: Britain, c.1918–1951

1. British politics, 1918–1929.
2. British domestic politics, 1929–1939.
3. Economic issues, 1918–1939.
4. Domestic politics, 1940–1951.

In the enquiry, you test four contemporary sources in historical context. In the period study, you answer an essay using selected knowledge and a supported judgement.

The starting world: Britain around 1900

Britain was the centre of a vast empire and a leading naval, commercial and financial power. Yet Germany and the United States were becoming stronger industrial competitors. Coal, textiles, shipbuilding and iron remained central, while trade, shipping and overseas investments generated large earnings.

The Conservatives governed under Lord Salisbury and then Arthur Balfour. The Liberals were the main opposition. Labour representation was beginning to emerge from trade unions and socialist organisations, but the new party was still small.

Britain was not a full democracy. Many poorer men could not vote, and women were excluded from parliamentary elections. The unelected House of Lords could block legislation. Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, with nationalists demanding Home Rule and unionists resisting it.

Poverty, insecure work, poor housing and ill health affected large sections of the population. Booth and Rowntree challenged claims that hardship resulted mainly from personal failure. Education had expanded, but provision and opportunity remained uneven. The Boer War raised fears about national efficiency after many potential recruits were found medically unfit.

Starting-world check

1. Why was Britain powerful but increasingly challenged?
2. Why was the political system not fully democratic?
3. Which new political force was emerging?
4. What had poverty investigations revealed?
5. Why did national efficiency become a concern?

Essential vocabulary

• Enquiry: an investigation focused on a historical question and tested through evidence.
• Contemporary source: evidence created during or close to the period being studied.
• Provenance: who created a source, when, for whom and for what purpose.
• New Liberalism: the belief that government action could increase freedom by reducing poverty and insecurity.
• National efficiency: concern that poor health, education and organisation weakened Britain’s economic and military power.
• Constitutional crisis: a serious conflict over the powers or rules of government institutions.
• Suffrage: the right to vote in political elections.
• Home Rule: limited self-government for Ireland within the United Kingdom.
• Coalition: a government formed by more than one political party.
• Gold Standard: a monetary system linking the value of currency to gold.
• National Government: the cross-party government formed during the 1931 crisis and dominated by Conservatives.
• Nationalisation: transfer of an industry or service into state ownership.

1. Political issues, c.1900–1914

Conservatives, Liberals and Labour

Balfour’s Conservative government passed the 1902 Education Act but became divided over tariff reform and weakened by controversy over Chinese labour in South Africa. Liberals reunited around free trade and won a landslide in 1906.

The Labour Representation Committee, founded in 1900, became the Labour Party in 1906. Trade-union support, socialist ideas and cooperation with Liberals helped it grow. The Osborne Judgement restricted union political funding, encouraging legislation that restored this ability in 1913.

The constitutional crisis

Lloyd George’s 1909 People’s Budget proposed higher taxes on wealth and land to fund welfare and defence. The House of Lords rejected it, breaking convention and triggering two elections in 1910. The Parliament Act 1911 restricted the Lords’ veto and strengthened the elected Commons.

The crisis concerned more than one budget. It raised fundamental questions about democracy, taxation and whether an unelected chamber could block a government’s programme.

Suffrage, Ireland and industrial unrest

Suffragists pursued votes for women through constitutional campaigning. Suffragettes used disruption, civil disobedience and attacks on property. Government responses included imprisonment and force-feeding. Militancy gained attention but also divided opinion; women remained excluded from parliamentary voting in 1914.

The Liberal government introduced a Home Rule Bill after the Lords’ veto was reduced. Ulster unionists organised resistance, while Irish nationalists mobilised in response. Britain appeared close to armed conflict before world war intervened.

Industrial unrest intensified from 1910. Miners, transport workers and other unions fought over wages, conditions and control. Government sometimes negotiated and sometimes used police or troops. The unrest exposed both organised labour’s growing power and continuing class division.

Knowledge check

1. Why did the Conservatives lose support before 1906?
2. How did Labour grow?
3. Why did the People’s Budget produce a constitutional crisis?
4. How did suffragist and suffragette methods differ?
5. Why were Ireland and industrial unrest difficult for government?

2. Social issues, 1900–1918

Poverty and New Liberalism

Booth’s study of London and Rowntree’s work in York used evidence to show that low wages, unemployment, illness, old age and stages of family life could cause poverty. Galt’s work contributed to investigation of working-class conditions. These findings challenged moral explanations centred only on idleness.

New Liberals including Lloyd George and Churchill argued that state action could help people become genuinely free. Concern about national efficiency added a practical argument: unhealthy and poorly educated citizens weakened the country.

Education, children and welfare

The 1902 Education Act reorganised local education and supported secondary and denominational schools, but it provoked Nonconformist opposition. Measures from 1906 allowed free school meals, and medical inspection followed. The Children Act 1908, sometimes called the Children’s Charter, increased legal protection for young people.

Old-age pensions began in 1909. Labour exchanges helped connect workers with jobs, and National Insurance in 1911 provided limited protection against sickness and unemployment for specified workers. Laws also improved some conditions and compensation at work.

The reforms were significant but selective. Many people remained uncovered, payments could be low and administration varied. Families, women’s unpaid work, charities, friendly societies and unions continued to carry much responsibility.

Knowledge check

1. How did poverty research change political debate?
2. What was New Liberalism?
3. Why did education reform produce religious conflict?
4. How did government act for children, older people and workers?
5. Why did welfare provision remain incomplete?

3. Britain at war, 1914–1918

Attitudes and the Home Front

Many people initially supported war through patriotism, duty or fear of German aggression. Others were uncertain or opposed. Conscription began in 1916, while conscientious objectors resisted military service on moral, religious or political grounds.

War expanded state direction of industry, labour, food and information. Munitions production grew, rationing was introduced and propaganda shaped public understanding. Casualties, separation, air raids and pressure on living standards affected civilians as well as soldiers.

Women entered munitions, transport, agriculture and other work in larger numbers. Their contribution challenged assumptions about capability but did not end occupational segregation or unequal pay. Many were expected to leave wartime jobs after peace.

Coalition politics and party change

Military setbacks and political pressure produced a coalition in 1915. Lloyd George replaced Asquith as prime minister in 1916, splitting the Liberals. The division proved long-lasting and helped destroy their position as one of the two main governing parties.

Labour participated in coalition and strengthened its national organisation. Its 1918 constitution broadened membership and included a commitment to common ownership. The party was becoming capable of replacing the Liberals as the Conservatives’ main opponent.

The Representation of the People Act 1918 enfranchised almost all adult men and some women aged over 30. Reform recognised women’s contribution but also updated an inconsistent male franchise. Equal voting rights came only in 1928.

Knowledge check

1. Why were attitudes to war not uniform?
2. How did government power expand?
3. What changed and continued in women’s roles?
4. Why did the war split the Liberals?
5. How did Labour and the electorate change by 1918?

You can pause here. You now have the context needed for the compulsory source enquiry on England and a New Century.

How to think about the enquiry sources

A source is not useful or useless merely because its author is biased. Ask five connected questions:

1. What claim does it make about the exact enquiry?
2. What can contextual knowledge confirm, challenge or qualify?
3. How do authorship, date, audience and purpose shape what it reveals?
4. How does it agree or disagree with other sources?
5. How far does the complete set support the stated view?

A minister’s public speech can reveal priorities and persuasion even if it presents policy favourably. An official investigation can supply detailed evidence while reflecting its remit and assumptions. A campaign leaflet shows what activists wanted an audience to believe. Use provenance to draw a precise inference, not to dismiss evidence automatically.

4. British politics, 1918–1929

The 1918 election gave Lloyd George’s coalition a large victory with Conservative support. It promised reconstruction but faced housing shortage, unemployment, economic disruption and unrest. Scandal, policy failures, Liberal division and Conservative withdrawal brought Lloyd George down in 1922.

The Liberals continued to decline. Labour’s organisation and union links helped it emerge as the main alternative to the Conservatives. Baldwin presented Conservatism as moderate and stable. The 1923 election, fought over tariffs, left no majority and allowed Labour to form its first government in 1924.

MacDonald’s minority government pursued cautious reforms and improved international relations but depended on Liberal support. Controversy over the Campbell Case and the Zinoviev letter contributed to its fall. Labour’s brief time in office nevertheless showed that it could govern within the constitution.

Conservatives returned from 1924 to 1929. Churchill served as chancellor, while Neville Chamberlain developed social policy. The Equal Franchise Act 1928 gave women the vote on the same terms as men. The 1929 election returned Labour as the largest party.

Knowledge check

1. Why did Lloyd George’s coalition fall?
2. Why did Labour replace the Liberals?
3. What was significant about the 1923 election?
4. Why was the first Labour government short-lived?
5. How had democracy widened by 1929?

5. British domestic politics, 1929–1939

The second Labour government entered office as the world economy collapsed. Rising unemployment and falling revenue created pressure for spending cuts. MacDonald and Snowden clashed with colleagues over unemployment benefit and in 1931 formed a National Government. Labour regarded MacDonald’s decision as betrayal.

The National Government won an overwhelming election victory and was dominated by Conservatives. MacDonald, Baldwin and Chamberlain served as prime ministers. Supporters claimed cross-party authority was necessary in crisis; critics argued that Conservative power was disguised by a national label.

The 1936 Abdication Crisis ended when Edward VIII gave up the throne to marry Wallis Simpson. Government and major parties defended constitutional expectations. Political extremism attracted attention during economic and international crisis. Mosley’s British Union of Fascists and the Communist Party gained committed followers but limited broad electoral support.

Foreign affairs increasingly shaped domestic politics. Rearmament, appeasement, the Spanish Civil War and fear of another world war divided opinion. Chamberlain’s popularity after Munich in 1938 gave way to criticism as German aggression continued.

Knowledge check

1. Why did Labour split in 1931?
2. What was national about the National Government, and what was Conservative?
3. Why did the Abdication Crisis not destroy political stability?
4. Why did extremist parties remain limited?
5. How did foreign policy affect domestic politics?

6. Economic issues, 1918–1939

Post-war adjustment and staple industries

Demobilisation and the return to peace produced disruption. A short boom was followed by recession. Coal, shipbuilding, textiles and iron faced falling demand, high costs and international competition. Unemployment became concentrated in Wales, Scotland and northern English industrial regions.

Churchill returned sterling to the Gold Standard in 1925 at a rate that made exports expensive. Coal owners sought longer hours and lower wages. The Trades Union Congress called the General Strike in May 1926 in support of miners.

The strike ended after nine days. Government preparation, control of essential services, media influence and limitations in union strategy contributed to failure. Miners continued alone before defeat. The conflict exposed class division and the weakness of older industries.

Depression, policy and recovery

The Great Depression reduced trade and worsened unemployment. Britain left the Gold Standard in 1931, introduced tariffs and developed imperial preference. Lower interest rates, housebuilding and newer industries such as cars and electrical goods encouraged recovery.

Recovery was geographically uneven. London, the Midlands and parts of southern England often improved more quickly than coal, shipbuilding and textile districts. National Government social policies and help for distressed areas had limited power to replace lost industries.

The means test and long-term unemployment damaged dignity, family life and community institutions. Yet other households experienced rising real wages, suburban growth, radio, cinema and consumer opportunity. The 1930s were neither uniformly hungry nor uniformly prosperous.

Knowledge check

1. Why did staple industries struggle?
2. How did the Gold Standard contribute to conflict?
3. Why did the General Strike fail?
4. Which policies encouraged recovery?
5. Why did regional inequality persist?

7. Domestic politics, 1940–1951

Churchill, coalition and the Home Front

Failure in Norway and loss of confidence brought Chamberlain down in May 1940. Churchill formed a coalition government and became the public voice of resistance. His leadership mattered, but survival and victory depended on ministers, armed forces, workers, scientists, empire and Commonwealth resources and Allied support.

War affected food, industry, women, health and housing. Conscription and labour direction expanded, rationing regulated consumption and bombing destroyed homes. Women entered a wider range of work. Shared danger encouraged solidarity, but exposure to risk and hardship remained unequal.

Reconstruction and the 1945 election

Wartime reports planned a different peace. The Beveridge Report proposed comprehensive social insurance, while the Butler Act reorganised education. Voters expected action on employment, health, housing and welfare.

Labour connected itself more convincingly to reconstruction and won a landslide in 1945. Conservative memories of the interwar years, Labour’s role in coalition and Churchill’s campaign all influenced the result. Admiration for wartime leadership did not require a vote for Conservative government.

Labour government, 1945–1951

Attlee’s governments created National Insurance and National Assistance, established the NHS and nationalised major industries. These measures expanded security and access to health care. Their impact was substantial but uneven; poverty, housing shortage and regional inequality did not disappear.

Britain remained economically strained and indebted. Balance-of-payments problems, rationing, wage restraint and devaluation limited government choices. Labour divided over spending, charges and leadership. Conservatives reorganised and accepted many core welfare reforms.

Labour won narrowly in 1950, and Conservatives returned under Churchill in 1951 despite Labour winning more votes nationally. The endpoint therefore combined major reform with austerity, economic weakness and emerging post-war consensus.

Knowledge check

1. Why did Churchill replace Chamberlain?
2. How did war affect civilian life?
3. Why did Labour win in 1945?
4. Which reforms changed social citizenship?
5. Why did economic difficulty persist?
6. What did the elections of 1950 and 1951 reveal?

The whole story in six anchor dates

• 1906: the Liberal landslide opens a period of political and social reform.
• 1911: the Parliament Act restricts the Lords’ veto, while National Insurance extends welfare.
• 1918: war ends, the franchise widens and Labour adopts a stronger national constitution.
• 1931: economic and political crisis produces the National Government.
• 1945: Labour wins a landslide and begins post-war reconstruction.
• 1951: Conservatives return as Britain combines welfare reform with austerity and economic pressure.

What your OCR examination asks you to do

Y112 is a written paper lasting 1 hour 30 minutes, worth 50 marks and carrying 25% of the A level.

• Section A: England and a New Century, c.1900–1918. Answer one compulsory 30-mark source question. You assess how far four contemporary sources, used in their historical context, support a stated view.
• Section B: Britain, c.1918–1951. Answer one 20-mark essay from a choice of two.

This is a contemporary-source and period-study paper, not a historical-interpretations paper. For Section A, evaluate the sources as evidence and reach a judgement across the set. For Section B, answer the precise question, select relevant knowledge, explain relative importance or extent and reach a supported judgement.

A small practice task

Why did Labour replace the Liberals as the main alternative to the Conservatives by 1929?

Consider Liberal division, Labour organisation, trade unions, franchise reform, wartime change, the experience of government and Conservative strategy. Decide which explanation carried the greatest weight and whether it changed across the period.

For source practice, take a welfare-reform speech and ask what it claims, what its audience and purpose help reveal, what contextual knowledge tests it, and how another contemporary source might challenge it.

Your next layer of learning

When you are ready to go further, you can add detailed enquiries into Balfour, Labour’s origins, the constitutional crisis, suffrage, Home Rule, New Liberalism, children, wartime politics, the first Labour government, the General Strike, the National Government, depression, wartime society and Attlee’s reforms. You can also add OCR-style four-source enquiries and guided 20-mark essay practice.

You are allowed to stop here. If you can explain the two-part course, place the six anchor dates, outline the seven key topics and distinguish contemporary sources from historical interpretations, this guide has built the foundation it is designed to provide.