Board: AQA | Option: 1G | Component: Component 1 (Breadth Study) | Assessment Objective: AO3
This option covers Britain from the Great Exhibition to the first Wilson government, tracing social and political transformation across a century of extraordinary change. Students examine the extension of the franchise, the rise of the Labour Party, women’s suffrage, two world wars, the inter-war social crisis, and the post-war welfare state — engaging with historiographical debates about the pace and causes of democratic and social reform.
What this option covers
- Mid-Victorian confidence: the Great Exhibition, economic growth, and political stability
- The Second and Third Reform Acts and the extension of the franchise
- The emergence of the Labour movement and the formation of the Labour Party
- The suffragette and suffragist movements: methods, leadership, and the road to 1918
- The Liberal welfare reforms 1906–1914
- The First World War: social impact, the Defence of the Realm Act, and the end of the pre-war order
- The inter-war years: unemployment, the General Strike, and the National Government
- The Second World War and the Attlee government: the NHS and the welfare state
- Austerity to affluence: post-war Britain and the 1950s consensus
Key historiographical debates
- What drove the rise of Labour? Class identity, trade unionism, or the decline of Liberalism?
- The suffragette movement: did militancy help or hinder the cause?
- The impact of the First World War on British society: rupture or continuity?
- The Attlee government: socialist revolution or pragmatic KeynesianismKeynesianism Full Description:Keynesianism emerged as a direct response to the failure of classical economics to explain or fix the depression. It posits that the “invisible hand” of the market is insufficient during a downturn because of a lack of aggregate demand. Therefore, the state must step in as the “spender of last resort,” borrowing money to fund public works and social programs. Critical Perspective:Structurally, this represented a fundamental shift in the role of the state—from a passive observer to an active manager of capitalism. It was essentially a project to save capitalism from its own contradictions, using public funds to prevent the kind of total social collapse that often leads to revolution.?
AO3 Interpretation Pack — coming soon
An AO3 Interpretation Pack for AQA 1G is in development. When complete, it will cover the major historiographical debates examined in this option, with named historians, paired comparison tasks built to AQA mark scheme logic, and provenance prompts for every debate. The first debate will be free and open to all.
