Issue 3: Social Impact of World War II in Britain

The Wartime ExperienceLesson starter;Write down 5 things you know about World War 2.

Today we will…

• Explain why the experience of WW2 changed peoples’ attitudes to poverty

• Explain why the experience of WW2 changed peoples’ attitudes towards the role of the government

I can…

• Note-take on the four main events that changed peoples’ attitudes

• Participate in a paired reading exercise

• Answer a National 5 question on the wartime experience

During World War Two, peoples’ attitudes towards poverty began to change. They started to think more about taking care of another. This change in attitude was largely due to the things people experienced during the war such as bombing and evacuation.

Task OneTask One• Put the following as the title of a

spider diagram (double page)• Use the information on the

presentation to complete the diagram

How did How did WW2 change WW2 change attitudes to attitudes to

poverty?poverty?

1. United under a common United under a common enemyenemy

• The war didn’t discriminate between rich and poor so all classes were equally under threat

• Every British person had something in common – wanting to defeat Hitler and the Nazis

• The soldiers also mixed together in the frontline – sharing experiences and developing friendships across the classes.

2. Mixing Classes2. Mixing Classes• People of all

classes were mixing in the air raid shelters.

• This led to socialising between them, so people were much more aware and sympathetic to everybody’s problems regardless of their background

Communal Air Raid shelter in Aberdeen

3. Evacuation3. Evacuation• Poor children were

sent from inner city areas to the countryside

• This alerted the middle classes to the problems and poverty that existed in the city slums like Glasgow and London

• This opened the eyes of the population and revealed particularly the terrible diet of the poor urban city children.

Many evacuees arrived at their new homes and the host families were shocked to see they had barely any belongings and were in ill health.

Some city kids had never seen farmyard animals or eaten fruit or vegetables.

Message from King George to the evacuees

4. Rationing4. Rationing • Rationing encouraged a sense of equality because everybody had the same amount of food

• The government organised the rationing of food, clothing and fuel and gave extra milk and meals to pregnant mothers and children

• This helped establish the idea of a universal and equal share of the 'national cake' since rich and poor were fighting the war together and facing the same problems

Changing Attitudes towards Changing Attitudes towards the Governmentthe Government

Paired Reading Task – Work in Twos

• Everyone will get a sheet• One person go ‘A’, one ‘B’• Both read the 1st

paragraph to yourselves• Once ‘A’ has reached the

end of the first paragraph, they must verbally summarise to ‘B’

• Then move on to next paragraph – B’s turn to summarise next

Summarising - Summarising - exampleexampleMark is 15. Mark is a Celtic fan. Mark lives in Parkhead in Glasgow. Mark studied 7 National 5 qualifications and received As and Bs in every one. He initially wanted to become an apprentice joiner. Then he considered becoming a sports coach and an engineer. Eventually, Mark couldn’t make a decision on what to do so he decided to stay on at school. He is studying Five Higher courses including History and Graphic Communication. He hopes to go to university. He would like to become a history teacher or an architect.

Mark is 15 and he got really good results in his National 5s – all As and Bs. He couldn’t really decide what he wanted to do so he stayed on at school and is doing Five Highers. He wants to go to university to be a teacher or architect.

Task Three – What did I Task Three – What did I learn?learn?

Individually, write a summary of what you learned from the paired reading exercise in your jotter. You should cover not just what you summarised, but what your partner summarised too.

You have Five minutes to do this!

National 5 QuestionNational 5 QuestionSource A describes the changing attitudes towards the role of government

during WWII.Obviously the war was a devastating experience for everyone in

Britain. There wasn’t a family in Britain who didn’t lose somebody. However, the fact that every Brit was united under a common enemy brought people closer and soldiers rich and poor joined together to fight the Nazis. In addition, rich and poor and young and old mixed together and socialised in the communal air raid shelters – this opened the eyes of some middle classes to the fact that the poor were good people, often living in poverty through no fault of their own. For those unlucky ones who were injured in air raids, free hospital treatment was provided; no one could deny this was a positive and it showed them the drawbacks of the old system.

1. Explain why WW2 changed peoples’ attitudes to the role of government in dealing with poverty.

5 marksIn your answer you should use the source and your

own knowledge