Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain
Encyclopedia
Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain is a 2009
BBC
documentary television series presented by Andrew Marr
that covers the period of British history from the end of the death of Queen Victoria to the end of the Second World War. It was a follow-up to his 2007 series Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain
.
. The population was "enjoying the bawdy pleasures of music hall
", leading to concerns over the "physical and moral strength" of the working class
. He describes the power struggles between David Lloyd George
and Joseph Chamberlain
, the women's suffrage
movement, and the day on which Mr Rolls met Mr Royce
.
campaign becomes violent and independence
for Ireland
is proposed, while dockers and miners go on strike
for improved conditions and wages. With the popular press raising fears of a German invasion. As a result, Liberal
Chancellor
, David Lloyd George
, faced the dilemma of pensions or battleships
. Marr also describes technological advances such as aviation
and cinema
, with future Hollywood stars Charlie Chaplin
and Stan Laurel
touring together across Britain. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo
precipitates war
, and Lloyd George is now in political conflict with his former ally, Winston Churchill
.
and its effects, Marr focuses on Lord Kitchener
and his volunteer
army and German gun-boat
attacks on the north-east coast of England. Meanwhile, John Fisher, First Sea Lord disappears in strange circumstances and a sex scandal
threatens the British establishment. In Belgium, Marr visits trenches
of Flanders
and describes the terrible conditions and gallows humour that prevailed. Back in Britain people worked tirelessly for the war effort.
promises "Homes Fit For Heroes", leading to a housing boom; it is the birth of radio broadcasting and the BBC
is born. Michael Collins
negotiates with Lloyd George over Ireland, and his assassination catalyses a civil war
that is feared by some to signal the end of the British Empire
. Lloyd George is involved in a cash-for-honours scandal. The 1926 General Strike and the Wall Street Crash make the future of Britain uncertain.
and Blackshirts
, the latter led by Oswald Mosley
. The rise of fascism in Europe was largely ignored while Britons enjoyed Gracie Fields
's singling and the novelty of Butlins
holiday camps. House building continued into "Metroland
", providing mock Tudor homes for the new commuter class.
, stood against the German forces, and Churchill's rallying speeches typified "the Blitz
spirit" while a Nazi invasion
seemed unavoidable.The Home Guard was quickly formed, and the privations of wartime led to innovation and cooperation in novel ways.
2009 in British television
This is a list of events taking place in 2009 related to British television.-Events:-BBC:-ITV:-Channel 4:-Five:-Subscription Channels:-New channels:-Defunct channels:-Rebranding channels:-Changes of network affiliation:...
BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentary television series presented by Andrew Marr
Andrew Marr
Andrew William Stevenson Marr is a Scottish journalist and political commentator. He edited The Independent for two years until May 1998, and was political editor of BBC News from 2000 until 2005....
that covers the period of British history from the end of the death of Queen Victoria to the end of the Second World War. It was a follow-up to his 2007 series Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain
Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain
Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain is a 2007 BBC documentary television series presented by Andrew Marr that covers the period of British history from the end of the Second World War onwards...
.
A New Dawn
Marr begins the series with the death of Queen Victoria and the Boer WarBoer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
. The population was "enjoying the bawdy pleasures of music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
", leading to concerns over the "physical and moral strength" of the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
. He describes the power struggles between David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
and Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
, the women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
movement, and the day on which Mr Rolls met Mr Royce
Henry Royce
Sir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet, OBE was a pioneering car manufacturer, who with Charles Stewart Rolls founded the Rolls-Royce company.-Early life:...
.
Road to War
The suffragetteSuffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
campaign becomes violent and independence
Home Rule Act 1914
The Government of Ireland Act 1914 , also known as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide self-government for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.The Act was the first law ever passed by the Parliament of...
for Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
is proposed, while dockers and miners go on strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
for improved conditions and wages. With the popular press raising fears of a German invasion. As a result, Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Chancellor
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
, David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
, faced the dilemma of pensions or battleships
Dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
. Marr also describes technological advances such as aviation
Aviation
Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...
and cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, with future Hollywood stars Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
and Stan Laurel
Stan Laurel
Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...
touring together across Britain. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
precipitates war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and Lloyd George is now in political conflict with his former ally, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
.
The Great War
Dealing with World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and its effects, Marr focuses on Lord Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
and his volunteer
Lord Kitchener Wants You
A 1914 recruitment poster depicting Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, above the words "WANTS YOU" was the most famous image used in the British Army recruitment campaign of World War I. It has inspired many imitations.-Origins:...
army and German gun-boat
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby
The raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, which took place on 16 December 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British seaport towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and Whitby. The attack resulted in 137 fatalities and 592 casualties, many of which were civilians...
attacks on the north-east coast of England. Meanwhile, John Fisher, First Sea Lord disappears in strange circumstances and a sex scandal
Maud Allan
Maud Allan was a pianist-turned-actor, dancer and choreographer remembered for her "famously impressionistic mood settings".- Early life :...
threatens the British establishment. In Belgium, Marr visits trenches
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
of Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and describes the terrible conditions and gallows humour that prevailed. Back in Britain people worked tirelessly for the war effort.
Having a Ball
Following the war, Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
promises "Homes Fit For Heroes", leading to a housing boom; it is the birth of radio broadcasting and the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
is born. Michael Collins
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins was an Irish revolutionary leader, Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919, Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. Subsequently, he was both Chairman of the...
negotiates with Lloyd George over Ireland, and his assassination catalyses a civil war
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
that is feared by some to signal the end of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Lloyd George is involved in a cash-for-honours scandal. The 1926 General Strike and the Wall Street Crash make the future of Britain uncertain.
Little Britain
The Wall Street Crash had repercussions for Britain and a national financial crisis ensued. Solutions were offered by the GreenshirtsGreenshirts
.The Greenshirts was the name used for followers of Eoin O'Duffy's openly fascist National Corporate Party following the split from Fine Gael. In 1936 O'Duffy led a volunteer Irish Brigade for Franco in the Spanish Civil War and retired on his return. Without him both the Greenshirts and National...
and Blackshirts
Blackshirts
The Blackshirts were Fascist paramilitary groups in Italy during the period immediately following World War I and until the end of World War II...
, the latter led by Oswald Mosley
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
. The rise of fascism in Europe was largely ignored while Britons enjoyed Gracie Fields
Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...
's singling and the novelty of Butlins
Butlins
Butlins is a chain of large holiday camps in the United Kingdom. Butlins was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families....
holiday camps. House building continued into "Metroland
Metro-land
Metro-land is a name given to the suburban areas that were built to the north west of London in the counties of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Middlesex in the early part of the 20th century, and were served by the Metropolitan Railway, an independent company until absorbed by the London...
", providing mock Tudor homes for the new commuter class.
Britannia at Bay
Marr tells the story of Second World War, beginning with the defeat at Dunkirk that would become the model for the "national spirit"- everyone collaborating in whatever way they could in order to defeat Hitler. In 1940, only Britain, led by ChurchillWinston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, stood against the German forces, and Churchill's rallying speeches typified "the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
spirit" while a Nazi invasion
Operation Sealion
Operation Sea Lion was Germany's plan to invade the United Kingdom during the Second World War, beginning in 1940. To have had any chance of success, however, the operation would have required air and naval supremacy over the English Channel...
seemed unavoidable.The Home Guard was quickly formed, and the privations of wartime led to innovation and cooperation in novel ways.
External links
- Andrew Marr's The Making of Modern Britain at BBC Online