1. Social Impact of World War II in Britain The Wartime Experience
Lesson starter;
Write down 5 things you know about World War 2.

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

3. 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

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

5. How did WW2 change attitudes to poverty?
Task 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 WW2 change attitudes to poverty?

6. 1. United against a common enemy
Bombing didn’t discriminate between rich or poor all classes were equally under threat
The British all had something in common – wanting to defeat Hitler and the Nazis
The soldiers also mixed together sharing experiences and developing friendships across the classes.
After the war this idea of uniting to defeat a common enemy was used in the war against poverty.

7. 2. Mixing Classes
People of all classes were mixing in the air raid shelters.
This led to socialising between them and a feeling of shared suffering.
Better off people were much more aware and sympathetic to poorer people’s problems.

8. Communal Air Raid shelter in Aberdeen

9. 3. Evacuation
Poor children were sent from inner city areas to the countryside
Many were underfed, small, thin dressed in cast off clothes, some had never seen a toothbrush or had lice.
This opened the eyes of the population and revealed the terrible poverty in city children.
Taking care of these children alerted the middle classes to the problems of poverty that existed in the city slums of places like Glasgow and London

10. . .
Many evacuees arrived at their new homes and the host families were shocked to see they had barely any belongings and were in poor health.
Some city children had never seen farmyard animals or eaten fruit or vegetables.

11. .
Message from King George VI to the evacuees

12. 4. 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

13. 5. Government Control
Before WW2 most people felt the government should not raise taxes to help the poor.
Many people also felt it was not the government’s job to interfere in people’s lives.
However during WW2 taxes were high to supply weapons etc and many people accepted that the government had to tell people what to do to win the war.
After the war people were ready to accept government controls to fight poverty
e.g. continued rationing
to pay higher taxes to help poor people e.g. to build new council housing

14. Changing Attitudes towards the 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

15. Summarising - example
Mark 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.

16. Task Three – What did I 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!

17. National 5 Question
Source A describes the changing attitudes towards the role of government during WWII.
The war was a terrible experience for everyone in Britain. There wasn’t a family in Britain who didn’t lose somebody. Every British person was united against a common enemy which brought civilians and soldiers closer together to fight the Nazis. After the war many people wanted this unity to continue against another enemy, poverty. Rich and poor, young and old had mixed together in the air raid shelters – this opened the eyes of some better off people to the fact that the poor worked hard but often lived in poverty through no fault of their own. Before the war poor people could not afford to visit a doctor but during the war those civilians injured in air raids got free hospital treatment, this worked very well and people did not want to go back to the old system.
How fully does source A describes how WW2 changed peoples’ attitudes to poverty.
You should use the source and your own knowledge marks

18. How to answer ‘how fully’ questions
Remember in a 5 mark question you must have at least 5 answers.
Always explain that the source describes the issue ‘to some extent’
You will get 3 answers from the source.
You can use quotes from the source but explain them e.g. “ rationing was hard” means that many people had to put up with less food like eggs or meat.
You will also have to give answers from your own recall to gain the full 5 marks.
You will get max. 2/6 if you only use your own knowledge

19. Self marking- Source answers
The war was a terrible experience for everyone in Britain. There wasn’t a family in Britain who didn’t lose somebody. Every British person was united against a common enemy brought civilians and soldiers closer together to fight the Nazis. After the war many people wanted this unity to continue against another enemy, poverty. Rich and poor, young and old had mixed together in the air raid shelters – this opened the eyes of some better off people to the fact that the poor worked hard but often lived in poverty through no fault of their own. Before the war poor people could not afford to visit a doctor but during the war those civilians injured in air raids got free hospital treatment, this worked very well and people did not want to go back to the old system.
Explain why WW2 changed peoples’ attitudes to poverty marks
You should use the source and your own knowledge.

20. Self marking- Recall answers
Many people were shocked by the poor condition of evacuees/ some demanded help for child poverty.
After the war people were ready to accept government controls to fight poverty e.g. continued rationing.
After the war people were ready to accept higher taxes to help poor people e.g. to build new council housing instead of slums.
However some people did not like government control or high taxes.
During the war workers and their children got free hospital treatment which improved health.
Rationing during and after the war improved people’s diet and health.
Many houses were destroyed by bombing which made the overcrowding in slum housing worse.