An Inspector Calls

1. An Inspector Calls Setting the play in the historical context

2. 1912: when the play is set • The play is set just prior to the Titanic disaster in April 1912. • The Titanic reflected the class structure at the time. • The Titanic reflected the confidence and certainty about Britain- the ship that would never sink.

3. 1912: when the play is set • Only two years before the start of World War One: • “ Just because the Kaiser makes a speech or two, or a few German officers have too much to drink…you’ll hear some people say that war’s inevitable. And to that I say – fiddlesticks! The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war, except some half-civilised folks in the Balkans.”

4. 1912: when the play is set • Britain is at the height of its empire. • Britain has an empire on which ‘the sun never sets’. • Britain’s manufacturing industry exports across the globe. • Britain’s navy leads the world.

5. 1912: when the play is set • Britain is experiencing labour unrest and strikes. • “Last month, just because the miners came out on strike, there’s a lot of wild talk about possible labour trouble in the near future”. Miners’ Strike, 1912 • Was a national strike • Nearly 1m miners took part • Lasted 37 days • Led to a minimum wage being introduced for miners.

6. 1912: When the play is set • In 1900 the Labour Party was founded. • This was the first political party that was for working people. • By 1910 the Labour Party had 42 MPs in Parliament. • The Labour Party was formed from several political groups. • Some of the groups were Socialist and were inspired by the ideas of Karl Marx. They wanted to created a fairer, more equal society. • Karl Marx saw the factory owners as the enemy of the working class – the capitalists. Marx had expected a revolution would take place in countries in Britain and the workers would run the country. • “We employers at last are coming together to see that our interests- and the interest of Capital – are properly protected.”

7. 1946: when the play was first performed • The Second World War had just ended. • An election took place in July 1945. • Britain had a Labour Government, led by Clement Attlee. • “The Labour Party is a Socialist party and proud of it.” • There were high expectations that Britain would change. • The end of the War was a chance to re-build Britain. • The Labour Party promised to nationalise coal, gas, electricity, the railways, iron and steel. • The military vote – overwhelmingly pro-Labour and wanted change and a better civilian life. • The Welfare State was ‘born’ in 1946.

8. The Welfare State • 1946 The National Insurance Act, • 1946 The National Health Services Act • 1946 The Industrial Injuries Act • 1946 National Assistance Act • The ‘Appointed Day’ was 5 July 1948 • The aim was to provide a service that cared for all people from ‘cradle to grave’.

9. What did the Welfare State replace? • The Poor Law System with the Workhouse and the Poor Law Guardians. • You had to pay to see a doctor. • There was a benefit system before the World War Two, but it was not comprehensive. • “I had my daughter before the 1939 war. At the maternity home we had to pay a £2 deposit and another 10 shillings when she came. I got up at six in the morning and said to my husband, “Come on, we’re ready”. I had to walk down to the maternity home with a hole in my shoe…”

10. William Beveridge and the Welfare State • By 1939 public opinion was firmly in favour of a major expansion of social services. • During wartime demands grew. • People were hoping for better world after World War Two and the depression of the 1930s. • During the war, barriers between different social classes were broken down – fighting in the armed forces, Home Guard, sharing shelters etc. • The war forced the government to intervene more in hospital care, diet etc. • The evacuation of 1.5m women and children opened people’s eyes to the poverty that existed.

11. William Beveridge and the Welfare State • “In practically every batch of children there were some who suffered from head-lice, skin diseases and bed-wetting… Some children had never slept in a bed before…One boy had never had a bath before.. Few children would eat food that demanded the use of teeth-could only eat with a teaspoon. One girl of five remarked that she would like to have beer and cheese for supper.. Some children had never used a knife and fork…” From National Federation of Women’s Institutes, 1941

12. William Beveridge and the Welfare State • 1942 publication of the Beveridge Plan. • Senior Civil Servant who had been involved in social policy for many years. • In the introduction to the Report he wrote: • “A revolutionary moment in the world’s history is a time for revolutions, not for patching…Social insurance should be treated as one part only of a comprehensive policy of social progress… it is an attack on Want. But Want is only one of five giants…

13. The Five Giants and from Cradle to Grave • Want • Disease • Ignorance • Squalor • Idleness Beveridge’s scheme would provide: • Benefits for the unemployed, sick and disabled • Pensions and benefits for old people, widows and orphans • Funeral Grants • Maternity Benefits

14. The Reconstruction Committee Sat from 1943-1945 Brought out a series of papers covering major changes in: • Education • Health • Employment policy • Social Insurance • Housing • 1944 Education Act: set up three types of schools: grammar, secondary modern and technical schools. School leaving age was raised to 15. • 1946 New Towns Act • 1946 The National Insurance Act, • 1946 The National Health Services Act • 1946 The Industrial Injuries Act • 1946 National Assistance Act

15. Attlee and the Labour Government • The Welfare State – 1948 beginning of the National Health Service • Compulsory Education to 15 and selection at 11. • Post-war housing programme • Independence for India in 1947 • Independence for Myanmar (Burma)and Sri Lanka in 1948