THE ULTIMATE
On January 3rd 1883, British Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee was born.
Attlee became the first majority Labour Party Prime Minister in 1945, and during his period in office created the Welfare State - of which the NHS is a crucial part still to this day, enabling people to get free healthcare at the point of use, paid for by those in work through taxation. The Welfare State that Attlee's government created, brought into being the report made by Liberal politician Beveridge during the Second World War, that called for the tackling of 'Five Giants' - Squalor (poor housing); Idleness (unemployment); Disease; Ignorance (lack of education) and Want (Poverty). Attlee's government also pursued an economic policy of state involvement in the economy, known as Keynesianism. Around a fifth of the British economy was nationalised, brought under government control - including coal, railways, gas, electricity, steel and the Bank of England. Having served with Winston Chuchill in the wartime Coalition government, Attlee campaigned for the creation of a Welfare State, and a 'Land Fit For Heroes' in the 1945 General Election to reward the British People for their sacrifices during the war. Attlee defeated the Conservative war winning Prime Minister, Churchill, in the election as the population moved on from war to what they felt was needed in peacetime.
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John Fitzgerald Kennedy, JFK, was born on May 29th 1917 at Brookline, Massachusetts.
JFK became the 35th President of the USA, narrowly beating Richard Nixon in the 1960 election. He had served in the US Navy during World War II in the Pacific. As president he served from 1916 to his assassination in November 1963. Seen as a youthful President, bringing a new generation to the command of the US political system, his tenure at the White House, has often been known as 'Camelot' - after the castle of the legendary King Arthur. Whilst First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy sought to make the White House reflect modern fashion trends. In power at the hight of the Cold War, Kennedy is noted for his stances against the Soviet Union and its allies - in particular the failed Bay of Pigs invasion by the CIA, his support for Berlin, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 that led to the brink of nuclear war between the US and USSR Superpowers and their allies. He established the Peace Corps in the USA, and was supportive of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA having a role in the organistion of the March on Washington where Martin Luther kIng Jr. gave his 'I Have a Dream' speech. He also committed the USA to putting a man on the moon before the decade was out, leading to the success of NASA's Apollo space programme, where the US overtook the USSR in the Space Race. On this day, May 14th 1607, the first permanent English settlement was established at Jamestown, Virginia, the beginnings of the United States of America.
The English settlers departed from the banks of the Thames in London in Deecember, and it took their three ships the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, four months to cross the Atlantic Ocean and make landfall on the coast of North America. Once on the coast they explored the area, and decided to build a settlement on an island in what they called the James River, which was away from the Atlantic Ocean, navigable (where boats could be used) and was easy to defend. The site was uninhabited by the Powhatan Native Americans, as it was seen as a swamp of mosquitoes unsuitable for farming. On unsuitable ground for farming, and with little agricultural experience amongst the settlers, whose main aim was hunting for gold, the settlement struggled to survive. Supplies from the local group of Powhatan Indians, ensured their survival, though relations with the Powhatan went through phases of friendship and warfare. The settlement also saw its settlers replaced by more colonists coming from England, and within four years the local Native Americans had been wiped out through warfare. Pocahontas the daughter of the Native American Chief of the region, befriended the English settlers, is said to have saved John Smith one of the seettlers' leaders from being executed; been taken hostage and converted to Christianity, and married John Rolfe, before travelling with Rolfe to England. As she was to travel back, with Rolfe and their son, Pocahontas died at Gravesend on the Thames, and was buried there in the local churchyard - where a statue of her now stands. John Rolfe began the successful cultivation of tobacco at the settlement, which became its main crop. The settlement was almost abandoned in 1610, but the leaving colonists were ordered to return, when more ships of settlers arrived from across the Atlantic Ocean, In many ways the Jamestown settlement that established the British colony of Virginia, and served for many years as its capital, began numerous features of the United States of America, its Anglo-Saxon (English/British) culture, such as its language, and the political system of rights and democracy. Whilst, it also led to th losses experienced by the Native American nations, as well as the use of slavery to grow plantation crops. On this day, May 13th 1862, at the height of the US Civil War, Robert Smalls, a Southern slave led an audacious bid for freedom by a group of slaves.
Smalls was a slave in South Carolina and he was assigned to steer a ship, the Planter, on duties in Charleston harbor, for the military of the Southern States, the Confederacy. He told the other slaves aboard of his plan, apart from one he didn't trust, and on May 13th 1862, they carried it out. As the white commanders went ashore on leave, he took command of the Planter, sailing the steamship carrying newly picked up artillery guns, and picking up family members of the slaves as he went, who were ready on another ship. Smalls knew that out beyond the harbour, was a naval blockade of the Northern United States navy. He was stealing the ship from the Confederacy, and aiming to take it across the Northern forces, where he and his fellow slaves would be free. Smalls, knew the harbour well, he knew the depths of the sea floor, he knew the defences surrounding the harbour, and he knew where mines had been placed - as he had been made to set the mines to thwart the Northern US navy. He also knew that if suspicion wasaroused other ships could give chase and the harbour guns could be turned on the Planter. He went to the extent of wearing a straw hat as the white commander did, and copying his mannerisms, so as not to arouse the suspicions of onlookers from the shore or other ships. He managed to sail the ship out of the harbour towards the Northern naval blockade, which meant further danger for his ship would be seen as a possible attack by the South. As they neared the Northern ships, they began to take aim, Smalls had the Planter's confederate flag run down, and replaced with a white sheet, that the family members had brought along. As they readied to fire the the Northern ships spotted the white flag, and waited. Robert Smalls had delivered his ship to the US Navy, he and the other slaves were free. In effect he had become the first African-American to command a US navy ship, the USS Planter. Smalls received a share of the 'prize' money for the capture of the ship, though even later in his life the amount he received was questioned as to whether it was really in line with the value of the ship. He went on to serve in the US Navy and Army, in the remainder of the Civil War, providing his knowledge of Charleston harbour and its defences to the North - so that within days they could launch a successful attack on an island at the harbour mouth. He encouraged the acceptance of African-Americans into the Northern military. Though, he served in a civilian capacity for the Northen Navy, he believed he had been commissioned as an officer, and late in life was awarded a pension equivalent to that of a captain. After the Civil War, he became a businessman, and entered politics, and in the era after the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Civil War Constitutional Amendments, but before the racist Jim Crow Laws took effect, he was elected to South Carolina's State Legislature (South Caroina's Parliament) and thence to the House of Representatives in the US Congress (equivalent to the UK's Parliament). On this day, May 10th 1994, Nelson Mandela became Presdent of South Africa, following the first democratic elections, ending the 'apartheid' era.
Apartheid had been the systematic segregation of South African society on the basis of colour, whereby the Black majority population were denied their rights. Nelson Mandela became key to struggle against apartheid, at times pursuing nnon-violence, at others sabotage. He was imprisoned for 27 years, most famously on Robben Island. he was released by President F.W. de Klerk in 1990, and Mandela leading the African National Congress (ANC) party, steadily entered negotiations with the ruling National Party over the ending of Apartheid and a trsnsition to majority rule. For this work Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with F.W. de Klerk in 1993. Upon becoming President, Mandela, formed a government of National Unity, including members of de Klerk's National Party, and Inkatha party. He also strove for a peaceful future for South Africa, establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where all sides could explain the hurt they had suffered, and all sides could be be reconciled and come to understand each other, and their past experiences. Mandela redefined South Africa as a 'Rainbow Nation' where all peoples had a voice, rights and a share in power. On this day, May 6th 1840, the 'Penny Black' postage stamp went into service. It was the first postal stamp service, for pre-paid mail. The self-adhesive stamp, carrying a portrait of Queen Victoria, would enable postage of a letter anywhere in the country for the cost of the stamp - simplifying the pricing of postage across Victorian Britain. May 6th, is also the birthday of former UK Prime MInister Tony Blair, born 1953. Tony Blair became the youngest Prime Minister sibnce 1812, as his rebranded Labour Party, New Labour, swept to a landslide victory in the General Election - ending eighteen years of Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher and John Major. His victory came after having moved the Labour Party to the right, into the cehtre ground of British Politics, removing Labour's constitutional commitment to nationalistion, 'Clause iV', and embracing the Middle Class and business, and Conservative spending plans for the first term. Blair won two more elections in 2001, and 2005, before resigning from office in 2007, to be replaced as Labour Party leader and Prime Minister, by his Chancellor, Gordon Brown. From 1997 to 2006 Blair didn't suffer a defeat in the House of Commons, with a range of significant achievements were racked up, Devolution of Scotland and Wales, creating the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly; a London Assembly and Mayor; reform of the House of Lords, by removing most of the Hereditary Peers giving it greater legitimacy, the Human Rights Act, bringing the European Convention on Human Rights into UK Law, and the Supreme Court, giving the judiciary greater independence; signing the EU's Social Chapter, guaranteeing Workers' Rights into law. the Minimum Wage, Sure Start and Children's Centres, as well as the greatest expense ever on Education. However, it was in the field of Foreign Policy that Blair became increasingly controversial and divided his party and the country. There were notable Human Rights successes with military interventions in Sierra Leone and Kosovo, and the UK came to the aid of a stricken USA by joining the invasion of Afghanistan to remove AlQaeda and the Taliban after the 9/11 terror strikes on New York's twin towers and the Pentagon on Washington D.C.. The protracted involvement in Afghanistan, and mounting military deaths for little gain drew criticism. Whilst, during this time Blair drew closer to the US Administration of G.W.Bush, and supported Bush's invasion of Iraq, with a claim to rid it of Saddam Hussein's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programme. The intelligence for which mislead Parliament, and Blair gained approval for the UK's involvement from the Commons with the support of Conservative MPs, with many in his own party rebelling, as his formerr Foreign Secretary, then Leader of the House Robin Cook resigned. Again the protracted nayure of this conflict and doubts about its premise led to increasing distruct of Blair amongst the Public. May 6th, is also the date of a great sporting occasion, as in 1954 Roger Bannister became the first athlete to break the four minute mile.
On this day, May 5th 1818, Karl Marx was born in Germany, he became a key Political Philosopher, whist also influencing other subjects such as History, Sociology and Economics.
His key works include Das Kapital and The Communist Manifesto. Working with Friedrich Engels, who supported Marx and provided evidence of capitalism from his families factories in England. Marx put forward a radical version of Socialism, based upon the belief that all human history was that of a struggle between social classes, that eventually leads to a revolution before society advances to a new level of development. He claimed that capitalism was the last but one stage in Human History, where the divide between the Bourgeoisie (the few wealthy factory owners) and the Proletariat (the many poor workers) would grow so great that the workers would realise their position and hold a revolution, to overthrow capitalism, and replace it with a new system, Socialism, that would then develop into Communism, where all would be equal, without differences of social class. His ideas inspired Socialist / Communist revolutions around the world during the 20th Century, most famously Lenin's Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, leading to the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). On this day, May 4th 1979, Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
She had defeated James Callaghan the Labour leader and Prime Minister, after he had been forced to hold a General Election due to losing a Vote of No Conficdence in the House of Commons. Margaret Thatcher, had been the Conservative Party leader since 1975, and had led a new media style election campaign, most famous for its poster of a unemployed people queuing (a dole queue) to receive unemployment benefit, with the title '1 Million Unemployed - Labour isn't Working'. Margaret Thatcher won three elections in all, in 1979, 1983, and 1987, before resigning in November 1990. She is the longest serving Post-War Prime Minister. Her strong stance in foreign policy, repulsing the Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands, and her stand against Communism with US President Ronald Reagan, as well as her negotiations within the EU to gain the UK a rebate, led to her nickname of the 'Iron Lady'. A conviction politician, her policies have been labelled New Right or Thatcherite, by rolling back the state, and reducing dependence on the Welfare State, thus overturning the Post War Consensus that had existed since 1945, so as to free up and stimulate enterprise to kick-start an economy suffering high unemployment and inflation via Laissez-Faire capitalism. Within this approach was the process of privatising nationalised utilitles such as gas and telecommunications, and the sale of Council Houses in the 'Right to Buy' scheme. Her critics emphasise the toll that this approach took on poorer working class communities, who saw a dramatic decline in job opportunities in their community, with little provision to safeguard them from the downside of such policies, as well as her reduction of the rights and power of the Trades Unions. On this day, May 3rd 1898, Gold Meir, was born in Kiev, the Ukraine, then in Russia. She became Israel's fourth Prime Minister, its first and so far only female Prime Minister in 1969.
As a child her family emigrated to the USA, with marriage she emigrated to Palestine which was then a British Mandate following World War One, and her leadership, representative,and political abilities were quickly seen within the Kibbutz movement. She had been active in the establishment of Israel under David Ben-Gurion, holding numerous ministerial offices in the newly formed Israeli government. Golda Meir, held office from 1969 to 1974. On this day, May 2nd 1997, Tony Blair became the youngest Prime Minister sibnce 1812, as his rebranded Labour Party, New Labour, swept to a landslide victory in the General Election a day before - ending eighteen years of Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher and John Major.
His victory came after having moved the Labour Party to the right, into the cehtre ground of British Politics, removing Labour's constitutional commitment to nationalistion, 'Clause iV', and embracing the Middle Class and business, and Conservative spending plans for the first term. Blair won two more elections in 2001, and 2005, before resigning from office in 2007, to be replaced as Labour Party leader and Prime Minister, by his Chancellor, Gordon Brown. From 1997 to 2006 Blair didn't suffer a defeat in the House of Commons, with a range of significant achievements were racked up, Devolution of Scotland and Wales, creating the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly; a London Assembly and Mayor; reform of the House of Lords, by removing most of the Hereditary Peers giving it greater legitimacy, the Human Rights Act, bringing the European Convention on Human Rights into UK Law, and the Supreme Court, giving the judiciary greater independence; signing the EU's Social Chapter, guaranteeing Workers' Rights into law. the Minimum Wage, Sure Start and Children's Centres, as well as the greatest expense ever on Education. However, it was in the field of Foreign Policy that Blair became increasingly controversial and divided his party and the country. There were notable Human Rights successes with military interventions in Sierra Leone and Kosovo, and the UK came to the aid of a stricken USA by joining the invasion of Afghanistan to remove AlQaeda and the Taliban after the 9/11 terror strikes on New York's twin towers and the Pentagon on Washington D.C.. The protracted involvement in Afghanistan, and mounting military deaths for little gain drew criticism. Whilst, during this time Blair drew closer to the US Administration of G.W.Bush, and supported Bush's invasion of Iraq, with a claim to rid it of Saddam Hussein's Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) programme. The intelligence for which mislead Parliament, and Blair gained approval for the UK's involvement from the Commons with the support of Conservative MPs, with many in his own party rebelling, as his formerr Foreign Secretary, then Leader of the House Robin Cook resigned. Again the protracted nayure of this conflict and doubts about its premise led to increasing distruct of Blair amongst the Public. |
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