Essay on How Significant was the emergence of youth cultures in Post war Britain

Across the British Isles, the 20 years between the 1945 to 1965 consider as unprecedented change witness. In prosperity and living standard with education, welfare provision and radical initiatives in health, there was a dramatic rise appears. Britain also struggle; to redefine a new place for itself on an international scene dominated by the cold war and superpowers  and in a changing world, it faced the manifold dilemmas occasioned by the end of empire. As it faced the different targets of post war reconstruction, in 1945 the state of Britain at home and at abroad level. In many section of the British public, important innovation during war also appear like signaled the desire for reform and changes, the Beveridge report of 1942 and the education act of 1944. In 1945 the landslide labour victory also appears. With the establishment of a free national health service, the labour than instituted a radical programme of nationalization in heavy industry and transport. Throughout the late 1940, forced the government to continue with control and rationing as the Britain desperate economic situation. Under different shortages and restrictions, this the provoked turn that enhance the opposition in the country as people. To head a conservative government, the labour government’s majority was dividing into five in the House of Commons and Winston Churchill also returned to No, 10 in the following year, in the general election of 1950.

Churchill giving ways to the Anthony Eden in 1955, that was itself succeeded by the Harold Macmillan in 1957, and between then the 1950 would be dominated according to political point of view y the conservative party. In this period, it encapsulate with the Macmillan coined two phrases during the premiership. He explains the people of British that they had never had it so good on the home front. This was a true statement to some extent. So it can be said that 1950s time is the time that show major employment in the market and also present a major change in the economic. According to statistics, many people ran a car and also bought their own homes, by the 1954 the rationing was phased out and through package holidays the development also appear which allow people to travel to different countries in the first time of their life. From electric iron to washing machine transformed the lives of people through labour saving devices and provide huge facilities to people at home. Through Africa, the wind of change was blowing as stated by the Macmillan in 1960 by signaling the end of colonial rule by the European powers and also move toward the direction of independence through the on the international front. As  the cold war developed in both terms the Britain’ s relationship with the USA and also end of empire consider as important aspect of this course that determine the role of changing in Britain. A devote exacerbated by the Suez crisis of 1956-57, Britain divested herself for her empire between 1947 and 1965  sometime peacefully and sometime not according to situation and about the future of Britain role in the world also discuss as the period witnessed prolonged debated.

As an independent world power, the realities of cold war explain the Britain’s relative decline. Britain sough to maintain its position with the united state as a main nuclear power in front of world by exploring its first atomic bomb in 1952, the period was most dominated by the cold war again. In other respect the British changed in more subtle ways during this period, there might be continuing anxieties about the nuclear power and also decline the British power. A process encourages by the fashion and popular music industries, for the teenager’s witness’s rise in the 1950s. From teddy boys to mods and rockers, the ten year between 1955 and 1965 witnessed the development of districted youth cultures and young people has more freedom and more money to spend that ever before. Young people get different society as compare to their parents as it demonstrated the generation gap that came off in the early 1960 according to their new requirements. The year of Death of Winston Churchill, in 1965, symbolize the passing of an old order by his passing. After the 13 years of conservative rules, the labour party and Harold Wilson has won general election. The government of Wilson welcoming the permissive society, decriminalizing homosexuality and abolishing the death penalty in the reforming and progressive government. There is no doubt that during the 20 year the time is swing a major change and to the extend the swing sixties fundamentally changed the British society is a debatable point. So a major change would be appear in the 20 year of Britain and the people also face a major change in all fields and also face a major development by making their living style more better and make the life of people more easier and full of technologies and facilities. (ice.cam.ac.uk, 2015)

 A term cold war explains that many financial constraints faced by the Britain by lacking of cash according to actual requirement. By sharing the hardship of an age of austerity and the reducing its international entanglements as in Greece by responded. In a military alliance, the under Attlee foreign policy way the domain of Ernest Bevin that finds different innovative way as to bring the Western Europe together.

In the late 1930s, the American coinage as teenagers show that present in the British social sense. From 1950s onwards, the national attention also focus on then. by three or four months every decade throughout a century, the improved nutrition across the complete population also cause the age of menarche to fall on average basis. The people of the age 12 to 20 are going to more mature and intelligent in this time era. Their parent has more money and they are better educated as compare to others. The young men who reached conscription age had eighteen more months of freedom according to national services that the conscription of young men age 17-21 is required for the service of military that introduce in 1948 and abolished in 1960. Teenage girls also need no longer needed for the many household chores due to increasing usage of washing machines, vacuum cleaners , prepared food and kitchen appliances. (Jon Garland, 24 Aug 2012)

This post war time was most considerable for the middle class people because upper class people and their children also enjoy almost all the facilities and their teenagers also want to school. The economics of teenage consumerism and the middle class moral panic about the decline in British morality, these two dimensions are consider very important for the post war impacts. The unmarried people were more than 5 billion in 1960 and they have controlled their income by 10 % and lots of people unmarried also found between the age of 15-25 years. After the end of austerity, they also get blue collar jobs and their earning also improved. They came the immediate need to urgently keep up with their peer standards through personal moment that never shift to next years and they simply lived at homes and never face the expenses of allowances, wages on housing, groceries, taxes, furniture , appliances and other savings. Many new and stylish clothes were come in trend and teenagers also follow these trends according to their personality and their likeness. They also attend different parties including dance performance and musical nights. In 1959, teenagers spend lots of their money on their personal activities and all that things that made their living standard high and up to upper level people. They spend their major part of money in pop entertainments, dances halls, cinemas, records and magazines and they spend their money on clothes, cosmetics and shoes, drinks, cigarettes, sweets and snacks and soft drinks. This spending of money explain their belonging to specific group and also show their statues and identity at personal level. (ukessay.com, 2017)

A dramatic change appears in the social level it also breaks the moral panics. The problems of teenagers come at public level for the first time. The boys were gobbling up, censorship was imposed in 1955, when there was widespread concern about the bellicose American comic books. In terms of generational rebellion, the media presented the teenagers. With the outlandish costumers for teddy boys, the seemed prone to violence. The old generation was follow by the growth in intergenerational co operation between the parents and children’s and the exaggerated moral panic among politicians. There were many people who belong to working class eagerly tool the opportunity to encourage their teens to enjoy more adventurous lives and also enjoying newfound economic prosperity according to trending requirements. As the dangerous blackboard jungles under the control of rowdy kids, the schools were falsely portrayed which was not a good sign for the children. Media never present the actual experience of ordinary young adults specially women and only focus on affluent and distortion of promiscuous, counter culture rebels and delinquents. (Worley, 2018)

By the war, the educational Act 1944 was a clear answer to surging the educational and social demand and also speared demands for reform at social level  that reached to utopianism. After wide consultation, it was prepared by the conservative MP RAB Butler. At the age of eleven years, the act was affected in 1947 and develops a difference between primary education and secondary education. The labor government which was elected newly, rejecting the comprehensive school proposals focused by many labour party as more equalitarian  and adopted the tripartite system that include grammar school, secondary school and secondary technical schools. Under this system those students may attend the prestigious grammar schools that passed their exams. The educational act is completely become the part of post war consensus  that supported by many political parties and  this was spread widely by the conservation because according to general public it ended up the fees, it opened new opportunities for the working class and also follow the honored religion and social hierarchy. (Ross, 2018)

Dramatically the higher education was also spread at all levels. All the universities were upgrade according to new schooling requirements. Many new universities also open to provide new education formats to students. Cambridge and oxford remain intellectual according to political and cultural dominant but many specializations allowed at national centers with great emergence with updated departments and universities according to their specifications. These universities were offer good salary package with other facilities so many other students who completed their high education were preferred to work in such universities. They also offer great research facilities to all its students and workers. The decline in the humanities remained controversional and the tendency towards vocationalism also explain by growing mind set among administrators of the universities. (britannica.com, 2020)

The scope of young people and students also increase in the sports and other games. Sports were become part of fashion as across the board the attendance soared. Government also present the Olympics in 1948 due to its increasing scope in sports and best athletes also won from the Britain. There was a great problem of budget and facilities that not provided to their athletes according to their demand and they were also not obtaining their required bonus according to their performance. Sports competition was not high during the war years but still many people focus on playing and watching different matches and at national and international level the sports also promoted due to their excellent performance. Many games were played but the most famous was football that offer high quality entertainment to the people and also obtains great attention of people due to its interesting gaming strategies and more people involve in the football. The scope of football was also high at international level and this was the basic reason that traditional football methods also follow at major level. Many clubs and sports complex also held different matches and events to attract the attention of people and also offer high quality sports activities to people.

In that time, a great change also appear in the cinemas as the golden age was consider that time and the scope of films in the cinemas enhance and different directors, actors and film makers also show their skills and talents in most effective manner and promote the level of films and cinemas in America. The gross income of the cinemas also increased and they also capture a high share of market according to their demand and interest of watchers that were show their great likeness and interest for the development and promotion of cinemas and film industry. Britain was influenced with the great market of America and they also follow the same living style that people of America follow. In the post war Britain, the culture of youth was brought a great change in multiple directions. Youth were the asset of every country and when the country gave more focus on their development they also gave large income in return and also enhance the level of production and also manage all the issues according to new criteria. In Britain , in the pat war time , the youth had to implement new and effective strategies and also follow new system related to their living style, their earnings, their educations, their skills, their like dislikes, their jobs, their clothes and many other elements. (theguardian.com, 2019)

 The people at young at have to focus on their higher education and for that they have to study with great institutions. Government has to manage all the educational expenses and gave them great opportunities to learn maximum technical skills and learning’s. they brought a huge change their clothes, their way of living, they also obtain better job and spend their money on luxury items to make their life more easier and manageable. There were lots of facilities and jobs offered by the government and the economic and political stability also presented to move at successful direction. They want to meet at the level of America as the Britain follow all those strategies and systems that enhance the scope of their young people and give them opportunities and facilities to develop their life and enjoy all the phases according to their requirement and demands. They also get all type of working and learning facilities and the fees and expenses were not too much high according to their limit. Government has to manager all the expenses and implements such strategies and policies that support their youth and develop a supportive culture for them and also promote their living criteria. Britain post war time was take some period according to its stability and manage all the issues with the supportive hands but Britain gave more attention on their young people and they try to develop youth culture according to new and advance requirements and also follow new strategies and make their living style high and give them all the educational and learning facilities that make them according to international people who can enjoy all facilities and spend their life with great pleasure.

Reference of How Significant was the emergence of youth cultures in Post war Britain

Britannica.com. (2020). Britain since 1945. Retrieved from     

https://www.britannica.com/place/United-Kingdom/Britain-since-1945

Ice.cam.ac.uk. (2015). Wind of change: post-war Britain 1945–1965. Retrieved from                                https://www.ice.cam.ac.uk/course/wind-change-post-war-britain-1945-1965

Jon Garland, K. G.-Y. ( 24 Aug 2012). Youth Culture, Popular Music and the End of‘Consensus  ’ in Post-War Britain. 265-271.

Ross, S. (2018). Youth Culture and the Post-War British Novel. 5-20.

Theguardian.com. (2019). Youth culture. Retrieved from   https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/dec/18/weekend7.weekend5

Ukessay.com. (2017, 9 29). Post War Cultural Revolution in the UK. Retrieved from                                https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/the-emergence-of-the-teenager-consumer.php

Worley, M. (2018). British Youth Cultures and the Wider World. 1-4.