Britain following World War II
Immediately after the end of World War II, Britain underwent enormous social change. The
country was bankrupt after the war. The wartime Prime Minister, Churchill, was voted out and a
new Labor government nationalized many industries, electricity, gas, water, and health. Britain
took a long time to recover from the cost of war.
After a last abortive fling at being a world power - the Anglo-French invasion of the Suez Canal
in 1956 - Britain began to dismantle her Empire. It was this change that caused Dean Acheson,
former US Secretary of State to remark, "Britain has lost an Empire, but has not yet found a
role.”
Perhaps it was this loss of a world position that caused further changes within Britain. The
Swinging Sixties brought the mini skirt and the Beetles. If Dean Acheson was worried about
Britain's role, the British were not worrying; they were too busy enjoying themselves
Our Royal family became more newsworthy. The marriage of Prince Charles to Diana
brought some much needed glamour to the Royal family, which was stuck somewhere in
the forties. The birth of two sons "the heir and the spare" was followed soon after by
recriminations and divorce. Never the less the British monarchy remains, and remains
newsworthy
