About John Boonton Priestley: John Boonton Priestley was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire on 13 September 1894. His father was a headmaster and his mother died when he was Just two years old, leaving his father to remarry four years later. He grew up into a family and a wider group of friends who enjoyed the arts.
As he grew up he was caught up in in- depth debates with his friends.His friends and family all discussed politics from a socialist point of view; this influenced his younger political life. It was for this reason that J. B Priestly adopted such a socialist viewpoint.
J B Priestley was a socialist (left wing), but had trouble settling down to the policies of any one particular political party. His socialism can be said to be based on compassion and caring for others. Priestley was educated at Belle Eve Grammar School, which he left early to work as a Junior clerk with a local wool firm at the age of 16.He spent his hard earned money on buying books, and used his spare time trying different kinds of riding, including a regular unpaid column in a local periodical, the Bradford Pioneer. About John's writing: John wrote successful articles and essays, and then published the first of many novels, The Good Companions, in 1929 which earned him the James Await Black Memorial Prize for fiction and made him a national figure. His next novel, Angel Pavement, further established him as a successful novelist.
However, some critics were less than complimentary about his work.Much of his writing was ground- breaking and controversial. He included new ideas about possible parallel universes and strong political messages. His first publication was "Secrets of the Ragtime King" for London Opinion, then a series of articles, "Round the Hearth", for Independent Labor Party publication, The Bradford Pioneer.
In 1934 he published the travelogue English Journey, which was an account of what he saw and heard while traveling through the country in the autumn of the previous year. He moved into a new genre and became equally well known as a dramatist.Dangerous Corner was the first of a series of plays that enthralled West End theatre audiences. After the success with John's first play he went on to write 50 more. His best-known lay is An Inspector Calls in which he expresses his socialist ideas and beliefs.
About John's political views: During the sass's Priestley became very concerned about the consequences of social inequality in Britain. In 1942 Priestley and others set up a new political party, the Common Wealth Party, which argued for public ownership of land, greater democracy, and a new 'morality' in politics.The party merged with the Labor Party in 1945. He believed that further world wars could only be avoided through cooperation and mutual respect between countries, and so became active in the early movement Tort nil EAI Matrons.
Section 2: Make notes on what was happening at the time of 1912 politically, socially and globally in England. Look at class systems/women/strikes/education. Class system: Social position was far more important in 1912 than it is today.People were expected to know their place in society and stick to it, moving from one section of the class system to another was greatly frowned upon by those in power. Workers were beginning to let it be known that they wanted to have a say in what happened to them and did so through strikes and the formation of trade unions to co-ordinate these actions.
Women: Women at that time were seen as being delicate, fragile and obedient to their husbands or fathers. Domestic service was one of the commonest forms of employment for women - over a million women worked as servants at this time.Women were trying to get rights the same as men, beginning the Suffrage movement. Under Roman law, which influenced later British law, husband and wife were regarded as one, with the woman the "possession" of the man.
As such, a woman had no legal control over her person, her own land and money, or her children. Education: In 1912, all British children were entitled to a basic elementary education. Children attended elementary schools, and those who were particularly bright might win a scholarship to a grammar school to continue their education.Children from better off families might go to private schools, often they would be sent away to boarding schools.
Only a small minority went on to university, which was expensive. Section 3: Make a list of the key events that took place between 1912 and 1945. Sinking of the Titanic, Balkan wars, 1912. Electric refrigerator, first moving assembly line created by Ford, 1913. Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, of Austria-Hungry, World War l, 1914. First Zeppelin bombings of England, 1915.
Easter uprising in Ireland, 1916. Tsar overthrown, U. S. Enters the War, 1917.Kaiser forced to Abdicate, 1918. Treaty of Versailles, 1919.
Prohibition began in the U. S. , U. S.
Women get the vote, 1920. Mussolini ceases power in Italy, 1922. Munich Beer Hall Putsch, 1923. TV invented, Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic, 1927.
Irish Free State, u s. Stock Market crass, 1 Flash bulb for photography introduced, 1930. Empire State Building opened, 1931. Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany, Dachas prison camp open for business, Roosevelt "New Deal" program, End of U. S.
Prohibition, Hoover dam completed, Boeing 247 flies, DC-I flies, 1933.King of Yugoslavia assassinated, 1934. Hitler rejects Treaty of Versailles, U. S. Social Security act created, 1935.
Italy invades Ethiopia, Spanish Civil War; Oil discovered in Saudi Arabia, Edward VIII abdicates for the woman he loves, 1936. U. S. 8-17 flies, Zeppelin Hindering destroyed, Amelia Earth lost, German-Italy pact, 1937. Unclasps with Austria dies Charlatanic in Germany, 1938.
Pan Am begins passenger air service across the Atlantic, pesticide EDT introduced, Germans test the world's first Jet airplane,Germany invades Poland, two days later Great Britain and France declare war on Germany, 1939. Dunkirk evacuated, Paris falls to Germans, Battle of Britain begins, first Xerox machine to make copies introduced, 1940. Lend-Lease for Britain, German Battleship Bismarck sunk; Germany invades Russia, Japanese attack Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, penicillin brought out for use in humans, 1941. German troops reach Straddling, Japanese Americans interned by U.
S. Government, first nuclear chain reaction, 1942. Sibilance Conference, Germans surrender at Straddling, daylight bombing of Germany, 1943.Russians cross Polish border, Rome taken by Allies, D-Day, Paris liberated, Philippines liberated, first 8-29 raids on Japan, Battle of the Bulge, 1944 Section 4: Make notes on what was happening in England Post Second World War- What were people's attitudes, how were things different. How had things changed from 1912? How were social systems/society different? After the war, a general election was held, which resulted in a landslide victory for the Labor Party under Clement Attlee. They had an ambitious policy agenda involving the full implementation of the Beverage Report and state control of the economy.
It was chaired by William Bridge, an economist, who identified five "Giant Evils" in society: squalor, ignorance, want, idleness and disease, and went on to propose widespread reform to the system of social welfare to address The Affluent Society:limitedly after the end of World War II, Britain underwent enormous social change. The country was bankrupted after the war. The new Labor government provided the reformation of the main institutions such as mining, railways, road traffic, air traffic, petrol, electricity and even the Bank of England.On nee hand, there was an economic growth because markets were slowly recovering from the war crisis and there was still a supply of raw materials from former colonies.
And on the other hand the statisticians found out that the employment of women and 'moonlighting of many people led to improving of living standard. Now the life seemed easier to the Brims. The falling birth rate signified smaller and richer nonsense's. I nee were netter equal Ana more Ana more Tamales owned cars, they could buy new mortgage houses and spent holidays abroad.Whereas before the AR the car was the matter of richer people, after 1945 the number of car owners had increased. Television sets had been a rarity in the early sass's; but by 1961 75% of families had one.
Situation of Servants and Aristocracy after the War Before the war it was quite common among the people who belonged to the upper class to have butlers and maids; however after 1945, women from the middle class were taking care of their households by themselves resulting in a lack of maids. During the war, some houses became temporary hospitals for injured people and there were no Jobs for servants. Deer the press of the labor movements, the Minister of Health, Unerring Bean took measures to improve the social insurance and established the National Health Service (NASH) in 1948. The NASH is generally regarded as the Jewel in the crown of the welfare state.
The Role of Woman: The role on women after WI was similar to that before the war. Women experiences wonderful Job growth during the war, but once it ended their employers expected them to quit and return to their domestic lives. Employers held onto this belief; even though statistics showed that a large percentage of both married and married women wanted to continue working.A great number of women did quit, or were fired, though some did decide to stay and were lucky enough to keep their place in the work force. Those that remained in the factories faced incredible sexism and were barred from Joining many labor unions. Despite these odds, the employment of women has still increased since then.
The war gave women the opportunity to show what they could do. However, between the wars, they had got full voting equality with men when in 1928 a law was passed which stated that any person over the age of 21 could vote - male and female.
