The Political Class in Scotland

2020 ◽  
pp. 499-511
Author(s):  
Michael Keating ◽  
Paul Cairney ◽  
Stefano Intropido
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Distinct Group ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Female Representation ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
The Uk ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Second World

In the period following the Second World War, Scottish MPs formed a distinct group. Scottish Labour MPs were more likely to be working class and Scottish Conservative MPs more upper class than their counterparts elsewhere in the UK. Over time, both groups became more middle class, but the differences between the nations remained. Devolution produced a step change, as Members of the Scottish Parliament were more likely to be drawn from the professional middle classes than MPs across the UK. This trend has continued. The new generation of Scottish Conservative MPs and MSPs following the Conservative revival after 2014 resemble their SNP and Labour counterparts in their background. There was an increase in female representation with the first generation of MSPs but progress has since stalled. In Scotland, as at Westminster, a notable feature has been the rise of the professional politician from a ‘politics-facilitating’ background.

THE ALLIED NEUTRAL? PORTUGUESE BALANCE OF PAYMENTS WITH THE UK AND GERMANY IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR, 1939-1945

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-110
Author(s):  
Eric Golson
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Third Party ◽  
World War ◽  
Portuguese Empire ◽  
Active Choice ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Second World

ABSTRACTIn September 1939, Portugal made a realist strategic choice to preserve the Portuguese Empire maintaining by its neutrality and also remaining an ally of Great Britain. While the Portuguese could rely largely on their colonies for raw materials to sustain the mainland, the country had long depended on British transportation for these goods and the Portuguese military. With the British priority now given to war transportation, Portugal's economy and Empire were particularly vulnerable. The Portuguese dictator Antonio Salazar sought to mitigate this damage by maintaining particularly friendly financial relations with the British government, including increased exports of Portuguese merchandise and services and permission to accumulate credits in Sterling to cover deficits in the balance of payments. This paper gives an improved set of comprehensive statistics for the Anglo-Portuguese and German–Portuguese relationships, reported in Pounds and according to international standards. The reported statistics include the trade in merchandise, services, capital flows, loans and third-party transfers of funds in favour of the British account. When compared with the German statistics, the Anglo-Portuguese figures show the Portuguese government favoured the British in financial relations, an active choice by Salazar to maintain the Portuguese Empire.

A ‘Sound Investment’? British Cultural Diplomacy and Overseas Students: The British Council's Students Committee, 1935–1939

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-283
Author(s):  
Alice Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Overseas Students ◽  
British Council ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Foreign Office ◽  
Run Up ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Second World

This article explores the UK government's first foray into cultural diplomacy by focusing on the activities of the British Council's Students Committee in the run-up to the Second World War. Students were placed at the heart of British cultural diplomacy, which drew on foreign models as well as the experience of intra-empire exchanges. While employing cultural internationalist discourse, the drive to attract more overseas students to the United Kingdom was intended to bring economic and political advantages to the host country. The British Council pursued its policy in cooperation with non-state actors but ultimately was guided by the Foreign Office, which led it to target key strategic regions, principally in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.

scholarly journals CONSERVATIVE PARTY AND THE PROBLEMS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR (on the pages of “Diary of a diplomat” by I. M. Maisky)

2016 ◽  
pp. 32-37
Author(s):  
E. V. Khakhalkina
Keyword(s):  
British Empire ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Early Years ◽  
World War ◽  
Dominant Position ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Second World

The “Diary” of the Soviet diplomat I. M. Maisky, who worked in London for more than ten years first as a messenger, then as the Soviet ambassador to the UK, is one of the valuable sources for the interwar period and the Second World War. The “Diary” contains records of Maisky’s conversations with the leading British politicians and public figures and his own thoughts on a wide range of issues, including the problems of the British Empire. The author of the paper analyzes the views of the Tories on the prospects for the British Empire and the Commonwealth of the postwar period and reveals the plans for the reconstruction of the Empire and its transformation while maintaining the dominant position of Britain in the format of a new relationship with the dominions and colonies. The paper shows that within the British political establishment there was no consensus on the future of the empire and, as the materials of the “Diary of diplomat” evidence, the problem of the evolution of the Empire had a close relationship with other areas of foreign and domestic policy.

The Work of a Left-Handed Man

2000 ◽  
pp. 86-105
Author(s):  
John Lucas
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Personal Interest ◽  
Writing Style ◽  
World War ◽  
Left Handed ◽  
Jazz Piano ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Second World ◽  
Formal Constraints

In chapter three, John Lucas describes the UK jazz scene following the Second World War. Lucas describes the free and unlimited qualities of jazz and makes comparative reference to Fisher’s own personal interest in the genre. The chapter goes on to state that Fisher’s writing style can arguably be linked to the many styles of jazz piano, in that the two both adhere to imaginative thought and liberation from formal constraints. As well as music, the chapter also focuses on the significance and impact of the themes of location and belonging found in Fisher’s poetry.

Griffith’s Equation

2020 ◽  
pp. 249-266
Author(s):  
Brian Cantor
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Jet Engine ◽  
The First World War ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Corner Cracks ◽  
Second World ◽  
First World ◽  
Engine Development

Most materials fracture suddenly because they contain small internal and surface cracks, which propagate under an applied stress. Griffith’s equation shows how fracture strength depends inversely on the square root of the size of the largest crack. It was developed by Alan Griffith, while he was working as an engineer at Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough just after the First World War. This chapter examines brittle and ductile fracture, the concepts of fracture toughness, stress intensity factor and stBiographical Memoirs of Fellows ofrain energy release rate, the different fracture modes, and the use of fractography to understand the causes of fracture in broken components. The importance of fracture mechanics was recognised after the Second World War, following the disastrous failures of the Liberty ships from weld cracks, and the Comet airplanes from sharp window corner cracks. Griffith’s father was a larger-than-life buccaneering explorer, poet, journalist and science fiction writer, and Griffith lived an unconventional, peripatetic and impoverished early life. He became a senior engineer working for the UK Ministry of Defence and then Rolls-Royce Aeroengines, famously turning down Whittle’s first proposed jet engine just before the Second World War as unworkable because the engine material would melt, then playing a major role in jet engine development after the war, including engines for the first vertical take-off planes.

Imagination in people and societies on the move: A sociocultural psychology perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 654-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tania Zittoun
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Geographic Mobility ◽  
Retirement Home ◽  
World War ◽  
Geographical Mobility ◽  
Sociocultural Psychology ◽  
Mobility Studies ◽  
Psychology Perspective ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Second World

This paper proposes a sociocultural psychology approach to mobility. It distinguishes geographical mobility, drawing on mobility studies, from symbolic mobility, that can be achieved through imagination. After the presentation of a theoretical framework, it examines the possible interplay between geographical and symbolic mobility through three case studies: that of people moving to a retirement home, that of a young woman’s trajectory through the Second World War in the UK, and that of families in repeated geographical mobility. The paper thus shows that imagination may expand or guide geographic mobility, but also, in some case, create some stability when geographic mobility becomes excessive. More importantly, it shows that over time, people engage in trajectories of imagination: their various geographical and symbolic mobilities can eventually transform their very mode of imagining.

Ten top tips for small to medium enterprise (SME) success

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 14-17
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Medium Enterprise ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Second World ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – Owner-managed businesses were once the backbone of successful industry in the UK. However in the post-Second World War decades “big business” became the preferred model, with industries developing around new technologies. Today, as large industry is increasingly moving to countries with lower human-resource costs, the small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) is becoming the business model of choice for UK entrepreneurs. Understanding what makes a SME succeed or fail can provide guidance to both individual business owners and government agencies tasked with promoting economic growth. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world's leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

scholarly journals Fashion and the femmes tondues: Lee Miller, Vogue and representing Liberation France

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 330-344
Author(s):  
Claire Gorrara
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Home Front ◽  
World War ◽  
War Photography ◽  
Feminine Beauty ◽  
Multiple Messages ◽  
War Experience ◽  
A Site ◽  
Second World

This article will examine representations of the Liberation of France in the war reports of Lee Miller, an accredited photographer and correspondent for American and British Vogue during the Second World War. Miller’s frontline reports framed Liberation France in idealised images of feminine beauty and elegance, making use of fashion as a primary conduit for understanding the war and occupation for readers on the home front. As this article will argue, examining Miller’s choices and perspective as a female photographer sheds new light on the intersection of fashion, war photography and the female body. In Miller’s work, fashion becomes a site for imagining liberation in ways that foreground the gendering of war experience and the legacies of conflict for women. By charting Miller’s representations of French women at the Liberation, and above all the chastised figure of the femme tondue, this article will analyse how French women function as carriers of multiple messages about war, liberation and reconstruction in Miller’s work. Unlike the sensationalist images of the femmes tondues published in the British picture press and newspapers in the summer of 1944, Miller’s war reports in Vogue construct an empathic relationship with such underprivileged female subjects. Miller’s work opens a space, therefore, for speculation on the role of fashion in shaping how the Second World War was understood by a first generation of female memory producers and consumers.

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