British Labour Leader Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960). A political portrait

The article examines the biography of the famous British labour politician Anurin Bevan. The author focuses on the early years of Bevan's life associated with his trade union work in South Wales, traces the transformation of his views from the support for syndicalism in his younger years to the transition to political, parliamentary struggle after the defeat of the General strike of 1926. The author pays attention to the early years of Bevan’s life, connected with his trade union work in South Wales, traces the transformation of his views from the support of syndicalism in his early years to the backing of political, parliamentary struggle after the defeat of 1926 General strike. Much attention is paid to the 1930s, when Bevan became an active supporter of the United Front and the Popular Front against the threat of fascism, that caused his temporary exclusion from the Labour Party. As a member of the British Parliament Bevan was one of the severe critics of W. Churchill’s policy of delaying the opening of the Second Front in Europe. The article traces Bevan’s successful activities as a member of the team of Labour reformers, aimed at the creation a “welfare state” after the war. In the Attlee ministry, which was formed in 1945, Bevan took over as the Health Secretary. In that capacity he was responsible for two directions of reforms – housing and the creation of the free National Health Service. The last project came into force in 1948 and is rightly considered Bevan’s main achievement Health Secretary. In the 1950s Bevan was the main inspiration behind the left wing of the Labour Party (the Bevanites) in their struggle for the continuation of reforms and also the harsh opponent of the official Labour line on several military and international questions. The main among them were the discussions about the British Rearmament programme in 1952, the struggle against the rearmament of Western Germany which the Bevanites regarded as the resurgence of German nationalism, and also a growing debate about the threat of the H-Bomb in 1955.

Keywords

A. Bevan, Great Britain, political history, social democracy, Labour Party, the Bevanites

Received

11.08.2020

Publication date

21.10.2020

Number of characters

69766

Cite

GOST	Susloparova E. British Labour Leader Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960). A political portrait // Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – 2020. – Issue 5 C. 198-218 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://nni.jes.su/S013038640011370-5-1 (circulation date: 03.07.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S013038640011370-5
MLA	Susloparova, Elena "British Labour Leader Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960). A political portrait." Novaia i noveishaia istoriia 5 (2020):198-218. DOI: 10.31857/S013038640011370-5
APA	Susloparova E. (2020). British Labour Leader Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960). A political portrait. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia (5), pp.198-218 DOI: 10.31857/S013038640011370-5

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