Twentieth Century

1900-1999

The Twentieth Century was the most turbulent and fast-changing in history. The first half of the century was focussed on the two enormous world wars.

The Great War 1914-18 cost the lives of nearly a million British people and took away the country's status as a world superpower. The Second World War 1939-45 brought huge hardships for the population.

In 1945 Britain elected a Labour government which brought in many social reforms like the National Health Service which helped people in their daily lives.

The welfare state meant that from the 1950s the standard of living for British people was the best they had ever had. In the 1950s and 1960s unemployment was low and people began to think of different ways to counter crime, like rehabilitating offenders.

Large numbers of people came to live in Britain from the Commonwealth from the 1950s onwards to settle in urban areas like London. Tensions between police and non-white communities often surfaced.

As technology advanced, so did methods of policing, from fingerprints at the start of the century to DNA at the end. New crimes like terrorism meant the police had to develop new skills.

Brixton Riot 1981

1981 was a bit of a mad year. Margaret Thatcher had been Prime Minister for two years, and her policies were starting to bite the population. One of her first acts was to give the police a pay rise before she started clamping down on trades unions. However 1981 will be known for its long hot summer of riots, starting with Brixton in South London in April, and followed in July by Southall in West London, Toxteth in Liverpool, Moss Side in Manchester and finally St. Paul's in Bristol in December.

see more on the RIOTS page....

Start Riot

Timeline 20th Century

1971

Crown Courts

How have these changed? Crime, Protest, Punishment and Policing.

What happened in?

Early-Modern

c.1500-1750

Kett's Rebellion, Pilgrimage of Grace, Gunpowder Plot, Vagabonds, Poaching, Smuggling, Highwaymen, Witchcraft, Corporal Punishment, Bloody Code........more

Industrial Britain

c.1750-1900

Theft and robbery, Poverty, Police, Transportation, Prisons, Luddites, Swing Riots, Tolpuddle, Rebecca, Chartism, Prison Reformers, Dock Strike........more

Twentieth Century

c.1900-2000

Suffrage Movement, Conscientious Objectors, General Strike, Hanging, Youth Detention, Fingerprinting, DNA, Surveillance, Drug Crime, Hooliganism, Community Service, Race Crime.........more

Who were?

Robert Aske, Matthew Hopkins, Jonathan Wild, Dick Turpin, John Howard, Elizabeth Fry, Derek Bentley........more

Policing -

How has it changed?

Take a stroll around this

picture gallery to find out...

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