Option 13: c1900–present: Migration in modern Britain - 1 The context for migration — Edexcel GCSE History
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Option 13: c1900–present: Migration in modern Britain - 1 The context for migration explained
Throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Britain experienced significant change and continuity in migration reasons and settlement patterns.
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Economic opportunity remained a continuous pull factor, drawing Irish labourers in the early 1900s, Commonwealth citizens post-1948 to fill labour shortages, and European Union migrants in the 2000s. However, reasons for migration changed with the rise of global conflicts, increasing the number of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing persecution, such as Belgians in World War One or Ugandans in the 1970s. Settlement patterns showed continuity as migrants consistently gravitated towards urban centres like London and Birmingham for employment, yet changed as later generations dispersed into suburbs and wider regional areas.
The changing context of British society: the World Wars; the end of the British Empire, decolonisation and the development of the Commonwealth; EU membership; legislation on immigration and nationality, including the Aliens Act (1905) and British Nationality Acts.
Twentieth-century shifts in British society profoundly influenced migration. The World Wars created severe labour shortages, prompting the recruitment of colonial workers. Following 1945, the end of the British Empire and decolonisation led to the development of the Commonwealth, encouraging migration. Later, EU membership facilitated the free movement of European workers. In response, the government introduced legislation on immigration and nationality. The Aliens Act (1905) was the first modern attempt to restrict immigration. Later, the British Nationality Acts, notably in 1948, initially affirmed the right of Commonwealth citizens to settle in Britain, before subsequent acts progressively restricted these rights.
Your focus
- Compare the reasons for migration to Britain across different groups, including Commonwealth citizens and European migrants.
- Evaluate the extent of change and continuity in the push and pull factors driving migration to Britain since 1900.
- Analyse how and why patterns of migrant settlement in Britain have evolved or remained the same over the modern period.
Show all 6 objectives
- Identify the key social and political changes in 20th-century Britain that influenced migration.
- Explain the purpose and impact of the Aliens Act (1905) and the British Nationality Acts.
- Evaluate how the transition from Empire to Commonwealth and EU membership altered migration patterns.
Option 13: c1900–present: Migration in modern Britain - 1 The context for migration exam tips
Marking Points
- Identify economic pull factors as a key continuity, linking labour shortages to migration from Ireland, the Commonwealth, and Europe.
- Explain how geopolitical crises caused changes in migration, driving distinct waves of refugees and asylum seekers to Britain.
- Analyse continuity in settlement patterns, noting the consistent initial concentration of migrants in major industrial and urban centres.
- Evaluate changes in settlement over time, such as the gradual suburbanisation of established migrant communities compared to new arrivals.
- Explain how the World Wars necessitated migrant labour to fill domestic shortages.
- Describe the transition from the British Empire to the Commonwealth and its impact on migration patterns.
- Analyse how EU membership allowed for the free movement of labour into and out of Britain.
- Evaluate the significance of the Aliens Act (1905) as a turning point in British immigration control.
- Trace the changing definitions of citizenship through the various British Nationality Acts.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Structure your answer chronologically or thematically, but always explicitly use the words 'change' and 'continuity' in your topic sentences.
- 💡Provide specific examples for each category mentioned in the specification (Ireland, Europe, Empire/Commonwealth, refugees) to ensure full coverage.
- 💡Link settlement patterns directly to the availability of employment and existing community networks to explain why migrants settled where they did.
- 💡Link specific legislation to the historical context that prompted it, such as post-war labour shortages or economic anxieties.
- 💡Use the Aliens Act (1905) as a key example of early government intervention in immigration.
- 💡When discussing decolonisation, mention how the creation of the Commonwealth maintained ties that facilitated migration.
Common Mistakes
- Treating all Commonwealth migration as identical; correct by distinguishing between different periods and reasons, such as the Windrush generation versus later East African Asian refugees.
- Failing to address both change and continuity; correct by explicitly using these concepts to structure the answer, rather than just listing migrant groups.
- Confusing economic migrants with asylum seekers; correct by clearly defining the different legal and push/pull factors driving each group.
- Confusing the 1948 British Nationality Act with later restrictive acts; the 1948 Act actually confirmed the right of Commonwealth citizens to enter and settle in the UK.
- Assuming EU membership only affected migration in the 21st century; free movement began impacting migration patterns shortly after Britain joined the EEC in 1973.
- Believing the Aliens Act (1905) banned all immigration; it specifically targeted 'undesirable' immigrants, primarily impoverished Eastern European Jews, rather than imposing a blanket ban.