Year 10 - History
The World Wars and colonial migrants
Migrants in Britain, c800–present
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils learn about either migrants in Britain or medicine in Britain over a period of roughly 1000 years. They examine one of these themes, analysing the impact it had in Medieval, Early Modern, Industrial and Modern Britain, with a particular focus on change and continuity.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to explain the role colonial migrants played in the world wars and how this impacted migration to Britain and the experiences of migrants in the early 20th century.
Key Notes
- As the British Empire had reached its peak by 1914, millions of colonial soldiers fought for Britain in both World Wars.
- In the interwar period, race became an increasingly defining feature of the experience of migrants.
- By 1939, many colonial soldiers fought in the Second World War with the hopes of earning their independence.
Vocabulary To Learn
- colony: somewhere under the full control of another country, and is usually occupied by settlers from that country
- standing army: an army ready to be mobilised for war at any time
- demobilised: troops that are out of service, typically at the end of a war
- race riots: riots that break out between groups that identify as different races (e.g. black and white people)
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Colonial soldiers joined the British war effort in both world wars, out of a sense of nationalism and pride for their 'motherland'.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Summarise this historical learning in two key ideas.
As the British Empire had reached its peak by 1914, millions of colonial soldiers fought for Britain in both World Wars. In the interwar period, race became an increasingly defining feature of the experience of migrants.
2. Define this history term and explain why it matters in this topic. 'colony'
somewhere under the full control of another country, and is usually occupied by settlers from that country.
3. Correct this common history misconception using evidence language.
Mistake: Colonial soldiers joined the British war effort in both world wars, out of a sense of nationalism and pride for their 'motherland'. Correction: Colonial soldiers had often already been part of standing armies that were ordered to join the war effort, and by 1939 many colonial soldiers were only fighting in the hope that it might win them independence from the British Empire.
More Lessons In This Unit
- African migrants in the early British Empire Study Guide
- Case studies: Bristol and Leicester Study Guide
- Case study: Flemish and Walloon migrants in Sandwich and Canterbury Study Guide
- Case study: Huguenots Study Guide
- Case study: Jewish migrants in the East End Study Guide
- Case study: Liverpool in the 19th century Study Guide
- Case study: Viking York Study Guide
- England in the early modern period Study Guide
- European migration in the 18th and 19th centuries Study Guide
- Jewish migrants in the early modern period Study Guide
- Jewish migration in medieval England Study Guide
- Merchants and craftspeople in medieval England Study Guide
- Migration in medieval England Study Guide
- Migration to 18th and 19th century Britain Study Guide
- Migration to early modern England Study Guide
- Migration to modern Britain Study Guide
- Palatine refugees in the early 1700s Study Guide
- Post-war migration to Britain Study Guide
- Race relations in 20th century Britain Study Guide
- Refugees and asylum seekers in modern Britain Study Guide
- The British Empire and migration to Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries Study Guide
- The end of empire, the Commonwealth and changing patterns of migration Study Guide
- The EU and changing patterns of migration Study Guide
- The Industrial Revolution and internal migration Study Guide
- The Norman Conquest Study Guide
- The Viking conquest Study Guide
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