Find out more about how the BBC is covering the. The collapse of the Round Table talks led to further mass non-cooperation in India. In return for the loan, the IMF demanded cuts in government spending. It was the closest the IRA had come to killing a British prime minister. 27 April: Olympic Games opens at White City in London A combination of factors, including faulty intelligence about German strength and bad weather, resulted in failure. The harsh British reaction to the 1916 Easter Rising allowed Sinn Fein and the 'revolutionaries' to triumph over the moderate Home Rulers in the 1918 election. Macmillan was the third Conservative prime minister in as many years. British forces suffered 54,000 casualties. The two countries were united in their suspicion of Germany's ambitions. Baldwin was widely credited with averting a constitutional crisis that could have ended the monarchy. Evidence suggested that voters had turned against Harold Wilson, rather than towards the uncharismatic Edward Heath. Two hundred children were left fatherless in an area of North Wales where a 40% unemployment rate had already caused widespread poverty. The nationalisation of the coal industry represents a major shift in industrial policy. War debts to the United States and non-payment of European allies' war debts meant the government could not pay for many planned reforms. He was shot while on foot patrol in North Belfast. Women at Oxford University are allowed to receive degrees On the Western Front, the French and British attacked astride the river Somme, where their two armies met. Prime Minister Winston Churchill personally ordered the fleet destroyed if it refused to fight alongside British, following France's capitulation to the Germans. The three former Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Basra and Mosul, named Iraq by the British, were in a state of revolt. In response, US President George W Bush declared a worldwide 'war on terror'. The following month, British and American aircraft began to airlift supplies to West Berliners. Labour's share crashed to 209 seats. The Women's Social and Political Union is formed to campaign for women's suffrage. At the Yalta Conference in early 1945, the 'Big Three' of Britain's Winston Churchill, US President Franklin D Roosevelt and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin agreed to establish a new global organisation - the United Nations. Opposition to the treaty helped ignite the Russian Civil War, which lasted until 1922. Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined the European Economic Community (EEC), bringing the total number of member states to nine. British troops had been sent to Northern Ireland in 1969 in a 'limited operation' to restore law and order. Baldwin proposed to abandon free trade, hoping that tariff reform would help to beat unemployment - an unpopular measure. In February 1917, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was forced to abdicate after serious reverses in the war against Germany. A hugely important discovery, it has since formed the basis for a wide range of scientific advances. Plaid Cymru and Votes. Their inclusion sparked fears, stoked by lurid media stories, of a huge influx of 'economic migrants' from the poorer eastern countries to the wealthier western countries such as Britain. 8 November: Death penalty is abolished The Allies were forced to evacuate. The Liberals finally forced through House of Lords reform, which had been on the cards for two years. Austria-Hungary used this 'blank cheque' to deliver an ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July, which was widely recognised as little more than a pretext for war. Harold Wilson's resignation after 13 years as Labour leader and nearly eight as prime minister was completely unexpected, and has never been properly explained. Austria-Hungary's ally, Germany, in turn declared war on Russia. Gandhi was promised dominion status for India, but it was rejected by the INC because he had failed to consult its minority leaders. The war leaders agreed that Germany should be forced to surrender unconditionally and would be divided into four zones between Britain, the Soviet Union, France and the United States. The 'Amritsar Massacre' crystallised growing Indian discontent with British rule, which was only heightened when Dyer faced no other punishment than an official censure. The tunnel became the longest undersea tunnel in the world, measuring 50km in total, with 39km of it under the sea. It was by far the most powerful battleship afloat, and raised the stakes in the Anglo-German naval arms race. The British and French, using the greatest concentration of tanks in World War One, advanced up to six miles in a single day. Over half of the 55,000 Asians expelled from Uganda came to Britain and many settled permanently. A poor Labour campaign by leader Neil Kinnock squandered significant support for the opposition and helped Conservative John Major to a surprise general election victory, with a slim overall majority of 21. The siege was finally lifted when Axis forces capitulated in North Africa on 13 May 1943, . By the end of D-Day, five beachheads were secured, and the Allies had a foothold in France. The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb terrorist, in Sarajevo. In his first budget as chancellor of the exchequer, Winston Churchill returned Britain to its pre-1914 monetary system, whereby sterling was fixed at a price reflecting the country's gold reserves. New universities were established, including Essex, Lancaster, Kent and Sussex. America entered the war four months later. It paved the way for the privatisation of British Aerospace, Cable and Wireless, Britoil, the National Bus Company, British Airways, Rolls Royce, British Steel, British Telecom, the electricity-generating industry and the water companies. Moseley was interned during the war and twice attempted unsuccessfully to return to parliament in post-war Britain. Glasgow had a history of radicalism, and World War One turned it into a centre for organised protest against poor working conditions. This unexpected result appears to have reflected doubts about Labour's economic management, a view focused by a poor set of trade figures. He wanted to demonstrate the effectiveness of Bomber Command with massive, concentrated raids ('area bombing') on key German cities. Diana was the ex-wife of the heir to the British throne, Charles, Prince of Wales. The Germans despatched a gunboat to the Moroccan port of Agadir to assert their rights against the French. Irish nationalists, supplied with German rifles, rebelled at Easter and seized key buildings in Dublin, including the post office where their final stand was made. Britain was at war with Germany for the second time in 25 years. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised him that the British people would not accept her because she was a divorcee. Millions were murdered to satisfy Nazi theories about racial-biological purity, at least six million of whom were Jews. In an effort to quell the unrest, Emir Faisal was made king and administrator of the country. Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald asked a commission, headed by Sir George May, to investigate Britain's dire economic situation. The Conservative plans for a 'poll tax', introduced in England and Wales on 1 April 1990, provoked vocal opposition across Britain in the form of anti-poll tax rallies and acts of civil disobedience. On 11 December, he broadcast his decision to the nation. British audiences were introduced to talking pictures when the 'The Jazz Singer', opened in London. Nonetheless, he quickly announced his intention not to stand for a fourth term, sparking ongoing speculation about when he would hand over to his annointed successor, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. These visits, his apparently genuine concern for the underprivileged and his official overseas tours on behalf of his father made him popular in Britain and abroad. Faith in the original commander-in-chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Sir John French, had been dwindling - not least owing to his belated release of the reserves in the Battle of Loos. They featured 22 nations, 110 events and more than 2,000 athletes. The electorate increased to 21 million, of which 8 million were women, but it excluded working class women who mostly failed the property qualification. On 1 September, German forces invaded Poland. Labour was unable to realise its more radical ambitions because of its reliance on Liberal support. 12 July: Comprehensive education system is introduced. The shift in seats, from 317 to 364, compared with 304 to 253, was more dramatic, leaving Harold Wilson, the Labour prime minister, with a much-improved majority of nearly 100. Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald agreed to the suppression of the 'Zinoviev letter', but it was leaked just before the election. It was not until after the World War Two that televisions became widely available. It was also agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan after Germany was defeated. Government support was seen as necessary, not least in order to change the social composition of the student body. Periods. The Representation of the People Act enfranchised all men over the age of 21, and propertied women over 30. Thousands of soldiers were trapped in a shrinking pocket of territory centred around the French seaside town of Dunkirk. In addition to making Ireland a de facto republic, the constitution laid claim to the whole of Ireland, including Ulster. The outbreak of World War Two put the issue on hold. It is believed that similar promises were made to the Arabs prior to the publication of the Balfour Declaration in correspondence between Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, British high commissioner in Egypt, and the Hashemite Hussein Ibn Ali, the Sharif of Mecca. Prime Minister David Lloyd George had promised 'a land fit for heroes' following World War One, but after a short post-war boom, demobilised soldiers found it increasingly difficult to get work. At the height of the raid an appeal was sent to the Irish leader amon De Valera, who sent fire engines to help fight the fires raging in the city. The Allies were attempting to break through the German 'Gustav Line', which ran across Italy, south of Rome. On the same day the IRA also killed 18 soldiers at Warrenpoint in County Down. Liberal Prime Minister Herbert Asquith formed a coalition government following the 'Shell Crisis', which was sparked press reports of shell shortages at the front. The main British offensive for 1917 was designed to clear the German threat to the Channel ports and to break through to the Germans' own communications. With the Ottoman army in retreat on three of its four fronts - in Bulgaria, Syria and Iraq - the Turks opened negotiations to surrender.