Twentieth Century Language Change

1. 1930- 1939
Paige Hunter

2. Great Depression
• 1929- Wall Street crash- Americans called in loans from other countries and stopped
imports of foreign goods, creating a depression and unemployment for people
across the rest of the world.
• By 1930, unemployment had doubled to 20%
Worst hit were the areas of heavy industry (eg coal, iron, steel, shipbuilding) in
Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the north of England. For example, when the
coal mine, the steel works and Palmer's shipyard closed down in Jarrow in the north-
east of England, every single man in the town was made redundant and Jarrow 'died’
Discovered words- new deal, reflation, hyperinflatation

3. British union of fascists formed
• Formed in 1932
• Sir Oswald Mosley was the founder of the political party after meeting
Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini
• was known for supporting Hitler
• His followers were known as ‘the black shirts’ due to them wearing black
uniforms.
Discovered words- fascism/fascist, black shirts, Italian

4. Cockroft and Walton split the atom
• In 1932
• They put lithium with high energy neutrons, electrons and protons and
succeeded in transmuting it into helium and other chemical elements. This
was one of the earliest experiments to change the atomic nucleus of one
element to a different nucleus by artificial means.
• popularly known as splitting the atom.
• Discovered words- Atom, electron, protons, neutrons, lithium, scientific
language

5. Hitler appointed chancellor of Germany
• In 1933
• President Paul von Hindenburg names Adolf Hitler, leader or fÜhrer of the
National Socialist German Workers Party (or Nazi Party), as chancellor of
Germany.
• Discovered words- Terminology from Germany, Swastika, Nazi, Gestapo
(police)

6. Stalin purges begin in Soviet Union
• In 1934
• Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union
• Stalin set about purging Russia of anyone who he considered a threat or
disloyal : Communist leadership was purged, the armed forces were purged,
the Communist Party was purged
• Discovered words- Russian terminology

7. Penguin books released
• In 1935
• The first ten Penguins included works by Ernest Hemingway and Agatha
Christie. They cost just sixpence, the same price as a packet of cigarettes, and
were available in traditional bookshops, but also in railway stations and
tobacconists.
• Three million Penguin paperbacks were sold within a year. It was a revolution
in publishing that massively widened public access to literature.
• Discovered words- literature, new adjectives?

8. BBC begins television broadcast
• In 1936
• The BBC Television Service officially began regular broadcasts on 2
November 1936 from a converted wing of the Alexandra Palace in London
• Discovered words- BBC, broadcasting

9. Spanish Civil war begins
• Begins in 1936
• A civil war fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republicans, who were
loyal to the democratic Spanish Republic, and the Nationalists, a fascist rebel
group
• The Nationalists were supported by the Church, army, landowners, and
industrialists, some of the middle-class and the Catholic peasantry. Liberals,
Socialists, Communists and Anarchists supported the Republicans.
• Discovered words- Spanish words

10. Appeasment
• In 1938
• The British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, signed the Munich
Agreement with Hitler, a document aimed at preventing war with Germany.
This policy was known as ‘appeasement’. The journalists presented
Chamberlain as a hero, celebrating the fact that he was 'refusing to bow to
fatigue, refusing to give way to discouragement.’
• Discovered words- co-existence, defence, collective security

11. World war II begins
• In 1939 to 1945
• Hitler invaded Poland, and Britain was jolted into action
• Discovered words- Bren guns, interceptor fighters, partisan, resistance

12. • First coloured films were made
• Sales of ice cream boomed in the 1930s and many new kinds of sweets were
introduced. These included, Milky Way (1935), Snickers and Freddo (1930),
Mars Bar (1932), Whole Nut (1933), Aero and Kit Kat (1935), Maltesers and
Blue Riband (1936) and Smarties, Rolo and Milky Bar (1937) Penguins (1932
• A driving test was introduced in 1934. Also in 1934 Percy Shaw invented the
cat's eye