It has been 30 years since Communist rule in Eastern Europe finally ended with mass demonstrations, an end to one-Party rule, free elections and the opening of borders. Illegal organisations,...
![Extract of the draft note from 2 January 1917 on 10 Downing Street headed paper which reads 'To: The Private Secretary, the Prime Minister has decided, with a view to keeping himself in close touch with the several departments, to establish a ['Secretariat' is crossed out and replaced by 'Department'] in connection with Office of the First Lord of the Treasury. The following gentlemen have been appointed to act as secretaries to the ['First Lord of the Treasury' is crossed out and replaced by 'new Department']](https://history.blog.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/01/edited-e1483652073427.jpg)
...predecessor at No.10 Herbert Asquith. Central to the new approach Lloyd George sought to take was an overhaul at the centre of government. Forming a slimmed down War Cabinet he...
...its Prime Ministerial occupants over the centuries. Features range widely over personalities and private lives, domestic and international politics, and challenges and successes, providing new insights into how the central...
...was not just an important market for American goods and services; its unity and prosperity was a strategic necessity. The war- and winter-ravaged continent appeared susceptible to Communist contagion. Free...
...departments not considered central to the war effort lent staff to ‘front-line’ departments like the War Office and the Admiralty. The General Register Office (GRO), responsible for the civil registration...
...free hand in Eastern Europe and Russia and for territorial changes brought about by force; both accepted that conflict with Hitler’s Nazi Germany was probably inevitable, but that delaying that...
...off Whitehall, in London’s SW1 postcode, fronted by one of the world’s most iconic front doors, stands Number 10 Downing Street, the unique home and office of the British Prime...
...that includes Nos. 11 and 12, with the two buildings that now make up No. 10 joined together around a central courtyard. From inside, it is easy to become disorientated...
...disagreements prompted Parliament shutting in 1629. As a result the Privy Council took on a more central role in government, functioning as the chief body through which Royal order, administration...
...purposes. Map of Central Asia, Foreign Office List, 1907 The agreement In 1901 Russia opened two consulates in Persia, investing in the Persian railways. The two countries shared a border...