britian in 1900 Flashcards
1899-1902
anglo-boer war
1900
- khaki election victory for salisbury’s conservatives
- labour representation committee formed
1902-05
balfour led conservative government
1903
lib-lab pact formed
1905
liberals in office under campbell-bannerman
1906
liberal landslide electoral victory
problems in britian in 1900
- poverty
- economy
- industrial relations
- role as an empire
- franchise question
- position of house of lords
- ulster question
government in 1895-1902
conservatives under lord salisbury
government in 1902-05
conservatives under arthur balfour
government in 1905-08
liberals under henry-campbell bannerman
government in 1908-14
liberals under herbert asquith
only major scheme to deal with poverty in 1900
poor law
problem with poor law
enormous increase in population made system of parish relief inadequate
what was the population increase mainly due to
industrialisation
public reports highlighting poverty
- charles booth (london)
- seebohm rowntree (yorkshire)
evidence for poverty in 1902
report by high army command that nearly 2/3 of those that volunteered for anglo-boer war had failed to pass basic medical test
what is national efficiency linked to & how
eugenics - science of improving quality by breeding out inherited weaknesses & deficiencies
prominent voice for eugenics
left-wing intellectuals eg. george bernard shaw
define left-wing intellectuals
writers & thinkers who believed in radical social & economic change
report in 1904
‘interdepartmental committee on physical deterioration’ delivered formal report to parliament
eg:
- appointment of full-time medical officers of health & visitors in urban areas
- regular medical examinations of school children
- local authorities provide meals for school children
creation of youth movement - the ‘boy scouts’
- response to need for national efficiency
- founder = lord baden powell
- 1914: spread nationwide
- 1920: spread worldwide
when did it appear britian’s trade & industry was shrinking compared to other countries
1870-1914
where was economic decline most evident & include examples
staple industries
eg:
- british industrial growth rate of 2.3% was half of USA
- germany & USA overtaken britian in volume of iron & steel production
- by 1910, british industrial exports made up 10% of world trade compared to 20% for germany & 40% for USA
what was the decline in the staple industries potentially offset by
growth of ‘new industries’
examples of ‘new industries’
- transport & communication
- distributive trades
- hotels & catering
- financial services
- health provision
- education
- public administration
how much activities within the workforce were accounted for by ‘new industries’ by 1910
44%
define invisible earnings
sale abroad of services rather than tangible goods
what became increasingly important to the british economy & why
invisible earnings
- profits from sale of financial/insurance services & tax revenue which helped keep britian solvent in critical times
what saw a rapid growth in the last quarter of the nineteenth century
‘new’ unions (mass-membership trade unions)
what were ‘new’ unions mainly composed of
unskilled or semi-skilled workers
how did the employers counter the major threat if ‘new’ unions
formed federations that were aimed specifically at resisting strength of organised labour
what did these ‘new’ unions campaign for
better wages & conditions
define ‘old’ unions
- established organisations representing skilled workers
- trade union movement dominated by these for much of nineteenth century
how many of the workforce in 1911 were agricultural workers compared to 1841 & 1861
1911 = 11%
1841 = 22%
1861 = 17%
what was the agricultural workers decline mainly due to
agricultural recession in 1870s
–> foreign cheap corn came to britian from new farm land in north america, argentina & australia
–> british farmers couldn’t produce crops as cheaply as imports & hit by lots of harvest failures
when did british farming begin to recover
1914 due to war when imports were reduced & increased demand for home-grown food
main reason for britians increase as an empire
participation in ‘scramble for africa’ that begun in 1870s
what was the ‘scramble for africa’
between 1870s & 1914, major european colonial powers took over large areas of africa
how many males had the vote in 1900
60%
what was the house of lords (upper house) able to do
block legislation sent up by house of commons (lower house)
why did the lords only choose to reject measures proposed by liberal governments
overwhelming majority of conservative peers in upper house
example of lords rejecting measure
1894 - gladstone’s ‘irish home rule’ bill
who wanted home rule
irish nationalists
define home rule
measure granting a dependent region control over own affairs
what did irish nationalists want
creation of separate government in dublin - responsible for irish affairs
who did not want home rule
ulster unionists - largely protestant population who didn’t want to give southern catholic ireland a controlling hand over them
when were the 2 other home rule bills gladstone (liberal leader) tried to pass but failed
- 1886
- 1893
what had gladstone’s attempts to pass the home rule bills caused
- split his party
- hardened resolve of unionists to reject home rule on grounds it undermined unity if united kingdom & betrayed ulster
