British History Flashcards
Lesson notes
The period of Liberal Reforms 1906-1914
1909 Old Age Pensions Act which meant pensions were paid to people over the age of 70.
1911 National Insurance Act was an attempt to help the poor when ill-health struck the main breadwinner. (Unpopular as many workers saw this as a pay cut, but by 1913, 13 million workers were insured in the scheme).
1909 Labour Exchanges Act helped people find work .
In order to pay for this Lloyd George proposed taxing the rich and better off and also increased tax on tobacco, cars, petrol and from selling land. This was called the People’s Budget 1909 and was rejected by the House of Lords
Lloyd George VS Asquith
Conscription went against everything the Liberal Party stood for but Lloyd George knew it was needed to win the war.
The Great War split the liberal party into 2 distinct sides. Lloyd George and his “new liberals” and the more traditional “Asquithian Liberals”
Representation of People Act February 1919
This allowed all men over 21 to vote and gave the vote to all women over the age of 30.
The next election would be the first time women were able to vote
The Coupon Election 1918
Towards the end of the Great War when victory was assured it was clear an election needed to take place. By this time there had been no general election for 7 years.
LG’s split with Asquith meant he was unlikely, ever, to lead the Liberal party. Asquith would not give way to him and Liberals would not tolerate him as their party leader
Agreements were made. LG and his Liberal supporters struck an agreement with the Conservatives. The Cons genuinely admired Lloyd George and his leadership skills and believed he was the only person who could unite right-wing politicians against Bolshevism. This agreement was LG’s only hope of retaining a high profile in British politics.
The growth of trade unionism meant the Labour party was in a financially healthy state. They wanted to stand alone.
Asquith called the agreements signed between parties as “coupons” referring to ration cards used during the war. This is why the 1918 election is popularly called “the Coupon Election.”
The 1918 General Election was the first to take place under universal male suffrage. 8.4 million people added to the electorate. The biggest jump in voters history.
Despite this the turnout was only 57%
Why was the coalition preserved? Why did DLG win?
LG’s reasons:
Anxious to maintain position as PM
Liberal split
Genuinely believed he had something to offer post-war Britain
Needed Conservative support to stay in power
Feeling that post-war problems would be serious and need the “welsh dynamo” at the helm
Conservative Party reasons:
Image of LG as “the man who won the war” would make him a threat if they ran against him
Practical experiences of working with LG since 1915 sowed LG to be practical and a realist
LG appealed to the public – he was a good speaker and charismatic
Fear of Labours popularity, radical policies and gaining support
Post-war problems needed LG
How did the actions of DLG help lead to the demise of the Liberals?
Fortune changes between 1918-32
The selling of knighthoods and peerages had been going on for a long time but it had been discreet. DLG was blatant and knowledge of his actions widespread.
During 6 years as PM he sold 15,00 knighthoods and 100 peerages.
He even gave away titles to newspaper magnates such as Lord Beaverbrook so they would turn a blind eye to the practice.
The 1922 honours list had people on it that had criminal convictions.
Turkey crisis. In 1922 the Turkish attempted to gain control of the Dardanelles in direct breech of the peace treaty it signed in 1918. This would affect British trade routes in the area. DLG wanted to go to war over the issue. The Conservatives in the coalition disagreed
The Chanak Crisis in 1922
The conservatives seized the opportunity after a secret meeting at the Carlton Club in 1922. There they decided to abandon the coalition with the Liberals.
Red Clydesiders
Class in 1920s
Class was massively important Birth right determined the rest of your life Social mobility was virtually impossible Postcode lottery Old money Old traditions
First World War Statistics
12.9% of men died
19% of all peers and their sons died
20.7% of Old Etonians died
Many upper class men served as officers, who were expected to lead from the front resulting in higher mortality rates
The effect of the cost of the war on the upper class
Cost of war prompted a huge increase in income tax and death duties
Death duties = tax paid by the inheritors of a property over a certain value
Conscription led to less labour (workforce) available
All these made running county estates harder to pay for
A quarter of all gentry sold their land between 1918-1920
The effects of the rise of the labour party on the class system
Due to the rise of Labour and MP's now being paid a wage (1911 Parliament Act), more working class/middle class men now had seats in the Houses of Commons In 1910, 40% of MP's were wealthy landowners By 1945 only 5% were
The Middle Class
Traditional difference between middle and upper was land ownership and title
Middle class defined by money, jobs and leisure activities
An annual wage of £250 was seen as a Middle Class wage, so rising working class wages worried them immensely
Wartime inflation meant that something costing £100 in 1914, would cost £276 in 1920
Middle classed blamed this on the trade unions, campaigning for the rise of labour wages
Due to this, many Middle Class people voted Conservative, to stop the rise of Labour
Due to the rise in Working Class wages and the emergence of new careers, the middle class recruited new members from the lower order
New jobs included; science, technology, engineering, management, administration, and more jobs for women
More affordable homes also meant more people became home owners
The Working Class
Highly varied in skill workers in construction, engineering and unskilled workers, i.,e factory and mine work
Full employment in the wars, trade union membership and the rise of Labour
The whole trade union movement suffered from the effects on WW1 - even though it saw an increase by 90% during WW1
The economic slump and the effects of the great depression meant many lost their jobs during this time
People who kept their jobs saw a steady rise in wages, lower working hours and better leisure activities
This saw a lack in working class protest
Trade union membership fell by 40% in the 1920s, resulting in less strike action
Around 50% of the working class voted for the Conservatives during the interwar years
State assistance was more acceptable
Higher life expectancy due to rationing - many still lived in slums with poor diets
Seebohm Rowntree
Published a book in 1901 called Poverty: A Study in Town Life. This was based on two years research in his home town of York. It contained statistical information on: wages, diet, hours of work, housing etc.
His findings were influential for the New Liberal Reforms between 1906-1911
Rowntree conducted a further study of poverty in York in 1936 under the title Poverty and Progress. This was based largely on a similar research method as his earlier study and found absolute poverty among the working class in York had decreased by 50% since his first study - However, as he changed his definition of the poverty line, and so the measure of absolute poverty, from his earlier study this is not a direct comparison. In this study he included allowances for some items which were not strictly necessary for survival
In the 1890s, the major reason for primary poverty was low wages, 52%, whereas in the 1930s unemployment accounted for 44.53% and low wages only 10%.
1937 Country House Scheme
The National Trust allowed families to live in their stately homes for two generations rent free IF they transferred ownership to them and signed to open the home for at least 60 days a year.
Many did this, as it avoided paying death duties
Society 1930-51
A survey in 1936 found that just under 4% were living at bare survival level. Poverty had by no means disappeared in Britain by the 1930s but it was much less than ever before.
Pensions and unemployment benefit were made more generous in 1928 and in 1930.
By 1935 a man on the ‘dole’ was about as well off as a skilled worker in 1905, a measure of how much living standards had risen in Britain.
In the 1940s, the top 0.1 percent of the population owned 33% of wealth, while the bottom 75% had less than £100 each
