fears over national security - most important reason for the introduction of liberal social welfare reforms 1906-1914 Flashcards
KU - Britain had a large empire which required defending and what were the british government responsible for?
the british government were responsible for the protection of 41million people living in the UK and 290million people living outwith the UK
KU - Poverty was begining to cause a serious decline in the health of young men. When did this become clear and what happened as a result?
This became clear between 1899-1902 when recruits to the Boar War had been in very poor condition - the army had for example been forced to reduce height restriction for entry from 5ft 6 - 5ft 2
A - therefor fears over national security did lead to the liberal governments introduction of social welfare reforms because….
it brought poverty and the impact this was having to the atention of those who could make changes. Britain didnt have an army strong enough to defend herself and when recruiting for the boar war the army had to turn away 50% of urban recruits which was of great concern
A+ - However, fears over national security were not the most important reason as to why the liberal government introduced social welfare reforms 1906-1914 because…
in 1909 the liberal government introuced pensions for those over 70 and this was considered one of the biggest reforms they introduced but it did not impact men of age to join the army nor did it improve health or living conditions of the young. If the government had been more concerned about national security there biggest reform would undoubtably have been aimed at younger members of society
E - Upon evaluation, whilst fears over national security brought the impact of poverty to the atention of the army, the publishing of surveys by booth and rowntree can be considered more important.. why?
there investigations tookplace at the same time as the boar war (1901). so had it not been for the release of this information at the same time the government may not have been so motivated to introduce changes when they did.
Rowentree for example found aprox 20,000 brits to be living below the poverty line which was a shocking figure to people at this time
