Interwar Politics Flashcards
Why did the conservatives gain power
- Staney Baldwins leadership
- Redrawing of constituencies
- Handling of the 1926 Great Strike
- 1918 Coupon Election
- Fear of Communism
How did changes in the electoral system help the Conservatives?
- Plural Voting - meant that those in Universities or with homes in other constituencies could vote twice.
- Redrawn Constituency boundaries grouped many middle class people together increasing their vote share
- The First Past the Post system
- Irish independence lost the Liberals 80 MP’s and helped secure the Conservatives
How did division help the Conservatives?
The split in the Liberal Party helped cripple them and helped open up opportunities for the Tories such as the 1918 Coupon Election.
The Labour Party also suffered in 1931 and were decimated in the next election
How effective was the image of the Conservatives?
They re branded and made themselves appear more normal than they had in the past
Baldwin led the party competently and was known for treating his workers well adding weight to what the party were saying
How did preserved party unity help Labour grow?
Effective leadership of Arthur Henderson helped reflect the opinions of the Labour party as a whole and gain cabinet recognition
Had a strong sense of class consciousness thanks to their background as TUC
How did developing grass root organisations help Labour?
Union backing helped provide Labour with funds to effectively spread their messages
Labour set up local branches in their stronghold constituencies despite only having 19 of them
How did developments in voting help Labour?
ROPA helped expand Labours voter base as now poorer individuals could vote
1918 General Election was influenced heavily by patriotism. Those who where more anti-German won and those who were pacifist were heavily defeated
How did Independence from the Liberals help Labour?
Labour were able to create a separate identity to the Liberals and took a more ruthless approach to how they dealt with the liberals and were able to establish a reputation of economic caution because of this
How did WW1 affect Liberal unity?
The Defence of the Realm Act split the Liberal Party into two groups
Asquith’s Liberals who were more laissez-faire and Lloyd-Georges liberals who were more authoritarian
The Maurice Debate exacerbated this divide
How did ROPA affect the Liberals?
It introduced new voters who the Liberals failed to win over
However this did not have as much of an impact as some of the other causes
How did the Coupon Election affect the Liberals?
Asquith never recovered from the Maurice Debate and the Liberals were put into a weak position by being propped up by the stronger conservatives
How did Lloyd-Georges scandals affect the Liberal Party
It removed all of Lloyd-Georges support and popularity, putting leaders like Baldwin in the spotlight and turning people away from the Liberals
Which party emerged as a political force in the inter-war years
Labour
