liberal motives Flashcards
fears over national efficiency and security K1
By 1900, Britain was no longer the strongest industrial power and was facing serious competition from new industrial countries such as Germany. It was argued that if the educational and health standards of British workers continued to deteriorate, Britain’s status as a leading industrial nation would be threatened.
fears over national efficiency and security K2
The Boer War, 1899-1902 highlighted the critical condition of the nations health. It took 400,000 British troops to defeat Boer forces which totalled 35,000.
fears over national efficiency and security A+
However, the focus of earlier reforms was directed towards the young and the old, meaning reforms were not an immediate response to adult health.
booth and rowntree K1
Initially, Charles Booth began investigating poverty to disprove the claim that 1/4 of Londoners lived in poverty, however his results were far more shocking. Booth investigated over 1 million families and found that 30% of Londoners lived in poverty.
booth and rowntree K2
Seebohm Rowntree came from a wealthy York manufacturing family and aimed to see if the level of poverty in York was the same as London. Rowntree identified two types of poverty: primary and secondary. Primary poverty involved those whose earnings were so low they could not survive on them alone. Secondary poverty involved those who earned enough to survive on but spent it unwisely.
booth and rowntree A+
However, it was argued that the social surveys of booth and rowntree were not accurate as they only investigated two cities and did not study Britain as a whole.
rise of labour K1
The liberals were interested in attracting working class votes. Political developments in the 19th century led to the emergence of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900. The party was renamed the Labour Party in 1906 and was competing for the same votes as the Liberals.
rise of labour K2
the general election results for labour in 1900 showed that the party had 2MPs in parliament while in December 1910, the party had increased to 42MPs in parliament. The rise of labour and the growth of trade unions posed as a threat to the liberals at the polls. the labour movement put forward radical socialist policies to meet the needs of the working class.
rise of labour A+
However, in 1910 the liberals were still the most popular party for the working class winning 274MPs in the January general election.
