Lloyd George's Ministry Flashcards
What were the post-war economic difficulties for the government?
There was a slump beginning early in 1921, which threw about 2 million people out of work by the end of the year, and the unemployment figure never fell below a million again until WW2. Extra demand for steel, coal, textile industries disappeared after the war.
What problems did the government face with National Insurance?
By 1920, the government had extended the 1911 National Insurance Act so that unemployment payments were made for not more than 15 weeks in one year. At this point, mass unemployment was unexpected. When it came in 1921, the new scheme could not cope with the payments.
Why were there strikes at the end of the war?
There was a sudden period of inflation at the end of the war. Prices and profits rose but wages lagged behind. Trade unions were determined to protect their members -> 1919-1920 there were over 2k strikes. eg. Feb + March 1919 strike of Clydeside engineers and ship builders demanding a 40-hour week with huge demonstrations, rioting and a red flag in George Square, Glasgow.
What was Geddes Axe ?
Introduced by Sir Eric Geddes -> traditional Conservative economics. Geddes Axe was a policy of drastic cuts in expenditure which involved greatly reducing expenditure on the army, navy, education, health services and council house building. This saved the government 64 million but made Lloyd George very unpopular.
How many seats did the Liberals and Conservatives have in the Lloyd George coalition?
The coalition won 478 seats made of 335 Conservatives and 133 Lloyd George Liberals with 10 Labour and other supporters.
How did Lloyd George alienate the British working class through his foreign policy?
Under strong pressure from Cons. supporters, L.G. sent British troops to help anti-Bolshevik forces in the Russian civil war. By the end of 1919 the Bolsheviks were victorious and British troops were withdrawn, achieving nothing. British working class who admired the Russian working class resented L.G.s intervention.
Why was the Genoa Conference a dismal failure?
Took place in 1922 on Lloyd George’s initiative. L.G. hoped to calm tension between G + Fr by persuading Fr to reduce demands. Other issues to be discussed were the need to resume diplomatic relations with R and Europe’s war debt with USA. Fr refused to compromise, USA refused to attend and R claimed to be insulted. G + R withdrew and signed a separate agreement at Rapallo -> wiped off their mutual debt. Other nations were alarmed and blamed L.G.
How did the Chanak incident trigger Lloyd George’s downfall?
1922 - Turks threatened to break the Versailles settlement by moving troops into a neutral zone, thereby clashing with British occupying forces at Chanak. L.G. threatened the Turks with war with Britain and British empire if they entered neutral zone. Alienated Conservatives as he failed to consult the Commonwealth Prime Ministers before committing them to a possible war against Turkey.
How did the Honours Scandal damage Lloyd George’s reputation?
Lloyd George thought it was acceptable to sell Honours (barren, lordship) to make money for his party. He sold between 10 and 12,000 pounds worth of Knighthoods, 35-40,000 pounds worth of Baronetcies, 90 Lords, Peerages and sold 20,0000 OBE. The Conservatives were unhappy because of the scale of which this was occurring. The sale was called the Lloyd George fund. The Conservatives really wanted to disassociate themselves from ‘immoral’ behaviour.
How did the war make Liberals unpopular?
The Liberals had been the traditional anti-war party, uniting over the Boer War, 1899-1902. However, Liberals led the country during the world’s greatest war. Whilst the war remained popular amongst the public, actions of the Liberal government during war time caused many to question Liberal foundations. The Defence of the Realm Act of 1914 governed all lives in Britain during World War One. This completely undermined the New Liberal principle of freedom of the individual. More controversially, full conscription was introduced, May 1916 which went against the opinions of many Liberal MP’s. To many this may have been unsurprising as at the time, the Liberal government were involved in a coalition government with the Conservative party.
How did the Liberal party split?
In December 1916, Lloyd George felt sufficiently powerful to call for the creation of a ‘War Council’ that he would be in charge of. This would have taken control of the war away from Asquith who, as Prime Minister, would have taken charge of domestic affairs. This caused Asquith to resign and King George V to call on Lloyd George to form a new coalition government.
How did the failure of the Liberals in WW1 aid Labour strength?
WW1 effectively split the Liberal Party in two, also it caused the Liberal party to become redundant as they undermined the key principles of New Liberalism. This allowed Labour to take the leading role in social reform from the Liberals. Towards 1924, with the Liberal party divided, many grass-roots Liberal voters turned to Labour.
The very fact that the Liberals canvassed an extremely low amount of candidates means that in many constituencies, the choice was between voting Conservative, Labour of abstaining. In 1922, Labour won 142 seats, becoming the main opposition to the Conservatives.
Outline the Chamberlain Housing Act 1923
Private builders were given subsidies to build houses. This helped people who could afford to buy their own homes. By 1929 438,000 houses had been built. The poor were not affected.
