Section 1 Facts Flashcards
How many seats did the Liberals win in the 1906 election?
401 seats
How many seats did the Conservatives win in the 1906 election?
157 seats
When was the Boer War?
1899-1902
When was the Education Act passed?
1902 - Provided all schools would be funded by local rates
What did the House of Lords rule in 1902 that angered trade unions?
Companies were within their rights to sue a trade union, making it impossible for them to call successful strikes
When was the tariff reform campaign launched by Joseph Chamberlain?
1903 - He wanted to reintroduce tariffs with imperial preference
When was the Lib-Lab pact?
1903 - Liberals wouldn’t oppose Labour candidates likely to win in the next election if LRC restricted candidates in 1906 election
What did New Liberalism stress?
Freedom from evils such as poverty, low wages and insecurity
When was Sir Campbell-Bannerman prime minister?
1905-1908
When was Asquith prime minister?
1908-1915
How many seats did the LRC win in the 1906 election?
29 seats
Between 1906 and 1914 how much did trade union membership grow?
Rose from 900,000 to 1.5 million
What percentage of exports came from the main staples?
60%
How much of the world’s shipping did Britain own before 1914?
Half
How much coal was mined in 1913?
287 million tons
How much did farming account for British employment?
10%
How much of the world’s trade did Britain have?
25%
In 1913 how much of Britain’s wealth was in investments overseas?
32%
As exports declined what happened in the British economy?
A trade gap
What percentage of coal was mechanically cut in 1914?
8%
How many were employed by coal mines?
1 million
What kind of economy did Britain have in terms of wages?
Low-wage economy
What was London?
The commercial centre of the world
How many people were employed as ‘professionals’ in 1911?
796,000
What percent of the population made up the working class?
75%
What percent of London according to Booth were in poverty?
30.7%
How much did Booth conclude people had to earn to stay above the poverty line?
21 shillings per week
How much would the Liberal’s new social reforms cost?
£16 million
When did Lloyd George introduce his budget?
1909 - It included a range of new taxes to pay for social reforms
How much did people who earned under £3000 pay with the income tax?
9d for every pound earned
How much did people earning over £3000 pay with the new income tax?
1s2d for every pound earned
What was the super tax for those who earned over £5000
An additional 6d per pound
How did the House of Lords respond to the 1909 budget?
Threw it out, leading to a constitutional crisis
When was the Education Act (Meals) passed?
1906 - Local authorities were given power to provide free school meals for needs children
When was the Education Act (Medical) passed?
1907 - Set up the School Medical Service and made it compulsory to medically inspect school children
When was the Children’s Act passed?
1908 - Made parental neglect illegal, set up juvenile courts and made it illegal to sell tobacco and alcohol to children
When was the Old Age Pensions Act passed?
1908 - Provided a pension of of five shillings a week for a single person and 7s and 6d for a married couple
When was the National Insurance (unemployment) Act?
1911 - Compelled workers and employees to contribute weekly to a national insurance fund allowing workers to receive a weekly benefit of unemployed
When was the National Insurance (Sickness) Act?
1911 - Compulsory scheme for workers and employees to contribute to a national fund for a sickness benefit
What did the Liberal social reforms create?
A basic minimum or a ‘life belt’
Did the 1906 Education Act pass the House of Lords?
No
When did the Lords veto the 1909 budget?
November 1909
What convention did the Lords break by vetoing the budget?
That Lords should not intervene with ‘money bills’
What did the Liberals do in response to the Lords vetoing the bill?
Called a general election in January 1910
How many seats did the Liberals win in the 1910 election?
275 seats
How many seats did the Conservatives win in the 1910 election?
273 seats
What did the Liberals have to rely on to win a majority after the 1910 election?
The Irish Nationalists
What did the 1910 Parliament Bill propose?
The House of Lords would not have the power to reject legislation but they could delay it for no longer than two years, ‘suspensory veto’
Why was an election called in December 1910?
George V agreed to create new peers to pass the Parliament Bill if the Liberals won a majority on the issue
How many seats did the Liberals win in the December 1910 election?
272
How many seats did the Conservatives win in the December 1910 election?
272
What did the Liberals have to rely on after the December 1910 election?
The support of Labour and the Irish Nationalists
When was the Parliament Bill read for the last time to the House of Lords?
11th August 1910
When did Balfour resign?
1911
Who succeeded Balfour?
Bonar Law
When was the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society established?
1897 by Millicent Fawcett
By 1914 how many members did the NUWSS have?
500,000
When and why did Emmeline Pankhurst found the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU)?
In 1903 as they were frustrated with a lack of progress achieving women’s suffrage
When was the Prisoners’ Discharge Act passed?
1913 - Allowed the government to release hunger strikers until they regained their strength then re-arrest them
What was the Prisoner’s Discharge Act known as?
Cat and Mouse Act
What were suffragette actions often?
Militant
When did the third Home Rule Act begin its process through parliament?
1912
When did the Home Rule Act pass through the commons?
1913
How did the House of Lords respond to the Home Rule Bill?
They suspended the bill
Why was the Home Rule Bill suspended again in 1914?
Outbreak of war
How much higher was the cost of living in 1912 than in 1906?
14%
How many Trade Union members were there in 1914?
4.1 million
How many working days were lost as a result of strikes in 1912?
40.9 million working days
How much bigger was the German chemical industry than Britain?
Twice the size
When did the electrification of factories begin in Britain?
1890, 10 years after the US
By 1914, how many free school meals were local authorities providing a year?
14 million
By 1913, how many local authorities were actually providing free school meals?
About half
By 1914, how many local authorities were providing free medical inspection?
3/4
By 1914, how many local authorities were providing some form of a free medical treatment?
2/3
How many elderly had a pension by 1915?
1 million
When was the Ulster Covenant drawn up?
1912
When did Carson begin to form an army?
When the third Home Rule Bill was held up by the Lords
What was the name of Carson’s army?
Ulster Volunteer Force
What did Carson’s supporters smuggle into the Irish port of Larne?
50,000 rifles and 3 million rounds of ammunition
When was the Curragh Mutiny?
March 1914 - British officers threatened to resign rather than fight the Ulster Unionist resistance
What was the name of the Irish Nationalist militia?
The Irish Volunteers
