The Great War and its impact, 1914- 1939: The Impact of War on British parties & Politics; (complete) Flashcards
Who was in government during the outbreak of war in August 1914 and how strong were they?
-Liberal party, w/ Asquith as PM
-Had war 3 successive elections & many saw it as holding an unassailable position
-In the event, it was to be the last Liberal gov ever in office in GB
-Initial widespread enthusiasm for war & Asquith + Libs could capitalise on surge of patriotism
What occurred in politics during the outbreak of war?
-Political truce; political differences laid aside & other parties (Conservatives, Labour, Irish nationalists) gave support for war effort
-Asquith received confidence of Commons to continue in gov & manage war
-Lord Kitchener, a career soldier w/ impeccable military record, was appointed as Secretary of State for War; Asquith believing it best to leave war conduct to military experts
Why did Asquith have a record as a poor war leader?
-It appeared to some he was virtually relinquishing political control by appointing Lord Kitchener as Secretary of State for War
-Found whole idea of war ‘distasteful’, as it continued he was increasingly regarded as lacklustre & indecisive leader
Why was the First World War not initially taken as a serious threat?
-At the time, gov & most of GB population thought war would be done by Christmas
-Wave of patriotism encouraged young men eager for adventure & new experiences to respond to Kitchener’s appeal for volunteers to swell army’s ranks; were given basic weapons training before being shipped to N France to face enemy lines across ‘no man’s land’
-Relying on enthusiastic volunteer force seemed to Asquith to offer solution to maintaining sufficient manpower at front, to fight war effectively & keep at bay any suggestion that gov should follow more interventionist route & introduce conscription
What were the terms of the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) and why was it a remarkable piece of legislation?
-Gave gov wide powers to introduce restrictions on civilian population at any time while Britain was at war
-Press censorship; newspapers restricted in info they were allowed to print, particularly regarding military disasters, mutiny in ranks, execution of deserters
-Heavy casualty figures manipulated, destruction due to German Zeppelin attacks in 1915 downplayed. Strikes in essential occupations illegal
-Gov thought this was best to raise morale
-As war progressed, DORA was strengthened & further measures introduced
-Was a remarkable piece of legislation for Lib gov, in that it endorsed total state intervention, a very ‘un-Liberal’ idea
Why was the coalition government formed?
-By May 1915, a lack of clear strategy, heavy casualties & severe shell shortage on western front brought tensions within gov & war office + criticism of Lord Kitchener
-Political manoeuvrings & meetings between Bonar Law, DLG & Asquith resulted in sudden announcement of formation of a coalition on 26 May
What did the historian A.J.P Taylor say came with the coalition government?
“The last Liberal government in British history was killed, within a quarter of an hour”
Which new government ministry was created and who became its minister?
-Ministry of Munitions
-David Lloyd George, who had been particularly vociferous on the need for more shells
What were the aims of Asquith’s coalition government?
-To be a gov of national unity although Asquith insisted the Cabinet be Liberal-dominated
-Attempted to cover up dissension betw its members, particularly on the issue of conscription; many Libs & Labour found the idea of compulsory service horrific
What did the historian Robert Blake say on Conservatives and the war?
“On almost every issue that come up Conservative tradition & ideology was better suited than Liberal to meet the needs of the hour”
What was the Military Service Act of January 1916?
-Introducing conscription for unmarried men betw ages of 18 - 41
-Extended to include married men in April after DLG & Commons demanded it, while Asquith wavered
Which events unsettled the coalition and weakened the Liberals?
-The Easter Rising of Irish Republicans in Dublin unsettled coalition
-Failure of Home Rule lost Liberal party support of 80 Irish Nationalist MPs & further undermined Asquith’s leadership
Which events sapped national confidence?
Inability of British navy to win outright victory in the Battle of Jutland in May & continuing upward scale of casualties suffered by the British army on the Western Front
Who took over as Secretary for War, with whose support and why?
-David Lloyd George w/ Bonar Law’s support rather than Asquith’s, according to A.J.P Taylor
-After Kitchener was drowned when ship on which he was travelling was struck by a mine
Why was David Lloyd George thought to be the man who could win the war?
-He had a reputation as a strong, energetic & decisive politician which gained ground in the country
-Was convinced of necessity to ↑ efficiency of armed forces
How was Lloyd George’s new coalition, 1916-18 formed and what did it consist of?
-DLG demanded the formation of a war council of 3, led by himself but excluding Asquith; who refused to agree
-DLG resigned, followed by Asquith, who thought to call his bluff. The bluff failed & DLG became PM of a new coalition
-Backed by Labour, most of the Cabinet positions were held by Conservatives
-Asquith refused to join & split Liberal Party
-Hub of Gov became DLG’s 5 member War Cabinet; Bonar Law, on whose support DLG depended on, Lord Milner, Conservative & accomplished bureaucrat, Lord Curzon, Conservative & strong w/ foreign matters, Arthur Henderson, Labour & provided good route to TUs and DLG
What actions did the new DLG Coalition undertake?
-New ministries formed to push forward key areas of policy as they arose, eg management of essential food supplies, National Service (conscription) & government propaganda
-Convoy system set up to counter German U-boat (submarine) campaign & met w/ success
What happened during the dark months of 1917?
-Army suffered heavy casualties in France & Belgium
-Britain’s ally Russia dropped out of the war, consumed by its internal Bolshevik Revolution
-Anxious wait for America, who’d joined the conflict, the get troops across to France; arrived in April 1918
-DLG held his and his gov’s nerve
What charge put to the Commons did Lloyd George respond to and how?
-Put forward by Asquith
-That he had deprived army of essential reinforcements at a crucial time, contributing to its defeat during German Spring Offensive in March 1918, and had then attempted to obscure the truth
-Rode the storm, known as the Maurice debate, because his energetic management of war was almost universally acknowledged as a success
Why did Lloyd George choose to fight the post-war election in collaboration with the Conservatives?
-Personal rivalry betw Asquith & DLG continued to dominate GB politics, all attempts to heal riff failed
-Defeat of Germany + its allies came almost unexpected in Nov 1918 & in the previous months the gov was preparing for a general election for Dec; it would now be a peacetime election
-DLG was planning for success, but he wasn’t the Liberal leader; this was still Asquith, who refused an invitation to join a coalition
-DLG had to make an important decision for the future of the Liberal Party
What did the Representation of the People Act of Feb 1918 do?
-Enfranchised all men 21+, many of whom had seen horrors of war
-Vote given to women 30+ for the first time
What were the results of the 1918 ‘coupon’ election?
-New electorate returned Conservative-dominated coalition under premiership of DLG
-Official Liberal Party decimated; left w/ only 28 MPs & Asquith lost his seat
-Irish Nationalists lost most seats to Sinn Fein, who refused to sit at Westminster
-Labour Party became official opposition for the first time, w/ 22%+ of total vote
-Fragmented opposition
Why was the post-war coalition government as much of a disaster for Lloyd George as for the Liberal Party?
-Clear winners of election were Bonar Law & Conservatives
-Continuing w/ coalition was good; wartime coalition had been effective & combining talents of all parties would help in post-war reconstruction
-But, w/ Lib split & Labour’s refusal to join coalition, DLG was forced to work w/ Conservatives if he was to stay in power
-Had no strong political base of his own; was leader of one wing of a divided party that was in decline
-Still clung onto radical instincts for social reforms & his election promise of providing ‘homes fit for heroes’
Which immediate serious post-war problems did the government have to deal with?
-Most pressing was agreeing peace terms, which were laid down in the Treaty of Versailles in 1919
-Significant problems in Europe, much of which was in turmoil after war, as old empires had crumbled & new boundaries set
-War cabinet dismantled & return to normal parliamentary procedure
-Anxieties on how to pay for war & finance reconstruction
-Taxation T in wartime left in place, causing resentment
-Industrial unrest
When did the peacetime coalition end and what happened in the general election that followed?
-1922
-Conservatives won decisive majority, w/ Labour coming in second, ahead of Liberals who were split into Liberals & Coalition Liberals
-Result marked decline in political influence of Liberal Party
Decline of the Liberals; what did the figures of the 1906 and 1910 elections suggest of the Liberals’ victories?
-They were due as much to divisions in the Conservative ranks as to the Liberals’ own strengths
-After 1910, Liberals could only remain in power due to vote of Irish Nationalists
Decline of the Liberals; why did managing the war effort create new dilemmas for the Liberals?
-Necessity of bringing resources & manpower under gov control in wartime (eg intro of conscription) was contrary to beliefs of many Liberals
-1915 crisis due to shortage of men & munitions at Western Front led to split betw those like DLG who believed extraordinary gov measures were needed to survive the war & those like Asquith who wished to continue w/ current policies
Decline of the Liberals; why was the Liberal Party irrevocably weakened when Lloyd George became PM of a Liberal-led coalition government?
It was a strange and strained arrangement as Asquith continued as Liberal Party leader, but offered little opposition to any of DLG’s measures, preferring to maintain a patriotic position & support the war effort
Decline of the Liberals; how did the attack launched by Asquith on Lloyd George over the Maurice debate impact the Liberal Party?
-Conservatives supported DLG, as it was in their interests to do so
-But, the Liberal Party divided openly betw the ‘two leaders’, thus driving another serious wedge betw the two sides
Decline of the Liberals; how did the December 1918 general election make clear the split in the Liberal Party and its destruction?
-DLG’s motives can be criticised; in eagerness to hold on to power, he seemed sacrifice his party
-In this ‘coupon election’, those who supported the wartime coalition received endorsement & who who’d expressed any opposition to war were ostracised by coalition propaganda machine
What do different historians argue was the main challenge to Liberalism?
-Martin Pugh; Asquith’s stubborn refusal to serve under DLG in 1916
-Paul Thomson & Henry Pelling; middle-class character of Lib Party made it impossible for them to hold onto WC support, once they’d gain enough political freedom to form own party
-Ross McKibbin, in “The Evolution of the Labour Party 1910-24”, states it was growth of TUs enabled Labour to present threat to Libs by 1914. They were only held back by legal obstructions, eg Osbourne Judgement
-George Dangerfield, in “The Strange Death of Liberal England”, argues the crisis over the House of Lords, labour unrest, near civil war in Ireland & violence of suffragettes were too complicated for divided party to deal w/ & GB was on verge of anarchy in 1914; this view is seen by others as extreme
-Trevor Wilson; in spite of uncomfortable effects of those crises, Lib Party was strong by 1914, although challenged by Labour its fall wasn’t inevitable. It was the war + split of party
What was the position of the Conservatives by 1914?
-By 1914, the leader of the Conservative Party was Andrew Bonar Law, who had taken over this position on the resignation of Balfour over the constitutional crisis in 1911. His leadership wasn’t regarded as dynamic or particularly successful
-The party was disunited over tariff reform
-Conservative opposition to the Liberals had become particularly intense over issue of Home Rule in 1912 & in their support of Sir Edmond Carson & the Ulster Volunteers, Bonar Law had virtually endorsed the use of violence; this wasn’t viewed well
How did WW1 and involvement in the coalition help the Conservatives move away from a bad reputation?
-Bonar Law had a crucial role in supporting DLG during the war
-The Conservatives helped to make DLG a success
How did Bonar Law help to make the Conservatives electable after 3 successive defeats?
-He was not a typical public school and ‘Oxbridge’ Tory & during his leadership the Conservatives began to shift from the party of the landed elite to the party of big business
-After a convincing success in the 1918 election & 4 years of post-war coalition in which he adopted the role of mediator betw the Liberals & Conservatives, Bonar Law supported the moves within the party for the Conservatives to go alone in the 1922 election
-After their victory, he became PM but was forced to retire in 1923 through ill health & was replaced by Stanley Baldwin
What measures helped secure Labour cooperation in the War, which also raised their political standing?
-Early in the war, DLG had encouraged the inclusion of Labour & the unions in consultations over production of war materials
-One of their members, Arthur Henderson, was appointed to the Cabinet
Why did war and its impacts contribute to the rise of Labour?
-Increase in state intervention necessitated by the war was in tune w/ Labour thinking
-DORA measures promoted greater sense of equality among diff classes; everyone was subject to same restrictions
-Different & fairer attitudes began to develop towards social welfare & organisation of the economy
What finally bought an end to the Lib-Lab Pact of 1903 and when?
Arthur Henderson’s sacking from the War Cabinet over a disagreement on government policy towards Russia in September 1917
What did Ramsay McDonald and Henderson do after the pact with the Liberals ended and what allowed them to do so?
-Planned a Labour election campaign based on purely Labour policies, w/out restraints previously imposed by relationship w/ Liberals
-During the war the wider Labour movement had ↑ its popularity;
-TU membership almost x2 during war from 4m to nearly 8m; produced extra cash in coffers to field more parliamentary candidates
-Widening of franchise in Feb 1918 expanded WC vote
-New cap on election expenses aided Labour, whose fighting fund was more limited than those of the other 2 parties
-In the event the Labour Party won 61 seats. It wasn’t an outstanding success but it allowed them, as the official opposition, to be regarded as a viable future party for government
