U2 - Why Liberals introduced Reforms 1906-14 Flashcards
L L I E R
- Liberal Divide
- Labour Party (Growth)
- Individuals (Churchill and Lloyd George)
- Efficiency
- Reports (Booth and Rowntree)
Pre - 1906 Government attitudes towards people and poverty
- Britain was extremely rich in 1900
- Wealth had been based on growing industrialisation, overseas empire and the strongest navy in the world
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
Laissez - Faire
- Didn’t believe it was the responsibility to intervene in the lives of the British people
- People were expected to deal with their financial and social hardship on their own
- Believed the state of British people was one of ‘self-help’
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
British Government thoughts on poverty
Believed it was self-inflicted through
- Idleness
- Ignorance
- Drunkenness
- Gambling
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
Samuel Smiles (a scot)
- 1859 ‘self help’ book typified the attitude of the time
- Argues that those living in poverty had only themselves to blame and could get themselves out of poverty through hard work and saving
- Rich people read this book as they could afford it and could read unlike poor people
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
What help exist during the laissez - faire at:
- YMCA - 1844
- The Salvation Army - 1866
- Barnardo’s - 1869
- R.S.P.C.C - 1884
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
The Poor Law System
- In Scotland the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1845 allowed disabled, widows and deserted wives and children into Poorhouses
- They weren’t forced to work
- The able-bodied weren’t allowed in
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
The Poor law System - Factors it created
- HUMILIATION
- DESPERATION
- SEPERATION
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
The Poor Law System - Portrayed Successful
- Made state help appear very unattractive to the poor
- Calculated by Historians that 90% of the unemployed never opted for poor relief despite the fact that they lived in poverty
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
By 1906 New Liberals dominated the government and who
- Asquith
- Haldane
- Lloyd George
- Churchill
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
1906 General Election
- Liberals: 399 seats
- Conservatives: 156 seats
- Labour: 29 seats
- Irish Nationalists: 82 seats
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
Henry Campbell Bannerman
- Liberals came into power promising social reform (helping people)
- He was PM (Prime Minister)
- Died at age of 69
- He was Glaswegian
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
H.H Asquith
- PM from 1908-1916
- Passed most of Liberal Reforms
- Nicknamed squiffy by opponents
- Fond drinker
- A NEW LIBERAL
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
David Lloyd George - Chancellor of the Exchequer
“The country that spent £250 million to avenge the insult of a Dutch farmer is not ashamed to see her children walking in the street…in rags”
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
Winston Churchill - President of the board of trade
saw “little glory in a country which rules waves but is unable to flush it’s own sewers”
Government Attitudes 1850s - 1906
Summary
- Liberals win election 1906 after 20 years out of power
- HCB, old Liberal not really up for change
- H.H Asquith takes over 1908 he is a New Liberal
- Helped by other new Liberals DLG + WC
- The major changes take place 1906-1914
Why the reforms were passed
Efficiency - Military
- REMEMBER: 1900, Empire need for a strong army to maintain a powerful empire
- It was becoming increasingly likely a war against Germany would have to be fought
Why the reforms were passed
Efficiency - Military: National Security
- The Boer War (1899-1902) highlighted the urgent need to do something about British health and fitness
- Took Britain 3 year to defeat poorly equipped Boer farmers and over 1/2 of the volunteers for the volunteers for the army were rejected on medical grounds
Why the reforms were passed
Efficiency - Military: National Security - Medical Grounds
- Lice
- Underweight
- Under height
- Rotten Teeth
- Rickets
- Tuberculosis
Why the reforms were passed
Efficiency - Military: National Security - Rudyard Kipling
“The Boer War gave Britain on hell of a lesson”
Why the reforms were passed
Efficiency - Military: National Security - British Soldiers
- The quality of British soldiers was blamed for Britain’s poor performance in the war
Why the reforms were passed
Efficiency - Military: National Efficiency
- End of 19th century, Britain was no longer the world’s strongest industrial nation and was facing serious competition from new industrial nations such as Germany and USA
- Some politicians thought that workforce had to be better educate and healthier
- Education became compulsory in 1870 in Scotland and 1872 in Britain
Why the reforms were passed
Efficiency - Military: National Efficiency - Survey
- Showed that Britain children were much smaller and thinner than America
Why the reforms were passed
The reports of Booth and Rowntree - Booth
- Report on Poverty: Charles Booth (London)
- Factual report into “The Lives and Labour of the people of London” from 1886 to 1903
Why the reforms were passed
The reports of Booth and Rowntree - Booth - Stats
- Revealed that 30% of people were living below his “Poverty Line” - minimum income of £0.90 to £1.05 a week or a family with three children
- Only 3% out of that 30% were getting Poor Law help
Why the reforms were passed
The reports of Booth and Rowntree - Rowntree
- Report on Poverty: Seebohm Rowntree
- Investigated poverty in York in his “Poverty a study of Town Life” in 1901
- Used Booth’s “poverty line” and defined Primary Poverty and Secondary Poverty
- Proof that this was not a problem restricted to London
Why the reforms were passed
The reports of Booth and Rowntree - Rowntree - Primary Poverty
- Not enough income for basic needs
Why the reforms were passed
The reports of Booth and Rowntree - Rowntree - Secondary Poverty
- Enough income, but wasted
Why the reforms were passed
The reports of Booth and Rowntree - Rowntree - Historiography
- Rowntree’s book (poverty) is one of the most important books written by a Britain in the 20 century - A Marr History of Britain
When are you most likely to be in poverty? - Primary Poverty level
- Born and grows up in poverty
- Children born after marriage
- Old age and cannot work anymore
Importance of Booth and Rowntree
- Both found that the factors were mainly outside the control of the individual, and could not therefore be tackled by self-help
Importance of Booth and Rowntree - Main causes that were not true
- Laziness
- Drunkenness
- Gambling
Importance of Booth and Rowntree - Causes they found
- Casual Labour
- Low Pay
- Unemployment
- Ill health
- Old age
- Large Families
Examples of other countries - Germany Example
- Leading Liberals were impressed and influenced by advances in other countries - Germany’s military strength and social legislation
- Bismarck introduced sickness and accident insurance and old age pension schemes in the 1880s
The Rise of the Labour Party
- 1910s: The Liberals were being replaced by the Labour as being the party of the working classes
- Labour MPs: 1900 - 2 seats
1910 - 40 seats
Political Developments and Pragmatism
- Most working class me had been given the vote by 1867 and 1884 Reform Acts and the liberals had to compete with the Conservatives to attract these votes
- Late 19th Century the trade unions were growing in power and were demanding social reform for working class
- If they wanted to remain a dominant political force they would have to introduce real social reforms to meet the needs of working class
Essay Structure
- The Reports of Booth and Rowntree
- New Liberalism + German Example
- Military Efficiency + National Efficiency
- Rise of Labour + Political advantage
