Why did the Liberals decline?

Question 1

What did DORA involve?

Answer 1

• British summer time
• Censorship
• Dilute beer
• Licensing hours
• Conscription
• Rationing

Question 2

Why did DORA cause a decline in the Liberal party?

Answer 2

Lloyd-George put this is place which lead to a divide in the party as Herbert Asquith did not want this as he felt it interfered with people’s lives too much

The Liberal party therefore split

Question 3

How did the 1918 representation of the people act cause a decline in the Liberal party?

Answer 3

Allowed all men over 21 and women over 28 to vote

Most voted Conservative or Labour

Question 4

How did the Maurice debate cause a decline in the Liberal party?

Answer 4

General Maurice sent a public letter, accusing Lloyd-George of lying to parliament about the no. troop on the western front.

Asquith attacked Lloyd-George in parliament and demanded an enquiry

Asquith failed to oust Lloyd-George as he was a much wearek orator than him therefore he was unable to gain the support of the majority

Question 5

How did the coupon election affect the Liberals?

Answer 5

Asquith’s leadership never recovered

Lloyd-George Liberals were dependent on the Conservatives which put them in a weak position

Lloyd-George tried to make a coalition permanent with the formation of the ‘Centre Party’ - this failed and made the divide larger

Question 6

How did the Liberals perform in the 1910 General Elections?

Answer 6

They retained power and formed a government

Question 7

What were the Liberal party like in 1915?

Answer 7

They had a strong representation in the coalition wartime gov.

Question 8

When did the Liberal party begin to split and what did this mean?

Answer 8

During WW1
- Those who supported DLG forming a coalition with the conservatives in the 1918 General Election

Question 9

Which election did the Liberals lose in the interwar years?

Answer 9

1922, 1924, 1929 and 1931

Question 10

What year did Labour gain more seats than the Liberals?

Answer 10

1922 - therefore becoming the main opposition to the conservatives

Question 11

What years in the interwar years did the Liberals support the minority Labour gov.?

Answer 11

1924 and 1929-31

Question 12

What event in WW1 gave the gov. extended powers?

Answer 12

the Defence Of the Realm Act (DORA) in 1914

Question 13

What year was DORA put in place?

Answer 13

1914

Question 14

Why was DORA opposed by much of the Liberal party?

Answer 14

These measures were considered illiberal

Question 15

Which Liberal leader supported DORA?

Answer 15

David Lloyd-George

Question 16

When and how did DLG manage to oust the previous Liberal leader?

Answer 16

1916
The previous leader was Herbert Asquith
This was much to do with Asquith’s wartime leadership as well as politics
Asquith much opposed DORA

Question 17

Why did Asquith’s ousting outrage many traditional Liberals?

Answer 17

They saw Lloyd-George as a traitor
There was then a split in party loyalty
Therefore the controversy around the DORA should be viewed as a turning point of the unity of the party

Question 18

What happened during the Maurice debate to make the split in the Liberal party even stronger?

Answer 18

General Maurice wrote a public letter accusing DLG of lying to parliament about the number of troops on the Western Front
Asquith demanded an enquiry
Asquith lead an attempt to oust DLG but this failed

Question 19

How did the ROPA damage the libs?

Answer 19

Led to a greater number of working class voters which they failed to win over
Effectiveness of Labour to adapt to the new electorate
From 1910 to 1923, Lib share of vote went down to 29.6% from 43.9%

Question 20

Why should we not only consider the ROPA to have contributed the the LIbs downturn?

Answer 20

The working class vote did not increase by a large enough amount where it could have led to such a decline in Lib power
Libs failed to challenge the development of the first past the post sys.

Question 21

Why did the Conservatives form a coalition with the LIbs?

Answer 21

As they were desperate for power and DLG was a popular leader.

Question 22

How many seats did the coalition win?

Answer 22

335 seats for the cons. and 133 for the libs.

Question 23

How many seats did Asquith libs win?

Answer 23

28 seats.

Question 24

What was the impact of the coupon election on the Libs?

Answer 24

Asquith’s leadership never recovered
The DLG Libs had a very weak position in Parliament
Split in the party widened
DLG tried to make the coalition permanent through a new centre party, split libs even further

Question 25

What was one way that DLG damaged the party’s reputation?

Answer 25

A scandal emerged in 1922 that he was selling knighthoods for £10,000 — This lead to them being portrayed as corrupt

Question 26

What was another way that DLG damaged the party’s reputation?
(To do with war)

Answer 26

He was seen as a warmonger, as he threatened Turkey with war if they did not conform to his peace treaty

Question 27

What are three significant reasons that the libs lost the 1922 general election?

Answer 27

DLG’s personal unpopularity
Divisions within the party
Rise of Labour

Question 28

By how much did the Lib share of the vote fall by in the 1924 election?

Answer 28

12%

Question 29

What did the Libs do to try to get more support?

Answer 29

They created the yellow book, which outlined their plans to help the economy

Question 30

Did the Yellow book get a good reception?

Answer 30

No, the electorate never supported it & Libs share of the vote continued to fall.