success of the liberal reforms essay

Liberalism, Labour and Social Reform, 1905–14

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• G. R. Searle  

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The landed aristocracy did not topple over, politically, when attacked, as perhaps some Radicals had intended. But there was at least this satisfaction to be derived from the situation. Organised Labour — and the clear majority of working-class voters — sided with the Radicals. The assault on feudalism, though it led to complications aplenty, at least helped Lloyd George in his attempts to win over the working man. For the Constitutional Crisis raised issues of fundamental importance to ordinary working people. After all, it was very much in the interests of Labour that Radicalism should prevail. The Labour Movement, for example, had a vested interest in securing a reduction in the powers of the House of Lords. Many Labour MPs would have preferred the total abolition of the Upper House, but they saw a removal of its absolute veto as a step in the right direction. Irish Home Rule was viewed with greater ambivalence. Labour supported Home Rule, but one senses a certain weariness with the everlasting complaints of relatively prosperous Irish tenant farmers. Perhaps what most brought the British Labour Movement out in warm support for Asquith’s Home Rule Bill between 1912 and 1914 was the unconstitutional nature of the opposition which it encountered.

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Fforde, M., Conservatism and Collectivism, 1886–1914 (Edinburgh, 1990), pp. 158–9

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Packer, I., ‘Lloyd George and the Land Campaign, 1912–14’, in Loades, J. (ed.), The Life and Times of David Lloyd George (Bangor, 1991), pp. 143–52.

For the most convenient general introduction, see Hay, J. R., The Origins of the Liberal Welfare Reforms 1906–1914 (London, 1975)

The best single study of the subject remains Gilbert, Bentley B., The Evolution of National Insurance in Great Britain: The Origins of the Welfare State (London, 1966).

Emy, H. V., ‘The Impact of Financial Policy on English Party Politics Before 1914’, English Historical Review , 15 (1972), esp. p. 130.

Tanner, D., Political Change and the Labour Party 1900–1918 (Cambridge, 1990), pp. 123, 448–50. The 1906 Plural Voting Bill was rejected by the House of Lords, while the more wide-ranging Franchise and Registration Bill of 1912 became entangled with the divisive issue of women’s suffrage and was withdrawn. Incidentally, between 1886 and 1918 the Liberal Party failed to win a single seat in any of the University constituencies, whose electorate consisted of graduates. The 1912 Franchise Bill would have abolished these constituencies.

Blewett, N., ‘Free Fooders, Balfourites, Whole Hoggers. Factionalism within the Unionist Party, 1906–10’, Historical Journal , 11 (1968), pp. 95–124.

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H. V. Emy, Liberals, Radicals and Social Politics, 1892–1914 (Cambridge, 1973), p. 226

For the circumstances in which this Budget was produced, see Murray, B. K., ‘Lloyd George, the Navy Estimates, and the Inclusion of Rating Relief in the 1914 Budget’, Welsh Historical Review , 15 (1990), pp. 58–78.

Blewett, N., The Peers, the Parties and the People: the British General Elections of 1910 (London, 1972), Ch. 12.

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Clarke, P. F., Lancashire and the New Liberalism (Cambridge, 1971).

Blewett, Peers , pp. 346–8; Koss, S., Nonconformity in Modern British Politics (London, 1975), pp. 117–18, 105.

Beveridge, Lord, Power and Influence (London, 1953), p. 92.

Clarke, P., Liberals and Social Democrats (Cambridge, 1978).

Lloyd George and Masterman later quarrelled. See Masterman, L., C. F. G. Masterman (London, 1939)

David, E., ‘The New Liberalism of C. F. G. Masterman’, in Brown, K. D. (ed.), Essays in Anti-Labour History (London, 1974), pp. 17–41.

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Perkin, H., The Rise of Professional Society (London, 1989), pp. 155–70.

Hay, R., ‘Employers and social policy in Britain: the evolution of welfare legislation, 1905–14’, Social History , 2 (1977), pp. 435–55.

Turner, J., ‘The Politics of “Organised Business” in the First World War’, in Turner, J. (ed.), Businessmen and Politics (London, 1984), pp. 34–5.

Gilbert, B. B., ‘David Lloyd George: The Reform of British Land-holding and the Budget of 1914’, Historical Journal , 22 (1978), pp. 117–41; also Emy, ‘Impact of Financial Policy’, p. 130, though some were Radicals who disliked the form of the Budget rather than its contents — for example, Molteno (Tanner, Political Change , p. 69).

Clarke, P., ‘The End of Laissez Faire and the Politics of Cotton’, Historical Journal , 15 (1972), pp. 493–512.

Searle, G. R., ‘The Edwardian Liberal Party and Business’, English Historical Review , 98 (1983), pp. 28–60.

Bernstein, G. L., Liberalism and Liberal Politics in Edwardian England (London, 1986), pp. 22–4

Bernstein, G. L., ‘Liberalism and the Progressive Alliance in the Constituencies 1900–1914’, Historical Journal , 26 (1983), pp. 617–40. On the West Riding ‘millocrats’

see Laybourn, K. and Reynolds, J., Liberalism and the Rise of Labour 1890–1918 (London, 1984), esp. pp. 6, 80, 123, 167. For evidence that such old business oligarchies were coming under challenge from within the Liberal organisation during the Edwardian years, see Tanner, Political Change , pp. 255–8, 269–73.

Searle, G. R., Corruption in British Politics, 1895–1930 (Oxford, 1987), Ch. 6.

Ibid., Ch. 8; Gilbert, B. B., ‘David Lloyd George and the Great Marconi Scandal’, Historical Research , 62 (1989), pp. 295–317.

Bentley, M., The Climax of Liberal Politics: British Liberalism in Theory and Practice 1868–1918 (London, 1987), citing Ellins, pp. 144–5.

For example, Pringle in North-West Lanark in Jan. 1910 and MacCallum Scott in Bridgeton in December 1910 (Hutchison, I. G. C., A Political History of Scotland 1832–1924 [Edinburgh, 1986], p. 239).

John Howe, ‘Liberals, Lib-Labs and Independent Labour in North Gloucestershire, 1890–1914’, Midland History , 11 (1986), p. 135.

Cook, C., ‘Labour and the Downfall of the Liberal Party, 1906–14’, in Sked, A. and Cook, C. (eds), Crisis and Controversy (London, 1976).

Sheppard, M. G. and Halstead, J., ‘Labour’s Municipal Election Performance in Provincial England and Wales, 1901 – 13’, Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History , 39 (1979), p. 42. For the working of the anti-Labour pact in Bradford, see Laybourn and Reynolds, Liberalism , pp. 150–1.

See Appendix, pp. 216–17. Only by treating Labour MPs as surrogate Liberals is it possible to conclude that the Liberals had strengthened their hold over working-class constituencies in England between 1892 and 1910, and even then the improvement is hardly dramatic. The Liberals won 100 seats in English urban working class and mining constituencies in 1892, and eighty-nine in January 1910 (when Labour won thirty-one seats in this type of constituency). Of course, the Liberals did better in 1910 than they had done in 1895 and 1900, when the party as a whole was in the doldrums, but that was to be expected. It seems invalid to demonstrate a realignment in British politics between 1906 and 1910 by comparing the results of the 1910 elections with the highly untypical result of 1900, which is what has been done by Stephens, H. W., ‘Party Realignment in Britain, 1900–1925’, Social Science History , 6 (1982), pp. 35–66.

Rowland, P., The Last Liberal Governments: Unfinished Business, 1911–1914 (London, 1971), p. 80.

Clegg, H. A., Fox, A. and Thompson, A. F., A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889: Vol. I 1889–1910 (Oxford, 1964), pp. 402–3

See also Thane, P., ‘The Working Class and State “Welfare” in Britain, 1880–1914’, Historical Journal , 27 (1984), pp. 898–9.

Lloyd George to brother, 6 May 1908, in George, W., My Brother and I (London, 1958), p. 220. Churchill to Asquith, 29 December 1908

Churchill, R. S., Winston Churchill, Vol. 2 Young Statesman 1901–1914 (London, 1967), pp. 307–8.

Thane, ‘Working Class and “Welfare”’, pp. 877–900. The article is a response to an earlier claim that the ‘Welfare State’ initially encountered heavy working-class and Labour resistance (Pelling, H., ‘The Working Class and the Origins of the Welfare State’, in Popular Politics and Society in Late Victorian Britain [London, 1968], pp. 1–18).

On the Great Labour Unrest, see Clegg, H. A., A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889: Vol. II 1911–1933 (Oxford, 1985), Ch. 2; Tanner, Political Change , pp. 62–3.

Gregory, R., The Miners and British Politics 1906–1914 (Oxford, 1968), passim.

Cited in Richter, M., The Politics of Conscience: T. H. Green and His Age (London, 1964), pp. 374–5.

See Phelps Brown, E. H., The Growth of British Industrial Relations: A study from the standpoint of 1906–14 (London, 1959), Ch. 6. But the government was sometimes accused of not being sufficiently willing to employ the police to maintain order during industrial disturbances

see Morgan, J., Conflict and Order: The Police and Labour Disputes in England and Wales 1900–1939 (Oxford, 1987), pp. 43–4.

In May 1910, with industrial tension mounting in the valleys, the Welsh journal, Liais Llafur pointed out that the Liberal MPs representing South Wales included seven major industrialists, as well as five ministers and many lawyers (Peter Stead, ‘Establishing a Heartland — The Labour Party in Wales’, in Brown, K. D. [ed.], The First Labour Party 1906–1914 [London, 1985], p. 67).

McKibbin, R., The Evolution of the Labour Party 1910–1924 (Oxford, 1974), Chs. 3–4. For a very different view, see Douglas, R., ‘Labour in Decline, 1910–14’, in Brown, Essays in Anti-Labour History , pp. 105–25.

By 1914 Labour was holding 171 seats on municipal councils in England (outside London). True, there were cities where the Labour Party succeeded in significantly increasing its representation on the eve of the war, such as Bradford and Leeds (Laybourn and Reynolds, p. 152). In Birmingham, Sheffield, and the East End of London, on the other hand, Labour was very slow to make any impact at all (Michael Cahill, ‘Labour in the Municipalities’, Brown [ed.], First Labour Party , p. 99; Adams, T., ‘Labour and the First World War: Economy, Politics and the Erosion of Local Peculiarity?’, Journal of Regional and Local Studies , 10 [1990], pp. 24–5), while in Scotland Labour could only claim sixty-nine town councillors and thirteen county councillors even as late as 1915 (W. Hamish Fraser, ‘The Labour Party in Scotland’, Brown [ed.], First Labour Party , p. 57).

McKibbin, R. I., ‘James Ramsay MacDonald and the Problem of the Independence of the Labour Party, 1910–1914’, Journal of Modern History , 42 (1970), pp. 216–35. The Osborne Judgment, a legal ruling upheld by the House of Lords in 1909, restricted the use of trade union funds for political purposes and thus struck a serious blow against the Labour Party.

Marquand, D., Ramsay MacDonald (London, 1977), pp. 150–1, 159–62.

Clarke, P. F., ‘The electoral position of the Liberal and Labour parties, 1910–14’, English Historical Review , 90 (1975), pp. 828–36.

For a statistical analysis of elections in five English boroughs which suggests that class realignment was not taking place on a significant scale, see Wald, K. D., ‘Class and the Vote Before the First World War’, British Journal of Political Science , 8 (1978), pp. 441–57.

McKibbin, Evolution , p. 54. ‘What even the closest friends of Labour in the Liberal party often failed to understand was that the demand for greater representation was itself the greatest single issue for the Labour party during any election’ (Petter, M., ‘The Progressive Alliance’, History , 58 [1973], p. 58).

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Searle, G.R. (1992). Liberalism, Labour and Social Reform, 1905–14. In: The Liberal Party. British History in Perspective. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22165-3_6

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History resources, stories and news. Author: Dan Moorhouse

What were the Liberal Reforms?

The Liberal Reforms were a series of government measures designed to help people who couldn’t help themselves. They included the introduction of National Insurance which included a contribution from the employee, employer and government which would be used to pay sick pay and unemployment benefits; Old Age Pensions were introduced; Free School Meals were given to children from impoverished backgrounds to make sure that they got at least one good meal a day and also included legislation covering medical checks of school pupils, limits to working hours and the opening of the first Labour Exchanges (job centres).

When did they take place?

The Liberal Reforms took place between 1906 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The years of some of the key components are listed below:

1906 – Free School Meals 1907 – Medical Inspections in Schools 1908 – Young Persons Act 1908 – Old Age Pensions 1909 – Labour Exchanges 1911 – National Insurance

Why were the reforms introduced?

A number of factors led to the reforms. Many within the Liberal party were eager to help ordinary people and had campaigned with this as a key policy. The military had noted during the Boer War that many conscripts were not fit enough to fight – so something had to be done about it! As working class men could now vote, it was also very important to make sure that things were offered that they would vote for. The Liberals were also wary of the growing strength of the Labour party. with whom they forced a coalition government in 1910. There was also further research into Public Health that showed that there was a need for intervention in some areas. Rowntree completed a survey of the working classes in York, for example, and Margaret McMillan was pioneering welfare work for children in Bradford at this time.

Were the reforms welcomed?

The ordinary people who benefited from the reforms were obviously quite happy about things but there were opponents of these measures. Many people objected to the increases in tax to pay for the reforms; others complained at the National Insurance contributions they had to pay and politicians from other parties criticised the measures, to the point where there was a major constitutional crisis in 1909 when the House of Lords refused to approve the ‘Peoples Budget’ put forward by the Liberals. Some of these criticisms were from people who believed in the ideas of Laissez -Faire which basically means ‘leave them to sort it themselves’ whilst others criticised the reforms for not going far enough.

What impact did the Liberal Reforms have on health?

The Health of Children improved as a result of the reforms. By the outbreak of war around 150,000 pupils were receiving free school meals and regular medical inspections. This helped to reduce child mortality figures (as did the introduction of vaccines). Free medical care was available for some and this clearly helped to save lives. The quality of life for the elderly was also improved.

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An assessment of the effectiveness of the Liberal social welfare reforms

Introduction to the reforms.

• The Liberal welfare reforms were a response to the growing problem of poverty in the UK.
• Between 1906 and 1914 , the Liberal Government introduced many measures to improve the lives of British people.
• Reforms targeted vulnerable groups like children, the elderly, the sick, and unemployed, acknowledging that state intervention was necessary to alleviate poverty.

Measures Implemented

• The Children’s Act (1908) , School Meals Act (1906), and Education (Administrative Provisions) Act (1907) were introduced to better cater to children’s needs.
• The Old Age Pensions Act (1908) aimed to provide financial security to individuals over 70.
• The National Insurance Act (1911) was introduced to provide protection to workers in times of sickness and unemployment.
• The Labour Exchanges Act (1909) was established to help the unemployed find work.

Effectiveness of Reforms

• The introduction of free school meals benefited countless impoverished children, improving their nutritional intake and overall health.
• The Old Age Pensions Act was the first step towards a state pension , but it was criticised for its low rates and stringent qualifications.
• The National Insurance Act provided limited support, covering only certain occupations and providing benefits for a short period.
• Labour exchanges helped tackle unemployment, but could not prevent or counter the effects of economic depressions or downturns.
• The reforms overall reduced levels of poverty and improved health and wellbeing, but the help was insufficient and not universal.

Response to the Reforms

• The welfare reforms were controversial and faced opposition from both the left and right politically.
• Many thought the reforms did not go far enough, while others viewed them as an unwarranted governmental interference in the free market.
• While they were met with resistance, over time these reforms became an accepted part of society and paved the way for future welfare development.

Overall Assessment

• The Liberal welfare reforms marked a significant shift in policy and ideology towards social welfare in Britain.
• They acknowledged that the state had a role in tackling poverty and reinforced the principle of state responsibility for its citizens’ welfare.
• Despite their limitations, these reforms represented a meaningful first step towards the establishment of the welfare state.

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Origins and effects of the Liberal Reforms

This revision podcast presents an overview of the Liberal Reforms in Britain.

The episode begins with an explanation of the situation before the reforms, and why they were introduced.  Reference is made to social research at the time, key politicians, the impact of the Boer War, Britain’s industrial situation, and the effect of voting reforms in the late 19th Century.

The podcast then goes on to explain what the reforms did to improve life for four key groups – children, old people, the unemployed, and workers.  Finally, advice and examples are given for writing a balanced answer on how successful (or unsuccessful) the Liberal Reforms were.

7 Responses to Origins and effects of the Liberal Reforms

Dear Mr Allsop,

I’am teaching liberal reforms (edexcel SHP -medicine and treatment) and wanted some inspiration. Do you have any ideas/ppts to make this topic interesting? Many thanks in advance , Ayesha

Hi Ayesha, I haven’t taught the Liberal Reforms for a few years (and have never taught SHP) so I’m afraid I’m not really much help. I do remember that my favourite ‘hook’ was to bring in Rowntree-branded sweets, though. The students always remembered Seebohm Rowntree after that 🙂

Many thanks for your speedy response! With best wishes, Ayesha

Do you have any podcasts on Russia?

Hi Sally. I don’t have any podcasts on Russia yet, but do have a collection of relevant video clips on Russia and the USSR 1905-1941 .

fantastic information however in my opinion the music is a bit distracting

Hi Marcus I’m currently working through the podcasts to create versions without background music – check back in a few weeks to download a free copy.

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   Between 1906 and 1914, the Liberal government introduced a series of radical changes aimed at addressing the key issue of poverty in Britain. Various legislations were introduced with the aim of improving the lives of the working class Britons. These reforms took place against a backdrop of Victorian Britain where poverty was widespread and the government policy was that the population were self-sufficient and had no dependency on the state. Although the reforms were radical for their time, the Liberals failed to comprehensively address the issue of poverty. However the reforms were successful in achieving a significant degree of social change in Britain, and it was this that paved the way for the establishment of the Welfare State we have today.

   The Liberal government introduced social reforms designed on tackling the issue of poverty based off reports by Charles Booth (1899-1902) and Seebohm Rowntree (1904) in London and York. Previous to the reports it was believed that 2-3% of the population lived in poverty, but it was discovered that about 1/3 of the British population lived in poverty. It was these reports, and various other influences which encouraged the Liberals to pass the reforms.

   The first reform to be passed in 1906 was aimed at helping children. The School Meals Act was aimed at ensuring school pupils were not “in want in hunger”. The idea behind the reform was that if the next generation of the population was to be healthier than the previous then the Empire would continue to grow. However, the measure was only partially successful as it was not compulsory at first for local authorities to supply the school meals, and since no government money was provided many did not. Yet, some local authorities did adopt the scheme.

   The next act to be passed was the Free School Medical Inspections. The aim behind this measure was to help the children be healthier and better educated. Local authorities could now, if they desired to do so, provide school pupils with free medical check-ups. The scheme had very little success until 1912 when the government provided money for the service. However until the Public Health Act – the introduction of the NHS – was passed, treatment for illness and disease shown in the check-ups was still expensive. The scheme became successful when the treatment became free, along with the inspections.

   In 1908 the “Children’s Charter” (also known as the “Children’s …

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How successful were the Liberal Reforms of 1906-1914?

Vicky Stanforth-Green.                                                          October 14, 2001

How successful were the Liberal Reforms of 1906-1914 ?

At the General election of 1906, the Liberal Party, led by Henry Campbell-Bannerman won a landslide victory over the Conservatives. They won 377 seats, giving them an enormous majority of 84 over all other parties combined. Henry Campbell-Bannerman was the first Liberal Prime Minister for 20 years, and then following his reign was Herbert Asquith, who came into power in 1908. Asquith appointed two radical ministers - Winston Churchill (Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Lloyd George (Board of Trade). These characters were very influential in the idea of “New Liberalism” which was totally committed to radical, social reforms. This is exactly what the government tried to enforce between 1906-1914 and the “Lib Labs” (radical Liberals) passed several reforms to try to liberalise Britain from the previous Conservative rule.        

The huge scale of the Liberal party's victory in the 1906 general election guaranteed many new faces among the ranks of Liberal MPs, in favour of change in the field of social welfare. Between the years 1906 and 1914, the Liberals took steps to improve the health standards and the living and working conditions of the lower class. The main areas of people new legislation was targeted on was the working class under risk of poverty due to sickness or unemployment, their children and old age pensioners. In 1906, the Liberals passed the Trades dispute Act this reversed the Taff Vale Dispute of 1901, thus protecting union funds from claims for damages arising from strikes.

The government introduced the Education Act in 1906. This meant that local education authorities were providing school meals for destitute children by levying an additional rate of halfpenny in the pound. Although the Act was seen as progressive, the fact that it was not made compulsory argues if it was effective enough. By 1911, less than a third of all education authorities were using rates to support school meal provision and it had taken until 1914 for the Board of Education to make such provision compulsory.

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Meanwhile, in 1907, the Education Act made medical inspections for children compulsory. Under this Act, the Board of Education was able to specify that at least three inspections must take place during a child's school years. This was introduced in order to reduce the outbreaks of disease, which were very frequent at the time. Although this step helped improve national health levels in children, there were no such measures introduced after school life. The fact that there was no National Health Service introduced shows that although the Liberals attempted to improve the welfare of children, they did not improve the health conditions of adults or school leaver’s.

Finally, the Children's act of 1908 introduced a consolidation of measures to deal with child neglect and abuse and set up juvenile courts and remand homes to remove child offenders from the adult courts and prisons. This Act ensured children were not living on the streets without food or education. The attempts made to improve child welfare were eventually successful, but the time taken to enforce all the legislation means the laws passed only helped improve conditions for some children during the period from 1906 to 1914.

Another main target for the Liberals was the welfare of old age pensioners. Poverty was high as they had no successful financial backing from the government and could not make enough money working. The Old Age Pensions Act was introduced in 1908. The Act provided for pensions of 5s per week to be paid to those aged 70 or over who had annual incomes of £21 or less. For incomes over £21 a sliding scale of descending, graduated payments would be made up to a ceiling of a £31 annual income, at which point the payments ceased. This legislation did help to improve the social conditions of many pensioners and help to prevent extreme poverty.

The Government now had to deal with that fact that unemployment was rising and wages were falling. This made the economic situation a pressing issue due to the loss of earnings from unemployment or sickness. At the Board of Trade, the government initiated work on the setting up of labour exchanges, which eventually resulted in legislation in 1909. It fixed wages in designated industries where there was little or no trade union strength. Many argue that the introduction of labour exchanges was ineffective as work was still very hard to find and wages were low, not allowing the average lower income workers to pull themselves over the poverty line.

Although work on schemes to introduce sickness and unemployment insurance was well advanced by 1909, their eventual implementation was delayed until the National Insurance Act of 1911. Many government politicians such as David Lloyd George were determined to introduce this scheme.

The National Insurance Act was in two distinct parts. Part one dealt with health insurance and part two with unemployment insurance. This act was a positive move by the Liberals towards reducing poverty, as due to health levels being so bad at the time many were left sick with no way of receiving money.

On the other hand, this Act may not have been very successful due to a number of reasons. The fact that this scheme did not cover hospital treatment, except admission to the sanatorium intended to benefit tuberculosis sufferers, increased the risk of poverty. The Act only covered workers and not their families, which meant that there was still a risk of poverty if a member of the family needed medical treatment. The government did attempt to improve the scheme by abolishing the reduced benefits for the second 13-week period in favour of the full benefit for a period of 26 weeks. Although this was an improvement, many workers were sick for longer than this, especially those who could not afford to pay for hospital treatment. The fact that this scheme was self-contributory reduced its success. Weekly contributions were raised from the worker (4d), the employer (3d) and the government (2d). The worker still did benefit from this if they were sick as the slogan 'nine pence for four pence', used by Lloyd George to popularise this concept shows. However, for many workers, this was just a cut in their wage, and therefore may have further encouraged poverty.

The Liberals failed in their attempt to introduce an eight-hour day for the mining industry when they achieved power. It took two years to introduce an eight hour mining day in 1908, and a further three to pass the 1911 Shops Act, which used the same principle including a half-day closing. Limits on working-hours in other industries were not set, which meant that in many cases people were working long hours for small wages. The government did attempt to improve this by setting up Trade Boards in 1909. They laid down minimum payments in areas where workers were liable to exploitation, where Trade Unions could not protect them. Such industries known as ‘sweated’ industries included tailoring, box making and lace spinning. The Liberals also extended the Workman's Compensation Act of 1897 in its scope to cover some six million workers from poverty due to injury at work. However, many industries were not covered at all, and this greatly contributed to the growth of poverty.

        The issue that created the greatest difficulties for the Liberals, was one of the oldest: Ireland. In April, 1912. Armed with new powers of the Parliament Act, Asquith introduced a new Home Bill Rule. Conservative opposition to it was reinforced on this occasion by a popular Protestant movement in Ulster; and the new Conservative leader, Andrew Bonar Law, who had replaced Balfour in 1911, gave his covert support to army mutineers in Ulster. No compromises were acceptable, and a struggle to settle the fate of Ireland was still in full spate when war broke out in August in 1914. Most ominously for the Liberals, the Irish Home Rule supporters at Westminster were losing ground in southern Ireland, where in 1913 a militant working-class movement entered into close alliance with the nationalist forces of Sinn Fein. Ireland was obviously on the brink of civil war.

        The Liberals passed the reform of Trade union act in 1913; this legalized union funds being used for political purposes. The 'explosion' of trade union activity from 1910-1914 reflects the failure of the Liberals to deal with contemporary social problems.

In the main, working people were unimpressed by Liberal reforms; the decline of wages and the increase in job insecurity seemed to outweigh the benefits of any welfare legislation. Although they did not create a welfare state or solve poverty, the Liberals did reduce the chances of poverty for working class families and old aged people, with such legislation as the National Insurance Act and Pensions Bill. The introduction of health inspections, food provision and juvenile courts for children helped to reduce the numbers of homeless, sick and hungry children. They also attempted to regulate the treatment of workers with the introduction of working hours and minimum wages in some industries. The fact that there were huge exclusions to Liberal legislation adds to the idea that Liberal rule was not successful with dealing with poverty and need.

It can be argued that the Liberal rule and reforms were very successful in terms of the scale of task with which the new government was faced. The fact that the House of Lords was mainly Conservative meant that the Liberal legislation programme was regularly opposed, because Conservatives regarded Liberal policies as confiscation to property rights and a threat to any idea of individual responsibility. This can justify the amount of time taken to introduce various laws, such as the National Insurance Act and the Pensions Act. The amount of people below the poverty line at the time was estimated at being as high as one third of the population. A view that no other government could have dealt with the situation of poverty any more effectively at that time adds to the theory that the Liberals were as successful as they could have been under the circumstances. Liberal legislation between the years of 1906 to 1914 laid the foundations of a welfare state. Even still, the Liberal government of 1906-15 was one of the great reforming administrations of the twentieth century, it attempted to pass many reforms to improve Britain, and it broke the power of the House of Lords and laid the foundations of the modern welfare state.

Bibliography:

• Britannica Encyclopedia 98’
• Encarta 98’
• Context - Modern British History 1900-1999 (Michael Lynch)
• Class notes
• Longman Study Guide- Modern History
• A Social History of England by ASA Briggs.

Document Details

• Word Count 1782
• Page Count 5
• Level AS and A Level
• Subject Law

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In 1906 to 1914 the Liberal Government passed reforms to help reduce poverty. Legislation included the introduction of old age pensions, free school meals, National Insurance and labour exchanges.

Part of History The making of modern Britain (1880-1951)

Liberal reforms 1906-1914

The key events during the British Liberal reforms.

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Higher History Unit 2: Britain Essay Plans (Labor Effectiveness…

• Introduce National Insurance Part 2 in 1911
• Policy insured workers in trades worst hit by trade depression/seasonal unemployment (ship building/engineering/construction)
• Applied to 2 million men across Britain (low % of total)
• 7 shillings per week up to 15 weeks in any 1 year
• Huge improvement on existing provision
• Helped to soften the results of unemployment
• Introduction of NI had a positive impact because it along with NI part 1 = safety net
• Provided workers with security and peace of mind
• Payments cut off after 15 weeks regardless of the claimants situation - viewed as meaning they had not genuinely been seeking work
• Step forward but not enough for a basic living (limiting success)
• Contributions required from workers wages were flat rate (everyone pays the same amount)
• Overall not the most successful
• Flat rate contributions = massive bite taken out of wages
• Weaker than the reforms aimed at the elderly
• Pension was a more effective measure that provided for a group in greater need
• Nearly 50% of all people forced to end their life in the workhouse
• Old Age Pension Act brought in in 1908
• Applied to everyone over the age of 70 provided they relied on no other income
• No insurance contributions were necessary (came as a right)
• Did not lift people above the official poverty line but large improvement on previous laissez faire orientated arrangement that had left elderly people relying on their limited income
• Logical to infer this was effective
• Only half a million people qualified for the pension in 1908
• This is due to several individually necessary and jointly sufficient exemptions that if violated before or during the applicant's time receiving the pension would mean it was denied to them
• These violations were based on moral grounds (such as drunkenness) - laissez-faire orientated attitudes had in no way been eradicated
• Overall was the most successful
• 75% decrease in elderly people entering the workhouse between 1906 and 1913 due to the introduction of the Old Age Pension Act
• Targeted because of their importance as future workers and soldiers of Britain during a time when a main concern across the nation was poor health contributing to Britain's decline
• More severely highlighted by economic recessions in the 1880's and 90's
• 50% of volunteer soldiers for the Boer war had to be turned away due to ill health, the war took 3 years to win
• Introduced Education (Provision of meals) Act in 1906, gave local authorities the power to provide free school meals in order to address this issue
• Those receiving free school meals = recorded to have been gaining weight during term and losing weight during the holidays
• In 1914 governments provided local authorities with grants of half the cost of providing school meals
• By this time 14 million school meals per year were being provided for 158,000 children
• Money that local authorities were allowed to use in order to provide this service (a half penny) was completely inadequate - small measure that could only result in limited progress
• Overall the least effective
• Mainly due to the fact that school meals were not compulsory, huge number of children missed out on help
• Certainly not as strong as the reforms which targeted the elderly
• Pension helped a group in society less able to help itself whereas the young could grow and develop the ability to work
• Introduced National Insurance Part 1 in 1911
• Provided compulsory insurance against sickness (if earning £160 per year)
• Workers pay 4d, Employers contribute 3d and the State 2d
• Provided 10s a week for 13 weeks and 5s a week for 13 subsequent weeks in any 1 year
• Added to National Insurance Act 2 provided a safety net against two main reasons for falling below the poverty line
• All those insured had what at the time was a luxury, able to receive medical care if required
• Covered 10 million men and 4 million women across Britain (loses value, toal population = 35 million people)
• Payments provided were not enough to cover dependents and families of claimants (below real requirements)
• The necessary contributions were a tax and loss that many resented giving up
• If covered by NI part 1 also likely to be covered by Part 2 which doubles the loss of money
• Not as strong as the reforms aimed at the elderly
• Old age pension came as a right to those that qualified rather than requiring personal contributions
• Early 1900's poverty was a major problem in Britain which previous legislation such as the poor law was not effectively tackling
• Social researchers Booth and Rowntree spent several years conducting surveys and producing reports on the extent of poverty in Britain
• These raised awareness of the importance of dealing with this issue - Signposting
• To deal with this between 1906 and 1914 the Liberals introduced a series of reforms aimed at tackling key areas of poverty that included help for the elderly, the unemployed, the sick worker and the young - LOA
• It will be the purpose of this essay to argue that the Liberal reforms made a significant improvement to British people's lives in some areas such as that which resulted from the implementation of pensions but failed to do so in areas such as improving the health of young people in schools
• Reforms aimed at assisting the young were ineffective as they were not compulsory
• The National Insurance Acts were more effective but not without the serious drawback of flat rate contributions which may have made poverty worse in some situations
• The most effective reform was the old age pension act which helped the group least able to help itself Judgement
• Therefore the Liberal reforms of 1906 - 1914 were partly successful in dealing with the problem of poverty in Britain in the early 1900's, dealing successfully with the issue among the elderly but not among others Support
• This can be argued to be the case due to the fact that there was a 75% decrease in old people having to enter the workhouse between 1906 and 1913 while as late as 1939 50% of local authorities in Britain were not providing free school meals to children in need
• Social researchers Booth and Rowntree conducted surveys over a span of several years with the aim of establishing the severity of the problem of poverty in Britain
• Booth's work took place in London from 1889
• Rowntree's work took place in York from 1901
• Subsequent reports produced contained rigorous scientific statistical evidence detailing that the problem was far worse than they had feared
• Rowntree's work showed that this was not only true in major cities but indubitably widespread with 1/3 of Britains entire population living in poverty
• Highlighted the lack of success previous legislation like the poor law which only assisted 3% of the population had resulted in
• Provided the first clear and importantly scientifically based evidence
• Exceptionally difficult to refute as the methods of the researchers were professional and extraordinarily thorough in order to accurately reach the depiction of the problem of poverty
• This left the possibility of refraining from acting on a solution seeming entirely illogical
• In reality these reports - although meticulously conclusive - were exceptionally lengthy and had not been read by the majority of British citizens meaning that it would not be strictly necessary to act on solutions to the conclusions they presented
• Overall not the main motivating factor
• The reports existed publicly for several years before the time that the Liberal's were campaigning for election in 1906 and yet no mention of social reform was detailed in their manifesto
• This refutes the claim that the work of these social researchers was their inspiration for change as if this was the case surely this would have been mentioned originally before the election rather than coming to light a significant amount of time afterwards
• Certainly weaker than motivation of the Liberal's being genuine concern for the poor
• When elected in 1906 the Liberal Party were mainly dominated by Old Liberals (men who held and were accustomed to Laissez-faire attitudes)
• In 1908 the leadership of the Liberal government changed to New Liberals (arguably more modern approach motivated by general concern
• Could have resulted from Liberals being more open to influence from outside sources of solutions to problems such as poverty, for instance the reports of Booth and Rowntree and the introduction of their reform
• Some of the reforms (for example the Old Age Pension) do not appear to have any other explanation. Elderly people are not a source of long lasting or continuing votes for the Liberal party as a result of introducing the pension, taking care of them did not benefit Britain in terms of improving the economy or security of Britain as they were no longer workers or indeed soldiers.
• This shows that the Liberals actions in some cases only seem to be explained by sincere and specific concerns they hoped to introduce solutions for
• Some historians argue that Churchill (an important and unquestionably influential member of the Liberal party at this point in time) worked in accordance with other priorities. Specifically, concerns for holding back the growth of socialism and protecting the greatness of the British empire through attempting to improve National efficiency and security and that these are the origins of the reforms
• Overall this is the main motivating factor
• This is primarily due to the fact that some of the reforms significantly damaged the Liberal's chances of being re-elected at the subsequent election as the reaction to the taxes they inflicted on the upper and working classes in order to fuel the needed funding for the reforms lost support for them but went ahead anyway
• Britain had suffered its first major economic depression in the 1880's and 90's
• This combined with the extraordinarily poor condition of British workers that had been highlighted in the reports of Booth and Rowntree resulted in widespread concern that Britain was in economic decline
• A factor which emphasised the importance of dealing with this problem is that when the Boer war had taken place from 1899-1902 around 50% of British volunteer soldiers had to be turned away due to being in far too poor physical condition to be allowed to join the fight
• Many of the reforms follow examples already being implemented in Germany by the late 1800's
• Lloyd George was a very influential member of the Liberal party and had recently seen these first hand
• This means the Liberal reforms are a direct example of a previously witnessed solution attempt to this specific problem
• All of this evidence did freely exist before the time when the Liberals were campaigning for election so if this is the key motivation for social reform being implemented then it makes no sense that social reform aimed against poverty was not even merely mentioned in their manifesto
• Overall this was not the main motivation
• Old Age pension was the hardest reform for the Liberals to introduce due to the extreme financial requirements its implementation came with and this reform had absolutely nothing to do with improving national efficiency and security
• This motivation is not as strong as the argument that the Liberals had genuine concern for the poor
• Genuine concern would account for going to such an extreme financial extent to care for elderly people suffering in poverty
• The Liberals faced several key threats, two of which were presented by competing political parties
• The first threat was from Labour based on their growing desire and ability to offer working and lower class citizens the representation they so aptly desired in parliament, particularly due to the fact that by 1900 most working class men had the vote which emphasises how crucial catering to thier needs is for any party that wishes to be re-elected or indeed elected in the first place
• Although, it must be noted at this point in time the Labour party were simply beginning to rise, only holding 29 seats in parliament in 1906
• A second threat facing the Liberals was from the Conservatives based on the liklihood of them returning to power after the subsequent election if the Liberals were not successful
• The Conservative party which had been in power prior to the Liberals being elected in 1906 had implemented some limited social reform - this made it evident that if the Liberal party was not willing to cater to the public in this way then they were. This being the case social reform seems like the most logical step for the Liberals to implement further if tey desired re-election
• However, if this survival of the fittest approach was what motivated the Liberals to such a dramatic change then surely they would have simply worked alone. The Liberals are known to have worked with the Labour party on more than one occasion, refuting the concept that Labour was an influential enough threat at the time that it could have been the reason
• Not the main motivation
• The Liberals knowingly lost votes from the upper and middle classes which they had taxed through the implementation of several reforms, driving their support into the hands of the Conservatives.
• Weaker than the argument for genuine concern for the poor
• This is because the only explanation that seems valid in comparison to the problems found with other potential motivations is that the Liberals simply believed that implenting these reforms was the right thing to do and that they accepted that doing this would cost them
• When the Liberals came to power in 1906 their manifesto was primarily tailored to improving Britain's economic circumstances without any even mere mention of social reform
• Nevertheless, between 1906 and 1914 the Liberals introduced what was at the time the most influential program of social reform that had ever been implemented in Britain
• There is much historical debate discussing what exactly motivated this dramatic change in direction - Signposting
• Arguable possible motivations include: influence from existing reports on the extent of British poverty published by social researchers Booth and Rowntree, having genuine concern for the poor, concerns for National Sufficiency and Security, and lastly political motivation based on increasing their own chances of remaining in power after the subsequent election - L.O.A
• It will be the purpose of this essay to argue that it was in fact genuine concern for the poor which motivated the Liberals to re-direct their attention towards implementing social reform rather than debatably weaker alternatives such as influence from the work of Booth and Rowntree
• There are several arguable motivations such as influence from at the time current reports on poverty or aims to improve National efficiency and security for the Liberals turning to social reform, though many of them lose their strong stance when it is pointed out that despite their previous existence social reform was not mentioned on the Liberal's manifesto during their campaign. The main factor also does not appear to be political motivation as this change in direction eventually damaged the overall public view of the Liberal party. - Judgement
• The main factor which motivated the Liberals to implement social reform in Britain between 1906 and 1914 was genuine concern for the poor. - Support
• This is because it alone accounts for several actions that they pressed forward otherwise inexplicably such as focusing reform on assisting the elderly people in Britain, resulting in a 75% decrease in elderly people entering the workhouse by 1913.
• Intro sentence: Lastly, Labour also turned their attention to attempting to tackle the problem of idleness - i.e. unemployment - in Britain.
• British citizens at this point in time were terrified of suffering through another great depression after the chronic unemployment of the 1930's
• However, by 1946 unemployment rate stood at only 2.5% only rising to 3% by 1951
• This is the lowest unemployment rate recorded in the entirety of British history
• Between 1945 and 1951 the Labour government adopted a 'Keynesian' approach to the economy
• This means that in order to avoid mass unemployment the government makes jobs for people
• Labour used; house, school and hospital building programmes in order to do this
• In addition, they followed a policy of nationalism which means the state took over control of main British industries who's subsequent profits would filter back into the countries own funding rather than increasing the individual wealth of shareholders.
• Keeping the unemployment rate at this historic low is seen by many as an impressive achievement
• The fact that they followed several policies with this deliberate intention earned public respect
• They actually inherited a situation where there was going to be low unemployment despite their efforts since participation in the war had left Britain in a state which required a huge amount of clean up and repair
• This naturally created employment opportunities without Labour having to become directly involved
• Overall, not the most successful reform brought in by the post-war Labour government
• It is a false perception that low unemployment was a result of Labour's success
• Certainly weaker than that aimed at tackling disease in Britain
• Much in contrast, the NHS was founded at the time that Labour was in power meaning that its success can be traced back to something they are responsible for
• Intro sentence: An area that was previously neglected by the Liberals when they were in power between 1906 and 1914 was regard for general public health
• Implemented social reform in order to tackle this area - through Beveridge's assessment became known as the giant of disease
• Bevan (the health minister at the time) created National Health Service
• Originally hoped to be comprehensive and able to treat all problems - paid for through taxation, free at the time that assistance was needed
• At the time that the NHS was first founded countless doctors opposed to working for the service - resented the loss of private practices
• This issue was addressed by Bevan - made working for the NHS financially attractive and turned many in his favour
• When the system officially became available to the public hundreds of British citizens attended doctor's surgeries in order to have an incomprehensible variety of illnesses treated
• This clearly means that it is logical to infer that the NHS was an entirely necessary system of social reform that was (from the beginning) very positively received and remains so to this day
• The NHS brought with it indubitably severe financial consequences
• The cost of prescriptions rose from £7 million per month to £13.5 million per month by 1948
• By 1949 taxation in the form of National Insurance payments only contributed to 9% of the required funding
• Due to this previously greatly underestimated financial demand charges to the public had to be brought in when purchasing glasses or receiving dental treatment
• The implementation of these charges was contradictory to the founding principles of the NHS and is - for critics - its flaw which lost their support at this time
• Overall, is the most successful reform brought in by the post-war Labour government
• Although critics may argue that having its founding principles broken should brand the project as a failure it must be taken into consideration that this is the reform which helped the greatest number of British people over the longest period of time
• Intro sentence: An additional key area that Labour focused social reform towards was the problem of squalor in Britain
• Severe shortage in housing available as a consequence of bombing attacks the country suffered in WW2
• True to the extent that in 1945 1/3rd of all households in Britain were in serious need of renovation & repair
• Total number of households greatly increased due to upsurge in post-war divorce rates & the baby boom
• Labour brought in the council house building programme - Bevan publicly promised to build high quality houses that would not simply become slums
• Bevan stayed true to his promise, each house produced by Labour was of exceptionally high quality, so much so that many of them remain standing to this day
• Exceptional achievement when noted that the man in charge was also running the NHS - heavy responsibility but standards remained high - building reputation
• In 1951 it was recorded that there were 750,000 fewer houses than there were households in Britain
• This means that 3/4 of a million people remained homeless
• Houses were undoubtedly good quality but the time ensuring this took slowed down the building process dramatically
• Overall, not the most successful reform brought in by the post-war labour government
• Mainly because they were unable to build anywhere near the amount of houses that were required with only 1 million out of a promised 5 million council houses being built in the end
• Certainly not as strong as the Labour reforms aimed at tackling the problem of disease in Britain
• NHS had a far more widespread beneficial impact on British citizens that the council house building scheme did. This can be shown when it is noted that in the first year the NHS sold 5 million pairs of glasses and treated 8 million dental patients
• Intro sentence: Another key problem that the post-war Labour government brought in social reform in attempt to resolve was the problem of poverty in Britain, referred to by Beveridge in his well-known evaluative report as the giant of want.
• Previous efforts by Liberals had not minimised British poverty anywhere near the desired extent, still a prominent problem
• Problem exposed to all when children from inner cities evacuated to the countryside , allowing poor health and few possessions to be witnessed by those otherwise sheltered from their suffering
• Labour brought inupdated National Insurance Act in 1946, extended the system to include all working adults rather than merely those in specific industries
• Compulsory and provided applicants with benefits for sickness, unemployment, maternity, widow's allowance, guardians allowance, retirement pensions and a death grant
• Benefits set at 26 shillings for a single adult and 42 shillings for a couple
• National Insurance scheme now universal
• Holes revealed in the updated system dealt with through the National Assistance Act in 1948 to catch those who fell
• Shows that Labour government is willing to work to repair areas that weren't working - builds respect for work ethic
• Serious problem limiting success - benefit levels set 1946 and fixed for 5 subsequent years
• By 1948 when the bill became law price of goods had dramatically risen due to post-war economic inflation
• Meaning money now set to be provided would not be capable of going as far as it now had to
• For many, this process was too intrusive and subsequently humiliating to sign up for
• This was not as successful as the Labour government's attempt to tackle the giant of disease in Britain
• This can be argued because while the National Assistance Act was means tested the NHS was a universal system more freely open to all
• Intro sentence: Thirdly, the post-war Labour government turned their attention to the problem of ignorance in Britain, the roots of which were traced back to the fact that at this point in time secondary schooling was not compulsory and consequently literacy rates were low among the general population
• The Education sector had taken a hit during the war - destruction of schools in bombing attacks
• This fact along with a needed method to cope with the baby boom resulted in the development of a new education system
• In 1944 the Butler Education Act was introduced by the coalition government - now continued by Labour
• Divided secondary school education into three tiers - Grammar schools, Secondary Modern, Technical (decided by 11+ exam)
• Grammar = positive academic potential, Secondary Modern = average, Technical = suited to practical skills
• Appears efficient in theory but not in practice
• Very few technical schools were built due to their financial requirements
• Efforts to reform education had been absent since mid 1800's and were very evidently required
• Implementation of this new system meant secondary schooling was made compulsory and free for all - opening opportunities
• Increased attendance, raising literacy rates in Britain
• System was divisive and created an extent of inequality between school children - could not be deemed a success
• Decision being made at such a young age contributed to assisting middle and upper class pupils while leaving those from the working class behind rather than attempting to get each individual to an equal standard
• New school system lost the respect of many British citizens as it can be said to reflect exceptionally old-fashioned laissez-faire attitudes by simply allowing existing advantages to remain relevant to the upper classes while taking no responsibility in order to make it so they were available to others
• Certainly weaker than the reforms aimed at tackling the problem of disease in Britain
• Mainly due to the fact that much in contrast support for the NHS increased in Britain as the system was successfully adapted and stood the test of time
• One of the greatest political upsets in British history happened in 1945 when - against the predictions of political commentators - Winston Churchill and the Conservative party unexpectedly lost the post-war general election to the Labour party
• This event came as such an indubitable shock due to the fact that Churchill had been exceptionally widely supported in his role as Prime Minister as he led Britain through the second world war
• So much so that his approval rating stood at 83% in May 1945
• However, appreciation for Churchill's war effort was not enough to distract British citizens from their now heart-felt desire for the implementation of further social reform Signposting
• To attempt to meet the needs of British people the Labour party implemented reforms attempting to tackle Beveridge's five giants said to be holding back Britain. These were: disease, want, ignorance, squalor and idleness. L.O.A
• It will be the purpose of this essay to argue that Labour's reform in attempt to tackle disease in Britain was the most successful in meeting the needs of British people, this is much in contrast to their efforts to tackle idleness in Britain which are said by some to be ineffective
• Labour made effort to implement social reform in Britain across a variety of areas in order to attempt to meet the needs of British people. These problems had been pointedly identified by Beveridge and noted by the British public at the time that the war ended
• They included; want which the Labour party responded to by improving the original National Insurance scheme that had been brought in by the Liberals.
• Ignorance, at which a new education scheme was aimed
• Squalor, which was attempted to be dealt with through a council house building programme
• And Idleness that they managed to maintain control of throughout their time in power Judgement
• Overall, the most successful reform brought in by the post-war Labour government between 1945 and 1951 were those aimed at tackling the problem of disease which resulted in the founding of the NHS. Support
• This is because its origin is their most nationwide accepted achievement which has evolved and remained beneficial to the British public to this day
• Overall, the work of the NUWSS was the main reason why some women received the vote in 1918
• This can be argued as when parliament moved to make this change many of the approving politicians were those that the Suffragists had personally reached and gained the support of
• However, how effective the Suffragists can be argued to have been is limited as although their peaceful tactics did gain support for their cause they did not result in a great amount of publicity since their formal approach to work and advertising was quite easily dismissed by those who were in some cases determined to remain uninterested
• By extension, it must be noted that the Suffragists had been campaigning by this time for years on end and had very little to definitively show for it
• The Suffragists can be viewed as successful because they did achieve their goal in gaining the support of many influential MP's, raising respect and opinions of their intellectual and political ability in the minds of those at the forefront of the major decision making process
• This is an achievement which other arguable factors such as the actions of the WSPU that led to women gaining the vote do not have on their side
• An additional and undeniably positive aspect of their work was that the NUWSS had a powerfully large number of members (rising to 53,000 in 1914), many of which being male, this fact shows the new level of attainment that they had managed to rise to in their cause which provided them with a new strength in the eyes of potential followers
• The NUWSS, informally known as the suffragists, was lead by Millicent Fawcett in 1897
• Their aim was to use peaceful and persistent tactics in order to convince as many people as possible to support their cause in the hope that the eventual result would be an improved view of women's potential as voters and subsequently that potential ability becoming a reality
• These peaceful tactics included; holding meetings, distributing leaflets, organising petitions and commonly attempting to build up relations with MP's in order to add as many influential people to their following as possible and heighten the possibility of a bill for women's rights being brought up in parliament
• In 1914 when the war began as British men were recruited and sent off in order to fight, women remained and filled the occupational gaps that had been left behind
• These occupational roles that many women adapted to included working in government departments, driving public transport, becoming clerks in business, working in munition factories producing supplies for the war effort, farming and becoming members of the countries police force
• The WSPU suspended their efforts at this time in order to fully dedicate themselves to this cause
• One positive consequence of women having and making use of this opportunity was that it made it apparent to Britain's population that they were in fact capable of working in stereotypically male professions and doing so well
• It can be argued that in the eyes of men this dedication from women for their country was a sign that they had 'earned' their right to be considered as voters, although this was not the intended view that women hoped to portray it is nonetheless an element which brought them closer to the base of their goal
• There are aspects of this that can be used to argue that women's war work cannot be said to have been the reason that some women were made eligible to vote in 1918
• At this time, a woman's ability to vote depended on her being over 30, married and having ties to a significant amount of land ownership
• The women that these criteria applied to were commonly upper class, not the younger working class women who had worked and in some cases due to poor working conditions died for the war effort making this invalid justification for the change in their political abilities
• Overall, women's role in the war effort was not the main factor resulting in some women being given the ability to vote in 1918.
• It is possible to argue that the timing of parliament acting on this cause coinciding with the end of the war was merely a government strategy as criteria women needed to meet in order to be in a position to personally gain from this act of parliament were devised for a very specific purpose
• Emmeline Pankhurst - leader of the Suffragettes - met these criteria, this fact can be argued as meaning it was not women's war work which led to some women gaining the vote but instead it was potentially an attempt by the government to cut off the Suffragette movement from the top down before it was able to restart
• This is certainly weaker justification than the work of the NUWSS
• This can be argued because they eventually created a situation where many people in Britain saw women gaining the vote as inevitable rather than as a cause that could be permanently denied
• Before 1918, the traditional view of women in Britain was exceptionally limiting. In the eyes of men and even of women who had never known any other way of thinking, women belonged in the home carrying and raising children and supporting their husbands and households in any way they could.
• Women were denied the ability to vote or have any connection to political spheres due to being thought of as emotionally and morally inferior to men
• There are four main factors which changed this fact over time and eventually resulted in some British women being granted the ability to vote in 1918, these factors are; the work of the NUWSS (otherwise known as the Suffragists), the actions of the WSPU (otherwise known as the suffragettes), and women's role in work during WW1.
• Frustrated as a consequence of the lack of immediate result from the work of the NUWSS, Emmeline Pankhurst broke away from them in 1903 and founded the WSPU with the belief that in order to engage the media an increased number of politician's militant tactics must be used
• In accordance to this belief the slogan of the Suffragettes was widely advertised as 'Deeds not Words'
• These militant tactics included chaining themselves to railings, publicly setting post boxes on fire, slashing expensive paintings in art galleries and conducting widespread hunger strikes upon arrest, resulting in the Cat and Mouse Act of 1913
• The actions of the Suffragettes can be argued to have positively contributed to some women gaining the vote in 1918 as many argue that without the incomprehensible amount of publicity and in some cases - for example as a result of the force - never have been taken as seriously as it was
• Additionally, the arguable success of the Suffragettes is also heightened when it is noted that their very existence brought new life to a cause that had become dormant in the minds of many British citizens as by 1900 many papers had grown tired of the formal work of the NUWSS and subsequently turned a blind eye
• The actions of the WSPU did bring with it many severe negative consequences, for example, over time many British citizens became frustrated and angry at the chaos being caused around them resulting in growing disapproval and isolation from the cause
• The Suffragettes can be said to be limited in their success of gaining women the vote as they contributed to the widespread belief that women were too irrational to be trusted with the responsibilities that came with the right to vote
• More seriously, the violent actions of the Suffragettes made it almost politically impossible for the government to allow them to vote as that would mean they were publicly seen to bow down to terror tactics, opening them up to serious potential threat which at this time in Britain was a real possibility due to the ongoing actions of the IRA
• Overall, the actions of the WSPU were not the main reason that some women were given the right to vote in 1918
• This is mainly because although they did gain an incredibly large amount of publicity, none of it was positive
• This certainly had a weaker influence than the peaceful tactics of the Suffragists
• This can be argued because the NUWSS provided a place for all those who did not support how the Suffragettes were causing women to be increasingly negatively viewed to work peacefully for their case all the while attempting to limit the amount of damage that could be done to their reputation as potential voters
• In conclusion, the part played by women in the war effort was not the main reason that some women gained the vote in 1918 as it can only be argued to an exceptionally minor extent
• This is because although the political movement coincided with world war one's conclusion and it potentially helped to add urgency to the case, it cannot outweigh the previous peaceful work of the NUWSS and the militant actions of the WSPU
• The work of the NUWSS was the main reason that some women were finally made eligible to vote at this time as their work defended the honourable and responsible traits of women all the while gaining the support of influential politicians that eventually defended their cause inside parliament where such an opinion was needed most