britian in 1900

Question 1

1899-1902

Answer 1

anglo-boer war

Question 2

1900

Answer 2

• khaki election victory for salisbury’s conservatives
• labour representation committee formed

Question 3

1902-05

Answer 3

balfour led conservative government

Question 4

1903

Answer 4

lib-lab pact formed

Question 5

1905

Answer 5

liberals in office under campbell-bannerman

Question 6

1906

Answer 6

liberal landslide electoral victory

Question 7

problems in britian in 1900

Answer 7

• poverty
• economy
• industrial relations
• role as an empire
• franchise question
• position of house of lords
• ulster question

Question 8

government in 1895-1902

Answer 8

conservatives under lord salisbury

Question 9

government in 1902-05

Answer 9

conservatives under arthur balfour

Question 10

government in 1905-08

Answer 10

liberals under henry-campbell bannerman

Question 11

government in 1908-14

Answer 11

liberals under herbert asquith

Question 12

only major scheme to deal with poverty in 1900

Answer 12

poor law

Question 13

problem with poor law

Answer 13

enormous increase in population made system of parish relief inadequate

Question 14

what was the population increase mainly due to

Answer 14

industrialisation

Question 15

public reports highlighting poverty

Answer 15

• charles booth (london)
• seebohm rowntree (yorkshire)

Question 16

evidence for poverty in 1902

Answer 16

report by high army command that nearly 2/3 of those that volunteered for anglo-boer war had failed to pass basic medical test

Question 17

what is national efficiency linked to & how

Answer 17

eugenics - science of improving quality by breeding out inherited weaknesses & deficiencies

Question 18

prominent voice for eugenics

Answer 18

left-wing intellectuals eg. george bernard shaw

Question 19

define left-wing intellectuals

Answer 19

writers & thinkers who believed in radical social & economic change

Question 20

report in 1904

Answer 20

‘interdepartmental committee on physical deterioration’ delivered formal report to parliament

eg:
- appointment of full-time medical officers of health & visitors in urban areas
- regular medical examinations of school children
- local authorities provide meals for school children

Question 21

creation of youth movement - the ‘boy scouts’

Answer 21

• response to need for national efficiency
• founder = lord baden powell
• 1914: spread nationwide
• 1920: spread worldwide

Question 22

when did it appear britian’s trade & industry was shrinking compared to other countries

Answer 22

1870-1914

Question 23

where was economic decline most evident & include examples

Answer 23

staple industries

eg:
- british industrial growth rate of 2.3% was half of USA
- germany & USA overtaken britian in volume of iron & steel production
- by 1910, british industrial exports made up 10% of world trade compared to 20% for germany & 40% for USA

Question 24

what was the decline in the staple industries potentially offset by

Answer 24

growth of ‘new industries’

Question 25

examples of 'new industries'

Answer 25

- transport & communication - distributive trades - hotels & catering - financial services - health provision - education - public administration

Question 26

how much activities within the workforce were accounted for by 'new industries' by 1910

Answer 26

44%

Question 27

define invisible earnings

Answer 27

sale abroad of services rather than tangible goods

Question 28

what became increasingly important to the british economy & why

Answer 28

invisible earnings - profits from sale of financial/insurance services & tax revenue which helped keep britian solvent in critical times

Question 29

what saw a rapid growth in the last quarter of the nineteenth century

Answer 29

'new' unions (mass-membership trade unions)

Question 30

what were 'new' unions mainly composed of

Answer 30

unskilled or semi-skilled workers

Question 31

how did the employers counter the major threat if 'new' unions

Answer 31

formed federations that were aimed specifically at resisting strength of organised labour

Question 32

what did these 'new' unions campaign for

Answer 32

better wages & conditions

Question 33

define 'old' unions

Answer 33

- established organisations representing skilled workers - trade union movement dominated by these for much of nineteenth century

Question 34

how many of the workforce in 1911 were agricultural workers compared to 1841 & 1861

Answer 34

1911 = 11% 1841 = 22% 1861 = 17%

Question 35

what was the agricultural workers decline mainly due to

Answer 35

agricultural recession in 1870s --> foreign cheap corn came to britian from new farm land in north america, argentina & australia --> british farmers couldn't produce crops as cheaply as imports & hit by lots of harvest failures

Question 36

when did british farming begin to recover

Answer 36

1914 due to war when imports were reduced & increased demand for home-grown food

Question 37

main reason for britians increase as an empire

Answer 37

participation in 'scramble for africa' that begun in 1870s

Question 38

what was the 'scramble for africa'

Answer 38

between 1870s & 1914, major european colonial powers took over large areas of africa

Question 39

how many males had the vote in 1900

Answer 39

60%

Question 40

what was the house of lords (upper house) able to do

Answer 40

block legislation sent up by house of commons (lower house)

Question 41

why did the lords only choose to reject measures proposed by liberal governments

Answer 41

overwhelming majority of conservative peers in upper house

Question 42

example of lords rejecting measure

Answer 42

1894 - gladstone's 'irish home rule' bill

Question 43

who wanted home rule

Answer 43

irish nationalists

Question 44

define home rule

Answer 44

measure granting a dependent region control over own affairs

Question 45

what did irish nationalists want

Answer 45

creation of separate government in dublin - responsible for irish affairs

Question 46

who did not want home rule

Answer 46

ulster unionists - largely protestant population who didn't want to give southern catholic ireland a controlling hand over them

Question 47

when were the 2 other home rule bills gladstone (liberal leader) tried to pass but failed

Answer 47

- 1886 - 1893

Question 48

what had gladstone's attempts to pass the home rule bills caused

Answer 48

- split his party - hardened resolve of unionists to reject home rule on grounds it undermined unity if united kingdom & betrayed ulster