politics of war 1914-18 Flashcards
(69 cards)
1
Q
what was the result of a total war
A
great challenge to liberal values of individual freedom & limited government intervention
2
Q
wartime government aug 1914 to may 1915
A
asquiths liberal government
3
Q
wartime government may 1915 to dec 1916
A
asquiths coalition government
4
Q
wartime government dec 1916 to nov 1918
A
lloyd georges coalition government
5
Q
what liberal values were impossible to preserve
A
personal freedom, peace & retrenchment
6
Q
what did parliament pass in 1914
A
defence of the realm act (DORA)
7
Q
what did DORA grant
A
state and its agencies extensive powers over the lives of ordinary citizens
8
Q
examples of powers DORA granted the government
A
- control of arms factories
- control of imports/exports
- ministry of munitions set up to direct wartime industrial production
- conscription introduced = males aged 18-42
- food rationing imposed
9
Q
what allowed lloyd george to develop his ideas of consensus politics
A
political truce
10
Q
what did asquiths calm demeanour and refusal to panick appear like
A
lack of dynamism
11
Q
lloyd george’s two wartime budgets in 1914 & 1915
A
doubled income tax & increased government expenditure
12
Q
figures of lloyd georges wartime measures
A
- raised income tax from 6d. to 6s. in the pound & introduced super-tax on annual incomes over £2500
- taxed alcohol & tobacco
- licensing laws which severely restricted opening hours of public houses = unpopular
13
Q
conservative objections of asquiths performance as war leader
A
- shell crisis
- failure of gallipoli campaign
14
Q
shell crisis
A
in 1915, supply of shells was falling short
15
Q
gallipoli campaign
A
april 1915 - attempt made to remove german ally (turkey) by allied landing in gallipoli in southern turkey
–> costly failure
16
Q
politicians in coalition government (1915)
A
- andrew bonar law
- arthur balfour
- edward carson
= leading conservatives/unionists who received government posts
17
Q
who represented labour party in coalition government
A
arthur henderson - board of education
18
Q
why did lloyd george welcome the creation of the coalition government
A
provided opportunity to advance principle of centrist politics
19
Q
who did bonar law approach in 1915 to propose coalition government (over asquith)
A
lloyd george
20
Q
benefits of coalition government for conservatives
A
offered party return to government office after 10 years
21
Q
why did the coalition government upset many liberals
A
felt party had compromised principles by allowing conservatives back into office
22
Q
what did other liberals believe about the effect of the coalition government on asquith
A
face-saving exercise = hid how badly war was going due to his uninspiring leadership
23
Q
what position did lloyd george move to
A
from treasury to head of ministry of munitions
24
Q
aim of lloyd george as ministry of munitions
A
produce more shells
25
evidence for lloyd georges success as ministry of munitions: machine guns
- war began, army had 1330 machine guns
- when war ended, it had 250,000 guns
26
when did the supply of shells exceed demand
1918
27
composition of conservatives, liberals & labour in coalition government may 1915
liberals = 27
conservatives = 10
labour = 1
28
what was passed in jan 1916
military service act
29
how many liberals voted against the military service act & why
50 - to oblige citizens to take part in warfare was unprecedented attack on individual freedom
30
what damaged liberalism as a political philosophy
the idea that circumstances made it necessary to vote for certain bills (eg. military service act)
31
describe how conscription (military service act) caused disagreements in the cabinet
- edward grey & regina mckenna included in those strongly against it
- lloyd george convinced war justified huge measures to mobilise nation & threatened to resign if not introduced
32
demonstration of lloyd georges authoritarianism
helped churchill break strike among munition workers in leeds by threatening to send them to war front
33
what led to lloyd george becoming war minister
in june 1916, lord kitchener drowned at sea
34
why did lloyd george turn against general haig (after becoming war minister)
somme offensive = most costly single campaign evert fought by british army
35
how many casualties were there after 4 months of somme offensive
420,000 casualties
36
why was lloyd george clashing with the military from autumn 1916
believed it was the incompetence of the generals which was limiting britian's success in war
--> wouldn't accept they were planning adequately/using resources effectively
37
what did lloyd george propose due to clashing with military
3 man war council with himself as chairman
- believed he understood/represented expectations of nation due to achievements at munitions & war minister
- believed asquith's duties as prime minister were so heavy it was unreasonable to expect him to solely dedicate himself to running the war
38
who supported lloyd george's proposed 3 man council
conservatives
- never fully content with asquith as war leader since formation of coalition in may 1915
- bonar law & edward carson backed lloyd george against asquith
39
asquith's reaction to lloyd george's proposed 3 man war council
- judged it would be too great infringement on his authority as prime minister
- insisted he must be head of council
40
lloyd george's & conservatives reaction to asquith insisting he must be head of 3 man war council
lloyd george = offered his resignation
conservatives = informed asquith they wouldn't be willing to serve in coalition government without lloyd george as a member
41
support of lloyd george
- most of major newspapers
- his friends were at least 5 of leading editors/proprietors
= political value
42
which was the only newspaper who supported asquith unreservedly in 1916
the daily mail
43
what finally broke asquith's resistance (to 3 man war council led by lloyd george)
'the times' asserted that he was 'unfit to be fully charged with the supreme direction of war'
44
which event showed asquith had no natural allies
crisis in dec 1916
45
how many members of the liberal party declared their readiness to follow lloyd george
130 of 272 liberal MPs = created split in liberal party which never fully healed
46
asquith in 1916
- ceased to be prime minister
- continued as party leader but refused to be part of lloyd george's cabinet
- led parliamentary opposition (asquithians)
47
who made it possible to cause asquiths downfall
- conservatives refusal to remain loyal
- lloyd george never in strong enough position to bring asquith down
48
why could asquith be partially to blame for his downfall
- blind to large issues during political crisis
- regarded behaviour of those who didn't support him as betrayal rather than attempt to improve britian's war effort
49
what was LG referred to after 1918
'the man who won the war'
50
LG as wartime prime minister in 1916
- british morale lowest in 1916
- german u-boat campaign in early 1917 stretched britian's resources to the limit
- LG privately confided in april 1917 that if shipping losses continued at current rate britian would be starving in months
- LG's refusal to contemplate anything other than total victory inspired colleagues, reassured waverers & put heart into nation
51
how did conflict between LG & the military intensify
- generals objected to interfering civilian politician deciding war strategy
- LG wouldn't accept generals were entitled to make demands for huge numbers of men & vast amounts of materials without being directly answerable to government about how they used them
- who was ultimately responsible for running the war
52
what did LG believe
- believed there had to be alternatives to mass offensives which seemed only strategy the generals were willing to consider
- spent much of time as PM trying to outwit generals without weakening war effort overall
53
LG's technique to outwit generals without weakening war effort overall
- keep army deliberately under-resourced
- maintaining that his government was making every effort to meet demands of service chiefs
= hoped this would force generals to reconsider unimaginative strategy of mass attack
54
what did LG persuade the admirality to adopt in 1917 & what did this show
= convoy system as main defence against deadly u-boat attacks showed what could be achieved militarily when new thinking given a chance
55
LG's methods as prime minister
- increase number of conservatives in government
- chose to run war by small inner war cabinet which largely operated without reference to cabinet/parliament (he was only liberal)
- turned government into predominantly conservative affair
56
what was LG's centralising style of government evident in
- special cabinet secretariat set up under maurice hankey (retain central direction/control of new state agencies)
- adoption of his own private secretariat, responsible to him as head of war cabinet ('garden suburb')
57
what was the 'garden suburb' made up of & what did it allow
- group of advisers & experts in constant touch with PM
- allowed instant decision-making demanded by war
58
challenge to LG in 1918
- asquith led attack on LG's handling of war & tried to justify introducing vote of no-confidence in coalition government
- in may 1918, general maurice publicly accused LG of deliberately distorting figures of troop strength to suggest the british army in france was stronger than it was
59
result of asquith/maurice's opposition
asquith surrendered initiative & commons voted 293 to 106 in favour of LG
60
why was the maurice debate important
destroyed chance for liberal reunification
61
main terms of representation of the people act 1918
- all males 21+ granted vote
- vote extended to women over 30
- servicemen who were over 19 entitled to vote in next election
- candidates to deposit £150 in cash, which would be to forfeit if they didn't gain 1/8 of total votes cast
- constituencies to be made approx. equal in number of voters (~70,000)
- number of seats in commons increased from 670 to 707
- voting take place on single designated day
- conscientious objectors could have vote suspended for 5 years after war
62
what was overwhelmingly accepted in commons on a free vote from representation of people act 1918
votes for women (reward for war work)
63
what was introduced in 1919 & what did it allow
sex disqualification (removal) act = allowed women to stand for parliament, enter most professions (incl. law) & serve on juries
64
who was the first female MP
constance markiewicz
65
what happened at the end of the war regarding the government
lloyd george & bonar law (conservatives) agreed to continue coalition into peacetime
66
what was sent to all candidates willing to declare themselves supporters of the coalition in 1918
joint letter with lloyd george & bonar law signatures ('the coupon')
67
what was the 1918 election known as
the coupon election
68
how many seats did the coalition win in 1918
478
69
what could be argued to permanently destroy any chance of the liberal party reuniting & recovering
lloyd george's decision to sustain the liberal split by carrying coalition into peacetime
