Post War Government Coalition

Question 1

Who fought in the coupon election and why?

Answer 1

• majority of the conservatives wanted to carry on with the coalition with DLG, as did some liberals
• majority of liberals supported Asquith, and campaigned as an independent party
• labour withdrew from coalition, fought independently
• conservatives wanted to maintain the coalition for a number of reasons: DLG had gotten a great deal of power and prestige as wartime PM due to the alliance and they wanted to maintain this, conservatives depended on DLG, very few specific conservative policies to attract electorate, both were concerned about the rise of labour, and DLG could not reunite with Asquith and the rest of the liberals.

Question 2

What was the 1918 election nicknamed?

Answer 2

The coupon election

Question 3

Reason behind its nickname

Answer 3

The candidates who were backed by coalition leaders DLG and bonar law received a letter stating they were the official coupon candidate.

Question 4

Results of the coupon election

Answer 4

• coalition candidates won a large majority
• conservatives out-numbered the coalition liberals by almost 3 to 1
• reflected the nationalistic mood of the nation following the war, suited conservatives- seen as traditional
• liberals were deeply divided- total votes nearly evenly divided between those in the coalition and those who weren’t
• coalition liberals won more seats
• so coalition continued with DLG at its head
• coalition conservatives: 332 seats
• coalition liberals: 127 seats

Question 5

Why did DLG and conservatives win?

Answer 5

• nationalistic mood following WW1- suited conservatives, seen as more traditional
• DLG seen as the man who won the war, Asquith was not
• DLG seen as the reformer- had been successful before the war and promised more social reform after the war
• liberals lost (asquithian liberals divided from the DLG liberals)
• letter of endorsement from DLG and bonar law, preventing a split in the vote between coalition voters, electoral support also increased coalition support.
• coalition had proved successful in responding to domestic issues- e.g. representation of the people act, etc and was thought that the enfranchised women would vote conservative
• labour still not experienced enough to challenge for leadership

Question 6

Consequences of the election

Answer 6

• DLG dependent on the conservatives for support (man w/o a party)
• split in the liberal ranks proved fatal for the future of the party
• labours popularity vote rose, began to become the main opposition party in the commons

Question 7

Summation of how successful the policies of DLG were 1918-1922

Answer 7

• Britain’s empire had grown in gains in the Middle East, Africa and the pacific, whereas others had dimished
• threat to the empire from German imperialism and navy was ended
• British army had grown to an unprecedented size, and had won a series of great victories
• under DLG, Britain had mobilised its resources, innovated, and got the whole population behind the war effort
• however, victory had been quite hollow.
• problems of industrial unrest, strikes and threat of civil war in Ireland returned in 1919
• expansion in the empire difficult to defend, faced internal unrest, and the dominions were increasingly reluctant to be drawn into policies that were more favourable to Britain than themselves
• long lists of causalities in the war reflected a different mood than the initial euphoria.