Reasons for the Liberal Reforms (16)

Question 1

intro

Answer 1

-during the 19th century Britain was reaching pinnacle of its power, however around 1/3 of population in poverty
-liberal reforms of 1906-1914 represented shift in British social policy
-Reports of Booth and Rowntree, new liberalism, concerns about national security, threat of labour
-reports of Booth and Rowntree most important

Question 2

Para 1

Answer 2

Factor: Reports of Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree
KU: end of 19th century investigations uncovered the widespread, largely unrecognised extent of poverty in Britain
A: showed government how bad poverty was and that change was needed
KU: Rowntree found that around 20,000 people were living below poverty line, he defined poverty as primary/secondary poverty
A: showed government how/why people were falling into poverty and getting stuck meaning resolutions to problems could be found
A+: Booth and Rowntree’s investigations provided positions with hard evidence that was impossible to ignore the regardless of how hard people tried they couldn’t escape poverty

Question 3

Para 2

Answer 3

Factor: New Liberalism
KU: most reforms came after 1908 after PM Campbell Bannerman died in cabinet positions changed to consist of more new liberals
A: new liberals helped encourage liberal reforms, were crucial and encouraging government to act
KU: Herbert Asquith (new liberal) experienced firsthand the experience of health issues and conditions
A: many new liberals had firsthand experience with these issues so had more of an idea and motivation to help rid of them

Question 4

Para 3

Answer 4

Factor: Concerns over national security
KU: Britain used 400,000 troops to defeat Boer forces which had significant blow on British confidence
A: man wanted to improve health conditions so it went to war again they’d be more stable condition to fight
KU: it was claimed the only 2 out of 5 enlisted men stayed fit for service after two years
A: people want to change to help the malnourished so they wouldn’t encounter this issue for when another war were to happen

Question 5

Para 4

Answer 5

Factor: Labour
KU: labour were gaining much popularity and were on track to overtake liberals in votes
A: liberals may have passed reforms as they feared losing working class votes to labour
A+: leading up to 1906 election little attention was given to aiding the poor, liberal election manifesto contained no commitment to reform meaning threat of labour may not be primary motivation
KU: many of the liberal reforms took place after 1908 suggesting liberals wanted to win the 1910 general election
A: caused liberals to do as much as they could to win over votes and win general election
A+: many may have took place during 1908 because of the death of Campbell Bannerman and rise of the new liberals

Question 6

Conclusion

Answer 6

Booth and Rowntree reports - most important - provided government with hard evidence of the issues they were facing with poverty
New Liberalism - less important as reports were what originally changed the minds of the new liberals
Concerns abt National Security - less important as the Boer war showed there was an issue but Booth and Rowntree found the causes an inputted solutions to the problems being facedreports
Threat of Labour - less important as many reforms occurred between 1908 and 1910 due to the increase of new liberals and death of Campbell Bannerman rather than fear from labour