the conservative party Flashcards

(35 cards)

1
Q

3 classes in society

A
  • upper
  • middle
  • lower
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2
Q

leader of party in 1900

A

lord salisbury

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3
Q

who had they modified themselves to appeal to in the nineteenth century

A

middle & working class

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4
Q

influential conservative leader in 1860/70s who proposed several social reforms which the party introduced

A

benjamin disraeli

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5
Q

conservative victories under salisbury

A
  • 1886
  • 1895
  • 1900
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6
Q

dominant issue preoccupying government

A

anglo-boer war 1899-1902

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7
Q

describe the anglo-boer war

A
  • dispute between british & dutch boer colonists over who controlled south africa
  • britian provoked war
  • joseph chamberlain (colonial secretary) believed british supremacy in southern africa was essential to maintain britians imperial strength
  • made unreasonable demands on boers so they had no choice but to fight
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8
Q

division in britian over boer war

A
  • ‘pro-boers’ = unhappy with war
  • initially, war popular in britian & salisbury exploited it by calling election in 1900
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9
Q

khaki election

A

salisburys government won with comfortable majority over liberals - war widely popular initially

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10
Q

why did things turn badly for the government after the khaki election

A
  • handling of war was terrible
  • pro-boers drew constant attention to failure of british forces
  • reports of extreme measures to break boer resistance
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11
Q

reports of extreme measures by government in boer war

A

eg. ‘concentration camps’ - cramped & unhygienic conditions led to spread of fatal diseases

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12
Q

who outed horrors of boer war

A

emily hobhouse - via report

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13
Q

what did henry campbell-bannerman (liberal leader) accuse the conservative government of

A

employing ‘methods of barbarism’

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14
Q

who succeeded salisbury as prime minister in 1902

A

arthur balfour

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15
Q

what were the problems overshadowing balfour from 1902-05 & led to defeat in 1906

A
  • ‘chinese slavery’
  • taff vale decision 1901
  • balfour’s education act 1902
  • licensing act 1904
  • irish land act 1902
  • tarriff reform
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16
Q

what was ‘chinese slavery’

A
  • balfour’s government accused of permitting large numbers of chinese labourers to be brought from asia & worked in appalling conditions for pitiful wages in gold/diamond mines of south africa
  • government’s moral authority compromised
  • inadequate response = government claimed it was matter for british officials in africa to deal with
17
Q

when was the taff vale decision

18
Q

what led to the taff vale decision (1901)

A
  • june 1900: employees of Taff Vale Railway Company (south wales) striked with backing of union (associated society of railway servants ASRS)
  • company tried to break strike by bringing in non-union labour & taking ASRS to court for illegal picketing
  • tactics worked & strikers returned to work
  • company took union to court again claiming damages for financial losses
19
Q

describe the taff vale decision (1901)

A
  • first hearing in favour of company
  • appealed by ASRS = higher court reversed decision in nov 1900
  • company presented case to house of lords
  • lords overruled appeal court (july 1901)
  • ruling accompanied by awarding damages & costs against ASRS amounting to £42,000
20
Q

impact of taff vale decision in 1901 on working class

A
  • clear that unions’ right to strike & picket effectively destroyed
  • balfour declared in 1902 that government wouldn’t overturn decision
  • reinforced conviction among workers that conservatism was unsympathetic to workers rights
21
Q

when was balfour’s education act

22
Q

describe balfour’s education act (1902)

A
  • raised school leaving age to 12
  • granted subsidies to church schools from local rates
  • abolished locally elected school boards & passed authority of schools to county or borough councils
23
Q

why did criticism arise from balfour’s education act (1902)

A
  • standoff between anglican church & noncomformists
  • schools teaching anglican faith received state funding
  • offended nonconformists, who complained of heresy being taught using the rates
  • anglicans unhappy that state education was being extended & they would lose traditional hold over it
24
Q

when was the licensing act

25
describe the licensing act (1904)
- introduced to regulate sale & consumption of liquor - aim was to protect children & prevent adulteration of alcoholic drinks
26
criticism of the licensing act (1904)
- noncomformists - condemned clauses which gave compensation to brewers & landlords who would lose licenses under new liquor agreements
27
when was the irish land act
1902 (wyndham's act)
28
describe the irish land act (1902)
- made £100 million available to tenants to buy out their english landlords & become owners of land they farmed
29
criticism of irish land act (1902)
- grudging thanks from irish nationalists; regarded it as belated recognition of their rights - irish unionists dismissed measure as craven submission to nationalist pressure
30
describe tariff reform
- seriously weakened conservatives - adopted imperial preference as official economic programme in 1903 - closely associated with joseph chamberlain - free trade between member states & protection against non-members - member states receive preferential treatment (goods enter free of duty) - british exports granted corresponding preference in colonies
31
chamberlain's motives behind tarriff reform
- imperial preference to raise money to improve national efficiency - taxation of one class for benefit of another may encourage revolutionary socialism & class war - chamberlain's belief in maintenance of the empire combined with need for social reform
32
when did balfour resign
dec 1905
33
what did balfour recommend when he resigned
- that king edward VII dissolve parliament which would oblige liberals to form interim government before election - intention was to play on divisions among liberals over irish home rule - damage-limitation exercise = balfour felt conservative party would suffer less if election held before seven-year rule - liberals formed loyal cabinet under henry-campbell bannerman, who then called general election
34
results of 1906 general election
conservatives = 157 liberals = 400 labour representation committee = 30 irish nationalists = 83
35
why did liberals win 1906 election
- mainly dissatisfaction with conservatives - consequence of slight shift in public attitude - 'first past the post' - conservatives unsuccessful in tackling issues within britian