TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > History > How far did the Liberal Reforms of 1906-1914 create a welfare state?
"We shall draw a line under which we shall not allow people to live and labour."
- (W.S. Churchill)
A couple of points...
- the proper Welfare State of the 1940s was designed to aid everyone irrespective of class, money, etc. and was a complete reform.
- The New Liberal Welfare Reforms were designed to fix contemporary problems of the poor and were not designed to be as wide ranging and encompassing.
Is this a significant difference? (I'll leave you to work this one out for yourself... )
- Some historians (Hay, Searle) see the reforms as a political attack on the Conservative party. The Tories had had a lot of working class votes. By making policies which appealed to the working classes, they would gain W/C votes.
- Others (Bentley, Pelling) see them as a direct response to pressure such as the "influential" report of the Physical Deterioration Committee after the Boer War.
Do you agree with either of these positions?
- Welfare Capitalism; several of the New Liberal reforms such as National Insurance and Labour Exchanges were designed to aid the ordinary W/C male worker, upon whom the country's economy depended. By assisting the male breadwinner, the whole family would be provided for.
- The Welfare State was designed to treat everyone equally, not just the breadwinner; it gave support to all via the NHS, etc., and wasn't designed to give the benefits to the leading figure in the household.
Is this a fundamental difference?
If you want to be really clever:
- New Liberalism was based on Liberal ideas;
- Welfare State on Socialist ones.
Is this a fundamental difference?
(The above is all undergrad uni level stuff; there's no reason why you can't look at it at AS. Pick and choose as much of that as you want!)
Some useful facts and figures
PMs
Campbell-Bannerman, 1905-08
Asquith, 1908-15.
Liberals in government 1905-1915.
General Elections
1906: Liberals 400 seats; 49% total vote. Tories 157 seats. (NB: Liberals aided by the Lib-Lab pact, 1900)
1910: Liberals 275 [43.2%], Tories 273.
1910 (again...): Liberals 272 [43.9], Tories 272.
Acts and Bills
1906 Trades Disputes Bill
1906 Education (Provision of Meals) Act
1907 Education (Administrative Provisions) Act [Free health checks in schools]
1908 Old Age Pensions Act
1911 National Insurance Act.
Timeline
1904: Report of Physical Deterioration Committee.
1906: Liberal Electoral landslide.
1906 --> Reforms.
1908: Asquith becomes PM.
1910: Lords reject Lloyd George's People's Budget; elections called as a result.
Useful Books
- Peter Clarke, "Hope and Glory: Britain 1900-2000"
- Lloyd, "Empire to Welfare State Britain 1906-85", Oxford UP.
Comments
These notes are aimed at A Level history students.
Originally written by FadeToBlackout on TSR Forums.
