🔵| Liberal Motivations Essay

Question 1

Factors

5

Answer 1

1. National Security/National Efficiency
2. Booth & Rowntree
3. Municipal Socialism
4. New Liberalism
5. Threat of Labour

Question 2

Introduction

Background Only - FIQ Exp, LOA and other factors needed

Answer 2

• BG: In Britain in the late 1800s and early 1900s the government had a very Laissez Faire attitude towards poverty in that they believed it was the fault of the individual, this was evidenced by Sammual Smiles in his book of ‘Self Help’ in which he claimed the only way to get out of poverty was to do it yourself.
• BG: This can be further evidenced by the fact that many middle class people knew the only way to help the poor was for taxes to be increased and their feeling was why should they work hard to pay tax for it to be spent on other people to not benefit them.

Question 3

National Security/National Efficiency:

KU

2

Answer 3

• Firstly, reports suggested that 25% of army recruits aiming to fight in the Boer War were unfit for service. In Manchester alone 8000 of army volunteers had to be rejected due to be physically unsuitable.
• Secondly, in 1880 Britain enjoyed a 23% share of global manufacturing with Germany having 9%, however by 1913 Britain’s share fell to 14% and Germany’s rose to 15%. This demonstrates Britain being under pressure from foreign competitors’ success.

Question 4

National Security/National Efficiency:

Analysis

Answer 4

• It can be said that fears over national security and efficiency acted as a motive for the liberal reforms because the public and many politicians felt that Britain needed a fit workforce to compete with other countries.
• This can be evidenced by reforms aimed at helping the young and sick, which would improve both current and future workforces.

Question 5

National Security/National Efficiency:

Analysis+

Answer 5

It can also be said that this was less of a motivation because the costliest reform was the old age pensions. It can be argued that this did not maintain a healthy fighting stock or produce an efficient workforce due to the targeted age group, so therefore this was perhaps not a primary motivation.

Question 6

National Security/National Efficiency:

Evaluation

Answer 6

• Overall, fears over national security and efficiency was the most important motivation behind the liberal reforms because it showed that changes had to be made if Britain were to resume their world power.
• For example, by 1900 Britain had lost its position as the predominant industrial power which demonstrates the dire need for change.

Question 7

Booth & Rowntree:

KU

2

Answer 7

• Firstly, Booth worked with a team of researchers to conduct an experiment in East London and found that a third of the population was living in dire poverty.
• Secondly, Rowntree was inspired by Booth to conduct his own research into poverty in York, and after two years in 1901 Rowntree published his findings – 30% of people in York were living in poverty.

Question 8

Booth & Rowntree:

Analysis

Answer 8

• It can be said that the reports of Booth and Rowntree were a motivation for passing the liberal reforms because they provided hard evidence that couldn’t be ignored.
• By 1906, when the liberals got into power, it was impossible to escape the weight of this evidence on poverty in Britain.

Question 9

Booth & Rowntree:

Analysis+

Answer 9

It can also be said that this was less of a motive as the attitudes among many politicians towards laissez-faire and self-help were so deeply ingrained that even the reports failed to get them to act.

Question 10

Booth & Rowntree:

Evaluation

Answer 10

• Overall, the reports of Booth and Rowntree were a very important motive that led to the liberal reforms because their findings would allow for the reforms to meet the needs of the people that needed to be met.
• For example, reforms to help the sick and low paid can be linked back to Booth and Rowntree’s findings of the elderly, ill and unemployed living poor lives.

Question 11

Booth & Rowntree:

Evaluation+

Answer 11

However, national security and efficiency is a more important motive because it showed that passing the reforms was in Britain as a whole’s best interest to protect the country, giving more of a reason to pass them, where as the reports of Booth and Rowntree were only focused on poverty and simply improving life in Britain.

Question 12

Municipal Socialism:

KU

2

Answer 12

• Firstly, during the 19th century several local authorities carried out tax funded improvements. For example, liberal Joseph Chamberlain became mayor of Birmingham and bought the waterworks to run for the good of the people, which had been polluted and only supplied 3 days a week.
• Secondly, similarly in Glasgow, the city’s water supply was taken over by the council and water was provided to parts of the city that never had access to it.

Question 13

Municipal Socialism:

Analysis

Answer 13

• It can be said that municipal socialism caused the liberal reforms to be passed because they showed what could be done locally by councils, so people could imagine what the Government could do nationally.
• Therefore it set a trend for social reforms and showed the benefits that came from them, such as better health which perhaps led to reforms aimed at the young and sick.

Question 14

Municipal Socialism:

Analysis+

Answer 14

However, municipal socialism was less likely to have caused the liberal reforms because not all councils followed the policy, and many politicians remained firmly against the idea of tax raised money, so the impact and support for these local reforms was lowered.

Question 15

Municipal Socialism:

Evaluation

Answer 15

• Overall, municipal socialism was quite an important motivation for the liberal reforms because it showed that the reforms could be successful. Many politicians feared that using taxation to help the poor would ruin the country, but success of this in Birmingham and Glasgow disproved this.
• Historian John Kerr said, “such a trend towards social reform and government control can be considered a factor in setting the scene for the Liberal reforms”, which shows that during the time of success of social reforms in Britain, the liberal reforms became a possible idea and moreover John Kerr is a trusted historian who focuses on Britain during this time period.

Question 16

Municipal Socialism:

Evaluation+

Answer 16

However, fears over national security and efficiency was a more important motivation because the impact and need for reforms was felt across Britian whilst municipal socialism was more concentrated in the local areas.

Question 17

New Liberalism:

KU

2

Answer 17

• Firstly, new liberals such as Herbert Asquith felt that social justice ought to be done and that it was simply not right for a third of the population to be living in such misery.
• Secondly, Winston Churchill was another new liberal, and such politicians were willing to use the power of the state to intervene in society and wanted to bring about economic improvement to eradicate the worst effects of poverty.

Question 18

New Liberalism:

Analysis

Answer 18

• It can be said that new liberalism was a motive for the liberal reforms because the fact that new liberals held power in the Government allowed them to dictate policy.
• For example, most reforms came after 1908 when PM and old liberal Campbell Bannerman had died which brought in new liberals.

Question 19

New Liberalism:

Analysis+

Answer 19

It can also be said that new liberalism was less of a motivation because new liberals were still vastly outnumbered by old laissez faire liberal which made new liberals less influential.

Question 20

New Liberalism:

Evaluation

Answer 20

• Overall, new liberalism was quite an important motivation to the liberal reforms because many of the reforms used clear new liberal ideology such as the pensions act – a clear step away from laissez faire attitude.
• Winston Churchill, a new liberal himself, said, “I see little glory in an Empire which can rule the waves and is unable to flush its sewers”, which shows how this ideology was different from the laissez faire attitude – acknowledging Britain’s dire conditions and wanting to make changes - and impacted the reforms positively as a result, showing the direct link between new liberals and the passing of the reforms.

Question 21

New Liberalism:

Evaluation+

Answer 21

However, fears over national security and efficiency is a more important motivation as this gave reasoning for the reforms to be passed instead of only making it slightly easier.

Question 22

Threat of Labour:

KU

2

Answer 22

• The Labour Party was founded in 1900s to represent the working classes and competed with the Liberal Party for votes.
• In the 1900 election Labour only win 2 seats, mainly because it was a new party, but by 1906 this has risen to 29 seats. This included winning two elections, by taking the seats from the Liberals.

Question 23

Threat of Labour:

Analysis

Answer 23

• Rise of Labour was therefore a reason for the development of the Liberal reforms because they were worried that they would not have the working-class vote if Labour appealed too much.
• This is mainly because Labour was known for campaigning for things such as the ‘Old Pensions Act’, which of course was later passed by the Liberals, proving the direct competition for votes.

Question 24

Threat of Labour:

Analysis+

Answer 24

However, rise of Labour was less important in the passing of the Liberal Reforms because in the run up to the 1906 election there was little mention of helping the Poor and there was no commitment to this in the Liberal Manifesto, proving that the worry about Labour was not an issue otherwise they would have promoted themselves differently and made more of a comparison.

Question 25

# Threat of Labour: Evaluation

Answer 25

* Overall, the threat of labour was the least important motivation behind the passing of the liberal reforms as other events of the time can be said to have had more of an influence. * This is evidenced by how many reforms took place between 1908 and the 1910 general election, which was more likely due to the new liberals coming into power in the Government due to the death of Campbell Bannerman, an old liberal.

Question 26

# Threat of Labour: Evaluation+

Answer 26

I think that national security and efficiency is a more important factor because concerns regarding the labour party and subsequent urgency to pass reforms would only have been based in the Government within a small number of people, whilst national security and efficiency meant that pressure on the liberals to pass reforms was felt by the public and politicians for Britain.