Higher history - Britain

• Charles Booth


  Conducted investigations in London to determine how much of the population suffered from poverty
• Booth concluded that around 35% of Londoners were in severe poverty
• Seebohm Rowntree


  Carried out similar research in York
• Rowntree concluded that 30% of the population of York were in poverty
• Rowntree's definition of poverty


  • Divided into 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor
  • Deserving being those who could not afford the essentials to survival despite being careful with their money (Primary poverty)
• Rowntree's poverty line


  7s per week as the minimum income for a person to survive
• The reports of Booth and Rowntree were crucial in motivating the Liberal reforms
• The reports provided hard facts which had never before been done, making it non-negotiable that change had to be made
• The research in York by Rowntree showed that even in a 'standard' British town, poverty was rife, making it a national issue
• It can be argued that Laissez-faire was too ingrained in most politicians' minds


  No amount of reasoning, even these hard facts, would've changed their minds
• The Liberals didn't tackle everything suggested by Booth and Rowntree, for example the Old age pensions fell 2s short of Rowntree's suggested amount
• This shows that the Liberal reforms must've been motivated by other factors, reducing the importance of the contribution of Booth and Rowntree
• Suffragists


  A non-militant women's suffrage organisation led by Milicent Fawcett, with 50,000 members and over 500 Branches
• Suffragists


  • They held meetings, held petitions, and lobbied MPs to fight for women's Suffrage
• The Suffragists were able to come to an alliance with the Labour party, who agreed to help women win the vote if elected
• Suffragists


  • They disproved the then stereotype of women being irrational by remaining level-headed and efficiently running a large scale organisation effectively
• The Suffragists put pressure on other parties to adopt pro-suffrage policies or be contested with Labour
• It can be argued that the Suffragists were too boring


  Had they experimented with more flamboyant methods of campaigning like the Suffragettes, they could have made more of an impact
• The Suffragists only proposed that middle-class, propertied women should be enfranchised, and relied greatly on working-class women to campaign for them, which oftentimes didn't happen
• The Brits had been at conflict with the Boers in Africa in 1899, and despite the Boers only ever having 35,000 troops deployed, it took 400,000 British troops to defeat them
• This poor performance was due to working-class Brits being unfed and unfit, with a quarter of the army unfit for service
• In 1880, Britain had a 23% share of world trade, but by 1903 this had fallen to 14%, while Germany's share had risen to 15%
• Councillor David Lloyd George went to investigate the series of German social reforms which had contributed to this change
• Fears over national security and efficiency


  • They motivated the Liberal reforms because the government felt they must improve the health of young Brits or Britain would be crushed in a large conflict, especially due to rising tensions in Europe
  • The government felt that if Britain were to get back to the golden age of British innovation and production, they would have to at least match or surpass the social improvement of countries such as Germany
• It can be argued that concerns over national security and efficiency were not important in motivating the Liberal reforms


  The majority of the budget was spent on improving the lives of the elderly, who could not contribute to either of these issues
• It can be argued that concerns over national security and efficiency weren't so important as factors such as the reports of Booth and Rowntree


  Whilst the Boer war showed there was a problem, Booth and Rowntree did this but also provided solutions to this problem with a detailed blueprint of the steps required
• New Liberalism


  A group of Liberals who favoured more state intervention, in contrast to the traditional Laissez-faire model
• In 1908, when 'old' Liberal PM Henry Campbell Bannerman died, a series of 'new' Liberals were elected in important positions within the party, including Herbert Asquith as the new PM, David Lloyd George as the new Chancellor, and Winston Churchill as the new President of the Board of Trade
• New Liberals


  • They shifted the party into a more forgiving one, willing to provide quite extensive help to Brits
• New Liberalism was important in motivating the Liberal reforms as the 'new' Liberals in important positions had a lot of influence and were able to persuade many others of the importance of the reforms, allowing them to be passed
• It can be argued that New Liberalism was not so important in influencing the Liberal reforms


  The majority of the party were still 'old' Liberals and opposed these new views, no matter the logic behind them
• It can be argued that the 'new' Liberals themselves were influenced by the reports of Booth and Rowntree


  So factors such as this take importance over New Liberalism, making it less important
• More and more working-class men were getting enfranchised, leading to the creation of the Labour party in 1900
• Although initially Labour seemed very insignificant in politics, only winning 2 seats in 1900, they underwent rapid growth and by 1906 had 29 seats
• In a by-election in 1906, Labour took 2 seats off the Liberals
• It can be argued that the threat of Labour motivated the Liberal reforms


  The Liberals eventually integrated reforms similar to those suggested by the Labour party, such as old age pensions, showing they felt they had to satisfy working-class voters or be overtaken by Labour
• However, before the 1906 election there was nothing said in the Liberal manifesto about extensive reforms


  This shows the Liberals were not worried about the threat of Labour
• The large number of reforms after 1908 can be put down to the death of 'old' Liberal Henry Campbell Bannerman and the rise of 'new' Liberals in the party


  Rather than the threat of Labour
• This morning I watched from here

  a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect

  the Empire State Building, that

  jumbo size dentist’s drill, and landing

  on the roof of the Pan Am skyscraper