Higher History
Britain: The Motives of the
Liberal Reforms
Why did the Liberals introduce their
reforms 1906-14?
We are learning to…
Explain why the Liberals introduced a
series of reforms between 1906 and 14
I can…
Build up notes on the topic
Plan a 20 mark essay
Pass a 20 mark timed essay
Background (for intro)
• Prior to 1906, there was almost no help available for poor
people in Britain
• The liberals had always had a ‘laissez-faire’ style of
government – not interfering in peoples’ lives
• The only limited help available for those in poverty was the
‘Poor Law’ which was means tested
• This usually resulted in people being put in a workhouse
(poorhouse in Scotland) where conditions were horrendous
– 90% of people refused this option
• Charities such as Barnardos, the Salvation Army and the
YMCA offered what help they could to people but demand
was too great for them to help everyone
• From 1906 the Liberal government introduced welfare
reforms (changes in the law) to offer more help to the poor
What were the MOTIVES for the Liberal
Reforms 1906-1914?
• When the Liberals were elected in 1906,
there had been no mention of
introducing social welfare reform in
their manifesto.
• So why did the Liberal Reforms like
free school meals and pensions get
introduced?
• There were 5 factors/ motives for
reform
The arguments for the introduction
of Liberal Reforms
‘The Factors’
1. Surveys of Booth and Rowntree
2. Fears over National Security/
Efficiency
3. Fear of the Labour Party
4. ‘New Liberalism’
5. Municipal Socialism
1. Booth & Rowntree - Knowledge
• At the end of the 19th century two social surveys were
published that not only shocked the British public but changed
popular opinion on the causes of poverty.
• Charles Booth was a London Businessman who carried out his
survey in the East End of London and published his results in
1899 Life and Labour of the People of London
• His book showed that 35% of London’s population lived in
extreme poverty, that poverty was so bad that only the
government could help and that if nothing was done, Britain
was on the brink of a socialist Revolution
• Seebohm Rowntree published his study of York to identify if
the problem of poverty was as bad in the towns of Britain
• He found that 30% of York’s population lived in poverty, that
there was a ‘poverty line’ of the basic minimum amount a family
needed to survive and that there were certain times that
individuals were more likely to fall into poverty – most
importantly old age
Charles Booth
• “The survey into
London life and
labour”.
• Click on image to
view video clip.
Seebohm Rowntree
• First York study
(1899).
• Click on image to
view clip.
Findings of the Surveys
• Their findings agreed on some key points:
• Up to 30% or almost 1/3rd of the population of
the cities were living on or below poverty levels.
• The conditions were such that people could not pull
themselves out of poverty by their own actions
alone.
• Poverty was not self inflicted
• Booth and Rowntree both identified the main
causes of poverty as being illness, unemployment
and age - both the very young and the old were at
risk of poverty.
Social Surveys: Analysis
Analysis (basic)
• This shows that politicians now had statistical
evidence to which showed that no matter how
hard people tried, they could not lift themselves
out of poverty and the government would need to
act to help them
• In addition, the surveys helped promote the idea
of a ‘deserving poor’ those who were trying to
lift themselves out of poverty which was an
important theme of the liberal reforms and
started to break down old ideas that poor people
were lazy, ignorant and squandered their money
Social Surveys: Analysis
Analysis (+)
• However, it is important to remember that there
were many people, MPs included, challenged the
surveys and still believed that poverty was not
widespread and that poor people wasted their
money on alcohol and gambling which caused them
to be poor
• In addition, poverty in rural areas was ignored by
the surveys as they focussed only on inner-city
areas like London and York
2. Fears over National Security/ Efficiency
• The Boer War (1899 - 1902) –
National security
• Britain became involved in a war in
South Africa, which was part of the
British Empire at the time
• The government became alarmed when
almost 25% of potential volunteers
were rejected on the grounds of ill
health
• This figure was even higher when it
came to the industrial cities like
Manchester
• This was greatly alarming as the
British Army should have been able to
protect the country against enemies
far stronger than the Boers.
Germany and National
Efficiency
• It was felt that countries like the USA and
especially Germany were pulling ahead of Britain.
• Liberal politicians like Winston Churchill and Lloyd
George had visited Germany (Britain’s main rival) and
were impressed by the effects on the nations health
by the range of welfare benefits the German
government had introduced – e.g. pensions and free
school meals.
• Germany had introduced reforms like pensions and
school meals since the 1880s
• Lloyd George warned after his visit that British
young men could not compete with those in
Bismarck’s Germany and that young unemployed men
did not know where to find work in Britain
National Security & Efficiency: Analysis
Analysis (basic)
• These concerns during the Boer War and over Germany
were a definite motive for reform because if Britain did
not have a fit and healthy workforce then they would not
be able to compete in future wars such as the one
looming with Germany or retain their status as ‘Great
Power’
• The very earliest reforms in 1906/7 (free school meals
and medical inspections) are generally considered a
direct result of the fears over national security and
efficiency
Analysis (+)
• However many historians have challenged this view that
politicians had any genuine concern for the welfare of
the poor and instead wanted to pass reforms for political
advantage – such as Churchill making a name for himself
or the liberal party wanting to gain working class votes
over Labour
3.
•
•
•
•
Fear of Labour Party/Political Advantage
The Labour Party was newly established in 1900
and it was winning public support for its
campaigns for social welfare policies, such as old
age pensions and unemployment benefits.
The ruling Liberal Party recognised the threat
this new party posed to its traditional support
in many working class areas.
They needed to offer something similar to woo
the working class male voters
The Labour party already had the support of
working males through it’s affiliation with the
Labour party and this was a threat to the ruling
Liberal party
Fear of Labour/ Political Advantage: Analysis
Analysis (basic)
• To counter the threat from the socialist and Labour
movement, the Liberals realised that they had to
introduce social reforms or risk losing political
support from the working classes so they tried to
‘buy off’ voters with smaller reforms to avoid bigger
ones e.g. offered pensions but raised the age limit to
70 years old.
Analysis (+)
• However many historians have pointed out that the
Liberals cannot have been truly worried by the
Labour promises otherwise they would have matched
or bettered the Labour party by offering pensions
earlier Labour party were still very small in 1906 (29
seats) so probably did not pose a threat in terms of
winning an electoral majority
4. New Liberalism
• Old Liberalism meant Laissez – faire;
poverty as the problem of the individual
and minimal state intervention
• A new type of Liberalism had emerged
by 1906, and it was this ‘New
Liberalism' which provided the
inspiration for reform.
• New Liberals, such as Lloyd George,
Winston Churchill and Herbert Asquith,
argued that there were circumstances in
which it was right for the state to
intervene in people's lives.
• They represented poorer areas – e.g.
Lloyd George in Wales and Winston
Churchill in Dundee.
New Liberalism - Analysis
• Analysis (basic)
• This shows that ‘New Liberalism’ was becoming more
influential within the ruling party due to the more
modern and interventionist ideas of new Liberals like
Churchhill and Lloyd George and the party was
reforming from within and starting to believe that
reform was necessary to help those in need
Analysis (+)
• However, historians have pointed out that the new
Liberals were still vastly outnumbered by ‘old’ laissezfaire Liberals and it was only when ‘old Liberal’ Campbell
Bannerman died in 1908 that the new Liberals were able
to introduce their interventionist ideas
5. Municipal Socialism
• During the later 1800s the public had enjoyed
the intervention when Local authorities had been
taxing people and using the money to improve
local areas
• This showed people a basic socialist idea in
practice – redistributing wealth – and it worked!
• It paved the way for the Liberals to introduce
reforms which would obviously cost more money
e.g. pensions
Birmingham – an example of
municipal socialism
• In 1873 Liberal Joseph Chamberlain became
mayor of Birmingham and introduced many
reforms there
• Birmingham's water supply was polluted and
only supplied 3 days a week; he bought the
waterworks and ran it for the good of the
people
• He did the same with the gasworks
• He cleared many slum houses
• One report said he left Birmingham ‘parked,
paved, gas and watered and improved’
Public parks were
another example
of municipal
socialism; bought
by local councils
to provide fresh
air and recreation
for people i.e. in
Glasgow city
5. Municipal Socialism - analysis
• Analysis (basic)
• Improvements to towns and cities done at local level using
taxes had shown people that municipal socialism worked;
everyone was taxed dependent on income but the positive
end result outweighed the taxation
• This local socialism paved the way for similar reforms at
national level and set a trend for social reform that the
Liberals picked up on and continued
Analysis (+)
• However, we must remember that the local model was not
able to change the minds of everybody in terms of
government intervention. There remained huge opposition in
Britain to the idea of taxing the wealthy more to provide for
the poor – particularly from the upper classes and middle
classes who resented losing out financially to provide for the
needy
Main Liberal Reforms
• 1906 Free School Meals – 14 million per week
being issued by 1914.
• 1907 Medical Inspections Act – medical
inspections given at school
• 1908 Old Age Pensions – 25p per week for
those 70+ (1/4 average wage).
• 1911 National Insurance I – sickness benefit
for poorer workers – e.g. paid for doctor and
medicine.
• 1911 National Insurance II – gave
unemployment insurance to half a million poorly
paid workers or those in seasonal employment.
Consolidation
• A good idea when you have taken all
your notes for a topic is to create a
condensed revision guide for the essay
• This might be a mind map, picture map,
bullet points etc. but should fit on one
page
• Do this for homework
Essay Questions
• The Liberals motives is an example of an isolated factor
essay – this means the SQA will ask you whether women
got the vote because of a specific factor (one of the 5
we cover)
• You must talk about the factor in the question BUT you
do not need to agree it is the most important
• Examples
• How important were fears over national security and efficiency
in the Liberal government’s decision to introduce social reforms,
1906-1914?
• How important was fear of the labour party/ political advantage
in the Liberal government’s decision to introduce social reforms,
1906-1914?
• How important was the rise of new liberalism in the Liberal
government’s decision to introduce social reforms, 1906-1914?
Introduction – 3 step plan
• Background (2/3 sentences – describe
Britain’s help/ lack of help for poor before
reform)
Before the Liberal Reforms…
• Factors (what are the factors in the essay?)
There were many motives for the liberal
reforms such as… (1 in question 1st) (a list is
fine)
• Argument (what will you be arguing is most
important?)
It can be argued that the most important
factor was …because…
Conclusion – 4 step plan
• In conclusion, there were many reasons
why the Liberals introduced reforms.
• On the one hand… (you should take one key
factor here and explain why it was
important)
• On the other hand… (now you should do the
same with another key factor to balance
your argument)
• Overall, the most important factor was…
(keep your strongest until last, backing up
why it is so important and it should be
clear why it outweighs the other factors)
Example question – specimen paper
How important were the social surveys of
Booth and Rowntree in the Liberal
government’s decision to introduce social
reforms, 1906-1914?
20 marks
Practice essay due Thurs 23/4.
Liberal Motives – timed
essay
How important was the idea of municipal
socialism in the Liberal government’s
decision to introduce social reforms,
1906-1914?
20 marks
Evaluation
• A good way to approach trying to get the
final 4 marks for evaluation is to take your
factors (5 in this case) and rank them from
most important to least important
• Try to come up with a reason Why each is in
that place (not why it is important but why it
is more or less important)
• A priority diagram can be a good technique
to use – try to relate every factor back to
your most important
Factor 1
Factor 2
Factor 3
Factor 4
Factor 4
Evaluation
E1 and E2 - 2 marks can be gained from
making evaluative comments which relate to
individual factors
Example – Upon evaluation, ______ was the
most/least important factor in the
introductions of reforms because...
NB – You must be saying something new in
your evaluation, not repeating your analysis
or doing ‘mini conclusions’
Evaluation +
E+ - up to 4 marks can be gained from making
evaluative comments which show the relative
importance between factors (i.e. you compare
two)
Example – Upon evaluation, the fears of
national security were more important than
______ in the Nazis staying in power
because...
NB – You must be saying something new in your
evaluation, not repeating your analysis or doing
‘mini conclusions’
Remember analysis is really tricky and many
candidates get 0/4 but still get an A!