1. Britain

2. Reasons for
social reforms

3. Reasons for reforms LEARNING INTENTIONS
Describe reasons that the Liberal government introduced various social reforms
Social campaigners (Booth and Rowntree)
National security / threat of war
New Liberalism
Rise of the Labour Party
Municipal socialism
National efficiency
Other countries’ influence

4. Liberal Social Reforms
The Liberal Reforms marked a huge change in British society.
The end of ‘laissez faire’ meant that the government would now play a big role in people’s lives.
But why did this happen?

5. Social
campaigners

6. Reasons for reforms The deserving poor
Before the twentieth century, many people’s attitude to the poor was that it was their own fault. As a result, the government did little or nothing to help them.
The very poor had to rely on charity to meet their basic needs. But this began to change in the late-1800s; the ‘deserving poor’ were born.

7. Reasons for reforms Booth and Rowntree
Most middle and upper class people in Britain had no idea what life was like for the very poorest in society. Two famous reports helped change this.
Charles Booth, a London businessman, did not believe that extreme poverty existed in the capital city. He carried out an investigation to prove this.

8. Reasons for reforms Booth’s findings
In fact it was Booth who was surprised; not only did extreme poverty exist in London, it was worse than anyone had imagined.
Booth carried out his reports between 1889 and He warned that if people’s lives were not improved, a revolution might occur.

9. Excerpt from one of Charles Booth’s reports
Reasons for reforms
“Few of the 200 families who lived there occupied more than one room. 15 rooms out of 20 were filthy to the last degree. Not a room was free of vermin (mice or lice). The little yard at the back was only sufficient for a dust bin, toilet and water tap, which served 7 families.”
Excerpt from one of Charles Booth’s reports

10. Reasons for reforms The Chocolate Kings
Many of Britain’s most famous sweets and chocolates came from the Rowntree family in York, including Kit Kats, Jelly Tots and Fruit Pastilles.
The Rowntree Family also helped show Victorian Britain just how bad poverty was.

11. Reasons for reforms Joseph Rowntree
Joseph Rowntree was the owner of the world famous Rowntree factory in York.
Although very rich he believed in treating his workers fairly, offering benefits such as education, medical help and pensions.
He inspired his son’s interest in these issues too.

12. Reasons for reforms Seebohm Rowntree
Seebohm was influenced by his father Joseph and Charles Booth and conducted a study into poverty in his home town of York.
His study found that 30% of people lived in extreme poverty. In particular he recognised that poverty was often not the fault of those living in it.

13. Reasons for reforms Primary Poverty
Primary poverty meant that some families – regardless of how they spent their money – could not afford the minimum amount needed to live on.
The publicity this created helped persuade the Liberal government of the need to take action.

14. Reasons for reforms Secondary poverty
However Rowntree’s report also gave people opposed to helping the poor an excuse not to do so.
He talked about secondary poverty – this meant that a poor family had just enough money to live on but wasted it on luxuries such as alcohol or cigarettes. Some said this made it their fault.

15. Reasons for reforms Not the end of poverty
Ultimately social campaigners did raise awareness of poverty, but not enough to end the problem.
Many people continued to live very poor lives, and the maximum pension was still below the amount needed to achieve a decent standard of living.

16. National
security

17. Reasons for reforms The Boer War
In the late-1800s Britain was still very much the head of an empire which spanned all across the world.
As a result it would periodically find itself involved in wars and needing men to join the armed forces. A conflict in South Africa created a real worry for Britain.

18. Reasons for reforms The Boer War
In 1899 Britain began fighting a war against the South African Boers.
Britain still had a volunteer army and 25% of people who tried to join the army were rejected because they were not fit enough.
The number was even higher for recruits from industrial cities.

19. Reasons for reforms The Arms Race
At this time, Britain was not the only country in with a strong military and desire to control parts of the world.
Germany was arming itself and there was a fear that war may soon come. If Britain did not have the soldiers to fight South African farmers, what hope had they against Germany?

20. Fighting fit for Britain
Reasons for reforms
Fighting fit for Britain
In 1904, two reports showed that all across Britain many adult males were not fit enough to fight because of their poor living and working conditions.
Improving living conditions was not just about helping the poorest in society, it was about protecting Great Britain.

21. Reasons for reforms Reforms for war?
Many of the Liberal reforms were aimed at people who would be the right age to fight if war with Germany came (School Meals, Health Inspections, etc).
However a great many reforms, including Old Age Pensions, would not have helped win a war, suggesting national security was not the only consideration.

22. Poverty not dreadnoughts
Reasons for reforms
Poverty not dreadnoughts
It can also be argued that the reforms partly undermined Britain’s war preparations.
Spending money on social policies took money from military spending, just as the arms race was increasing such as the building of Dreadnoughts.

23. New
Liberalism

24. Reasons for reforms The Liberal Party
In the late-1800s there were two major political parties in British politics – the Conservatives and the Liberals.
The Liberals were generally the party most likely to gain working class support. However many of their members and MPs did not favour changing the government’s laissez faire approach to poverty.

25. Reasons for reforms The New Liberals
Therefore another reason for reform was that new Liberals – with very different opinions – took over the government.
Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman – an ‘Old Liberal’ - died in 1908 and was replaced by Herbert Asquith. He gave jobs to people supportive of reforms, such as David Lloyd George.

26. Reasons for reforms David Lloyd George
Lloyd George’s father was a teacher but died when his son was young. This forced his family to move and gave him an insight into the problems many people in Britain had to face.
Lloyd George trained as a lawyer before eventually getting involved in, firstly local politics, and then national politics.

27. Reasons for reforms The People’s Budget
Lloyd George introduced the People’s Budget in This aimed to raise money from the wealthy to tackle poverty and fund welfare reform.
The Budget was stopped by the House of Lords. This lead to two General Elections in 1910 and then the 1911 Parliament Act, which reduced the Lords’ power.

28. Reasons for reforms The New Liberals
It is unfair to suggest that the only reason the Liberals backed social reforms was due to political advantage.
Lloyd George and others – some of whom had lived poor lives - genuinely felt that society should be fairer, and that Britain would be more prosperous and strong if this happened.

29. Reasons for reforms The New Liberals
Lloyd George and other New Liberals were influential – but not all Liberal MPs agreed with their opinions.
Many of these MPs had been elected long before 1906 and had not supported taking action to improve working class lives, until the rise of Labour forced them to do so.

30. Reasons for reforms A new party
In 1906 the Labour Party were a new political party and not hugely influential; working class parties had not been successful in previous national elections.
Many Liberals would not have believed that they were going to lose supporters to Labour, making this less of a reason for the introduction of the reforms.

31. Reasons for reforms Working with Labour
However the Liberals clearly recognised Labour as a threat. In 1903 they formed a pact with Labour to not stand a Liberal candidate in areas with a high working class vote.
This suggests that the Liberals knew that Labour could challenge them, and cost them votes.

32. Rise of the
Labour Party

33. Reasons for reforms Working class votes
The Reform Acts of 1832, 1867 and 1884 had made big changes to British politics.
Working class men that could now vote demanded that politicians listened to them.
This meant dealing with the poor’s concerns – even if the party did not genuinely support this (political advantage).

34. Reasons for reforms Working class groups
In the late-1800s, different political groups were set up to represent working class interests. This included the Independent Labour Party, the Social Democratic Federation and the Fabian Society.
In 1900, these groups worked together to form the Labour Representation Committee.

35. Reasons for reforms The Labour Party
The establishment of the Labour Representation Committee gave working class men their own authentic voice.
The Labour Party (as it became in 1906) offered a variety of policies aimed to attract working class support, including better housing, equal votes, more jobs and an eight-hour working day.

37. Reasons for reforms The Labour Party
Labour’s rise led to Liberal worries.
The Liberals usually attracted working class votes, so a working class party could take away a lot of their support
The need to keep working class votes may have forced the Liberals to back social reforms.

38. Reasons for reforms 1906 Manifesto
However it is too simple to say that the Liberals only brought in reforms to beat Labour.
One major point to consider is that in the 1906 General Election the Liberal manifesto makes almost no mention of social reforms.
This suggests the issue is of limited importance.

39. Reasons for reforms Local policies
Labour representatives were elected to local councils across Britain, notably West Ham in London which in 1898 became the first Labour-run council.
Labour’s actions gained them more support from the working class, which forced the Liberals to follow their example and introduce various reforms.

40. Liberals’ local policies
Reasons for reforms
Liberals’ local policies
However it is wrong to claim that only Labour was taking local action to improve the lives of working class Britons.
Many Liberal-controlled councils across Britain had also taken actions which aimed to tackle poverty, including introducing free school meals.

41. Municipal
socialism

42. Reasons for reforms Municipal socialism
Socialism was the belief in economic equality, meaning the rich should pay to help the poor.
Although most help for poor people came from charities, from the 1850s onwards other changes began to be made by local and national governments, particularly by local (municipal) government.

43. Reasons for reforms Local social reforms
Local government across Britain began spending local taxpayers’ money on social reforms which improved many lives.
By the 1860s in Glasgow, the Council controlled city lighting and the water supply. A new pipeline from Loch Katrine brought clean water to parts of the city that had never enjoyed this before.

44. Government intervention
Reasons for reforms
Government intervention
These changes happened across Britain. Some councils provided better water; others chose to spend money on free school meals for poor children.
The success of these reforms – by Labour and Liberal councils – helped show how government could improve people’s lives.

45. Reasons for reforms Delay national action?
‘Municipal socialism’ certainly helped show what government could achieve. Although it could be argued it delayed national action by giving small help in areas which needed it most.
In addition not all local councils participated in these social reforms, meaning that their impact was limited.

46. Reasons for reforms Limited reforms
Furthermore, the Liberal reforms often did not go far enough to copy what had been done in local areas.
For example, free school meals had been tried in different areas. However the initial School Meals Act only gave councils the option to do it, they did not make it compulsory.

47. National
efficiency

48. Industrial Revolution
Reasons for reforms
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution may have its origins in Britain – but other parts of the world were fast catching up.
Britain still lead the world in manufacturing – including goods such as jute and ships – but this could change, meaning Britain would lose power and influence.

49. Reasons for reforms The USA and Germany
In particular, worried looks were going towards Germany and the United States of America.
Both those countries had strong workforces (although they also had poverty problems too). If they caught up with Britain, they could take over its role as the world’s major power.

50. Reasons for reforms Germany’s success
Poverty existed all around the world – but Germany had taken action to fix this.
Germany had already introduced benefits including pensions as long ago as the 1880s. Britain needed to do the same too if it was going to compete with them (both economically and militarily).

51. Reasons for reforms Key industries
Many of the industries which most benefitted from the Reforms were those that competed with companies around the world.
Unemployment benefit for instance was not eligible for all workers but instead seasonal workers such as those in shipyards.

52. Reasons for reforms Limited impact
Most working conditions remained difficult with long hours and often unsafe conditions, so most workers’ conditions did not improve.
Bigger changes were needed – however these were opposed by employers and also many politicians.

53. Other countries’
influence

54. Reasons for reforms Revolution in Britain
Unlike many other countries, Britain has never had a genuine political revolution. However since the 1790s, many countries close to Britain (politically and geographically) had done so.
Many people believe this was a reason for political reform. Social reforms could help stop revolution too.

55. Reasons for reforms Protests in Britain
In 1905 there was a failed revolution in Russia. Meanwhile in Britain there was growing political unrest – including violence – over issues such as the right to vote.
There was also social unrest through strikes involving workers and trade unions that wanted better rights. Some unions were formed by Russian immigrants.

56. Sharing (some) power and wealth
Reasons for reforms
Sharing (some) power and wealth
Revolutions had also occurred in the USA, France, Italy and other countries since the 1790s. Britain had avoided these events.
The argument was simple. Britain’s ruling classes realised that if they did not give away some power and wealth, the working class could take it all by force.

57. Reasons for reforms Liberal policies
Many of the reforms aimed to improve the lives of working class people:
Old age pensions
Free school meals
Unemployment and sickness insurance
If successful, these policies may have helped reduce revolutionary demands.

58. Reasons for reforms Lack of support
Although some people feared revolution, there was no real national revolution movement.
Rise of democratic Labour Party showed working class did not support violent changes.
Many of the protests, strikes and riots from that time were located in specific areas, rather than being part of a wider national revolt.

59. Reasons for reforms German Social Reforms
Germany was increasingly Britain’s main rival in the world. This was both in an economic and military sense.
Germany – under Chancellor Bismarck’s leadership – had introduced various social reforms including Old Age Pensions and Sickness Benefits too.