Originally published in 1971, this book traces the revival, triumph, division and decline of the British Liberal Party in the late 19th & 20th centuries. It does so by focusing on the career of David Lloyd George, itself the decisive agent for change in this period.
Originally published in 1971, this book traces the revival, triumph, division and decline of the British Liberal Party in the late 19th & 20th centuries. It does so by focusing on the career of David Lloyd George, itself the decisive agent for change in this period. The first part of the book is an extended critical essay; the second part consists of primary documentary material which is intimately linked to the commentary in the first section. The major phases of the period are covered: The tension between the Old Liberalism and the New; the challenges confronting the Liberal government of 1905-15; the impact of world war and Lloyd George’s wartime premiership; the Lloyd George coalition in 1918-22 and the reasons for its downfall; and the slow decline of the Liberals between 1922 and 1929.
Part 1: The Age of Lloyd George
1. Introduction: The Old Liberalism and
the New
2. The Liberals in Power, 1905-15
3. The Crisis of War, 1915-18
4.
The Lloyd George Coalition, 1918-22
5. The Liberal Decline, 1923-29 Part 2:
Selected Documents A: The Old Liberalism and the New (1890-1905) a) The Old
Liberalism
1. The Newcastle Programme, October 1891
2. Gladstone on the
Newcastle Programme, October 1891
3. W. Jenkyn Thomas on Welsh Nationalism,
1895
4. Beatrice Webb on John Morleys Liberalism, October 1897
5.
Campbell-Bannerman on methods of barbarism in South Africa, June 1901
6.
Lord Roseberys Chesterfield speech on the clean slate and
Campbell-Bannermans reactions, December 1901
7. J. A. Hobson on the Liberal
Party and Imperialism, 1902
8. Lloyd George on the Education Bill, May 1902
9. Joseph Chamberlains speech on tariff reform, Birmingham, May 1903 b) The
New Liberalism
10. Sidney Webb on Lord Roseberys escape from Houndsditch,
September 1901
11. Herbert Samuel on the New Liberalism, 1902
12. Leo Chiozza
Money on Riches and Poverty, 1905
13. R. J. Campbell on the New
Technology 1907
14. The Gladstone-MacDonald entente, March 1903
15. F. A.
Channing on Relations between Liberals and Labour, September 1905
16. Haldane
on the Relugas Compact, September 1905
17. Roseberys speech at Bodmin,
November 1905
18. Asquith and the new Liberal government, December 1905 B:
The Liberals in Power (1905-15) a) Welfare State and Political Crisis
19.
Lloyd George at Caernarvon, January 1906
20. Churchill on the untrodden
field of politics March 1908
21. Beatrice Webb and Ramsay MacDonald on the
Liberal Government, 1910, and on the National Insurance Bill, 1911
22.
Asquiths Albert Hall speech on the House of Lords, December 1909
23. Lloyd
Georges memorandum on a National Government, August 1910
24. The National
Review on national anarchy, January 1912
25. The Cabinet and Labour Unrest,
1912 b) The Coming of War
26. J. Allen Baker on the Naval Estimates, 1910
27.
Lloyd Georges Mansion House Speech
29. Lloyd George on the Governments
conduct of foreign policy before 1914
30. Bonar Law and the downfall of the
Liberal administration, May 1915 C: The Crisis of War (1915-18) a) The
Liberal Party and the War, 1915-16
31. Liberal ginger group and the need
for conscription, July 1915
32. Lloyd George and his Liberal colleagues,
November 1915
33. Simon and Conscription, January 1916
34. Lloyd Georges
Dissatisfaction with the Asquith Government, April 1916
35. Lloyd Georges
backbench Liberal Support, May 1916
36. Spender and the Political Situation,
September 1916
37. Sir William Robertson, Bonar Law and the maladministration
of the war, November 1916 b) The Downfall of Asquith
38. Memorandum presented
to Asquith by Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Carson and Beaverbrook, 1 December
1916
39. Asquiths reply to the memorandum and Lloyd Georges response, 1
December 1916
40. Edwin Montagu writes to Asquith, 2 December 1916
41. Bonar
Law and the Resolution of the Unionist ministers, 3 December 1916
42. Asquith
and Lloyd George Exchange Letters on The Times leading article, 4 December
1916
43. Edwin Montagu and the Liberal Ministers, 5 December 1916
44. Bonar
Law and Asquith, 5 December 1916
45. Addison on Lloyd Georges Liberal
backbench supporters
46. Asquith on his own downfall, 7 December 1916 c)
Lloyd George as Prime Minister
47. Lloyd George and his relationship to the
Liberal Party, January 1917
48. The Remodelling of Lloyd Georges government,
July 1917
49. The Soldiers and the politicians, November 1917
50. Lloyd
George on the future of the Liberal Party 1918
51. Captain Guest on the
government and the press lords, February 1918
52. Arthur Henderson on Lloyd
George premiership, April 1918
53. Lloyd George on his political creed, April
1918
54. General Maurices letter in The Times May 1918
55. The Origin of the
coupon July 1918
56. Lloyd George secures Liberal support for a post-war
Coalition November 1918
57. The Coalitions election manifesto, November 1918
58. J. M. Keyness verdict on the coupon election
59. Edwin Montagus
verdict on the coupon election D: The Lloyd George Coalition (1918-22) a)
The Coalition and Party Politics
60. Edwin Montagu on the new parliament,
1919
61. H. A. L. Fisher on the moves towards a centre party January
February 1920
62. Lord Birkenhead on the need for a National Party February
1920
63. Bonar Law on the failure of fusion March 1920
64. Lloyd Georges
swing to the right, March 1920
65. Walter Long on the Lloyd George
government, May 1920
66. Sir William Sutherland on the need for a New
Liberalism January 1922
67. Fisher on the need for the Liberal Ministers to
Resign, March 1922
68. Hilton Young on the need for Lloyd George to Resign
March 1922 b) The Decline and Fall of Lloyd George
69. The Appointment of the
Geddes Committee, August 1921
70. The Report of the Geddes Committee,
February 1922
71. Lloyd George and the honours scandal, 1922
72. Montagu on
the political situation, November 1921
73. Austen Chamberlain opposes a
dissolution, January 1922
74. Lord Salisbury on Lloyd Georges unfitness for
his task March 1922
75. Grigg on Lloyd Georges political decline, March
1922
76. Bonar Laws letter to The Times on the Chanak crisis, October 1922
77. Baldwins speech at the Carlton Club, 19 October 1922
78. Masterman on
Lloyd Georges betrayal of Liberalism
79. Lloyd Georges defence of his
governments Liberal record, December 1922 E: The Liberal Decline (1923-29)
a) Liberal Reunion
80. Baldwins Plymouth speech advocating protection of the
home market, October 1923
81. The reunion of Asquith and Lloyd George,
November 1923
82. The Liberal Election Manifesto, November 1923 b) The
Failure of the Last Crusade
83. Herbert Gladstone and the Liberal finances,
August 1924
84. The Nation on the Liberals plight, December 1924
85. Lloyd
Georges green book on agriculture, 1925
86. Keynes on the new Liberalism
1927
87. We Can Conquer Unemployment 1929
88. Donald Maclean on the
parliamentary Liberal party, July and December 1929
89. Lloyd Georges
retrospect on the inter-war years March 1940
Kenneth O. Morgan is one of Britains leading modern historians. He was Fellow of The Queens College, Oxford, from 1966 to 1989, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales from 1989 to 1995. He was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 1983 and Honorary Fellow of The Queens College in 1992. His books include Keir Hardie, (1975, Arts Council book prize); Rebirth of a Nation: Wales, 18801980 (1981, Arts Council book prize); and The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain (1984) which has sold over 600,000 copies.
