Tag: David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George (1863-1945)

Written by Lawrance, W on 17th June, 2011. Posted in Historical Figures.

David Lloyd George was born in Manchester on January 17th 1863, the son of William, a schoolteacher, and his wife Elizabeth. The following year, William died, so Elizabeth returned to her native Wales, where the family lived with her brother, Richard.

Lloyd George began his career as a lawyer, but soon turned his attention to politics, taking a keen interest in the policies of the Liberal party. In January 1888, he was married to Margaret Owen and two years later, won the election for Caernarvon Boroughs, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament. He soon became renowned for his skilled oratory and achieved national fame when he spoke out against British involvement in the Boer War.

When H. H. Asquith became Prime Minister in 1908, Lloyd George was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, and devised the ‘People’s Budget’ of 1909, which called for higher taxes on the rich. This budget was rejected by the House of Lords, resulting in the Parliament Act of 1911, under which the powers of the Upper House were severely reduced.

When the First World War began, Lloyd George served in Asquith’s coalition government, firstly as Minister for Munitions and then as Secretary for War. As the conflict progressed, Lloyd George and others became increasingly disaffected with Asquith’s leadership and in December 1916, Lloyd George used Conservative support to take over the position of Prime Minister and cause a permanent rift in the Liberal party.

He immediately formed a War Cabinet, which consisted of himself and one other Liberal (Lord Milner), two Conservatives (Andrew Bonar Law and Lord Curzon) and one representative of the Labour party (Arthur Henderson). Lloyd George came into frequent conflicts with Commander in Chief, Sir Douglas Haig and conspired to reduce the power of many of the generals, enforcing several changes in leadership. After the war, Lloyd George immediately called a General Election, which his coalition with the Conservatives won by a landslide, although within the coalition itself, the Conservatives had the balance of power. After the Treaty of Versailles had been signed, he settled down to more domestic politics.

In June 1922, the Conservatives, keen to take power by themselves, showed that he had been selling peerages and knighthoods and in October of that year the coalition was abandoned and Lloyd George was forced to resign.

In the 1930s he published his memoirs, in which he was scathing towards the Generals, especially Douglas Haig, being dead by this time, had no right of reply. Margaret, his wife, died in 1941 and Lloyd George then married his long-term mistress, Frances Stevenson, much against the wishes of the five children whom he had had with Margaret.

David Lloyd George died of cancer in March 1945 and was buried beside the river Dwyfor in Llanystumdury, where he grew up.

Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Written by Lawrance, W on 31st May, 2011. Posted in Historical Figures.

Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace, his family’s ancestral home, on 30th November 1874. He was educated at St George’s School, Ascot, Brunswick School in Hove and then Harrow. He attended the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst, following which he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars. He also took the unusual step of becoming a war correspondent which meant he both fought in and wrote about conflicts in India and the Sudan before resigning his commission in 1899 to become a journalist and politician.

Churchill returned to England, following a daring escape during the Boer War, in 1900 and was elected to Parliament that same year. In September 1908, he married Clementine Hozier and they went on to have five children, although one of them, Marigold, died in infancy. By 1914, Churchill’s political career had advanced and he was First Lord of the Admiralty when war broke out. Following the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign, he was forced to resign and went into the army, where he rose to the rank of Colonel, in command of the 6th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. In 1917, he was recalled by David Lloyd George and made Secretary of State for Munitions.

After the war, in 1924, Churchill was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, although defeat in the 1929 election saw him out of office and he remained in the political wilderness for the next decade. When the Second World War began, he was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty and then in May 1940 he became Prime Minister – an office which he held for the duration of the conflict. In July 1945, he was defeated at the General Election and became Leader of the Opposition until October 1951, when he was once again returned to office.

Churchill retired as Prime Minister in 1955 at the age of 80, although he remained on the back benches until 1964, when he stood down. He died in January 1965 at the age of 90. He was given a state funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral, before being buried at St Martin’s Church, Bladen, not far from Blenheim Palace.

The War at Sea and the Home Front, 1915

Written by Lawrance, W on 26th May, 2011. Posted in Featured Posts, History.

THE WAR AT SEA

The only real naval battle of 1915 was the Battle of Dogger Bank, which followed a German raid on the east coast towns of Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool in December 1914. Although this raid caused outrage, the German commander, Admiral Franz von Hipper decided that he would continue to launch offensives on the British east coast. On 24th January 1915, his fleet was intercepted by the British Navy at Dogger Bank. The British ships, commanded by Admiral Beatty, outnumbered the Germans and two German vessels (Blücher and Seydlitz) were damaged or sunk at the cost of almost one thousand lives. Although Beatty had the upper hand, he decided to withdraw for fear of a U-boat attack, resulting in some criticism that he did not take the opportunity to do more substantial damage to the German fleet.

THE WAR AT HOME

The Miners Strike

In July 1915, Welsh coal miners went on strike, demanding a pay increase, rather than a ‘war bonus’ offered by the government, which they believed would be withdrawn at the end of the conflict. At that time, mines were privately owned and the miners were dissatisfied because the coal was being sold at higher prices, but the owners were not passing these profits down to the workers.

This strike caused difficulties throughout the country, since coal was the major source of fuel, both for consumers and industry, but more importantly, the Royal Navy required vast quantities of coal to maintain the fleet. The government was forced to become involved after less than a week, sending Munitions Minister David Lloyd George to Cardiff to negotiate with the strikers. The government conceded to the miners’ demands and the strike ended on 20th July.

Zeppelin Raids

On January 19th 1915, the Germans launched their first Zeppelin raids in the British Isles, in Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn, killing nine civilians. The effects of this upon the population were a drop in morale and an increase in the fear that the Germans might invade. Further Zeppelin raids were launched throughout the year and into 1916, mainly on East Coast towns, and also in London.

After the initial fear had died down, by the late summer of 1915, these raids actually had the effect of drawing people closer together and also of making them feel more involved with the war.

As Laurence Binyon put it, in his poem The Zeppelin:

“Of those who yet fight,
Spending for each of us
Their glorious blood
In the foreign night, –
That now we are neared to them
Thank we God.”