British army lost the war
to the Boers in south
africa
they lost due to the
poor health of the
army
25% of the volunteers willing to go and
fight were sent away for being physically
unfit to serve
Many started to doubt the
capability of the army to defend
the British empire
As a result of this the government introduce reforms to
monitor the health of the nation and give suggestions on diet
and lifestyle
R.C Birch feels that national
security and national efficiency
were the real reasons for the
liberal reforms.
National Efficiecy
By the end of the 19th century Britain's
status as a strong industrial power was
slipping
It be came evident that as the health and
education standards for Britain deteriorated so
did her position of high power.
However, national security was slightly more important to the
government as they were more concerned about keeping Britain
safe and maintaining the empire.
Germany was becoming more efficient and she has put in place a welfare
system in the 1880s which proved a well looked after work force was much more
efficient
The reports of Booth and Rowntree
Booth lead an investigation into poverty in the east end of london to prove the
socialists were wrong in claiming a quarter of London's population was in
poverty however the results were quite different
Booth's results showed that 35% of people in London lived in extreme poverty
Booth told the Government that they were in danger of a socialist revolution if they did not deal with
the poverty levels
Rowntree was inspired by booth and conducted a similar investigation in york
His results showed that 30% of York's population was in
poverty
Showed that it was a nation wide problem
He created the poverty line- the minimum amount a
family needed for essentials
he results of booth and rowntree showed
that poverty was not a choice, and made
them realise something must be done
However, the results were not a
priority for the government and
were somewhat over looked as
they were more concerned about
national security and efficiency
Political Advantage and New Liberalism
From 1884, most working class men voted liberal, however by 1906 labour
was competing for the same votes.
This would suggest that the liberal reform were done simply to gain more votes, however reform was not
mentioned on the 1905 manifesto
New Liberalism
nature of liberalism was changing
New Liberals like David Lloyd George spread the ideas of
state intervention and collectivism
Municipal Socialism
second half of 19th local governments had been
intervening more in people lives.
Liberals like Joseph Chamberlain helped to improve people's lives by building baths parks and
hospitals as well as supplying fresh water and sewage management
In the words of one report, Chamberlain left Birmingham "parked, paved, gas and watered and improved"
However this did not affect the national politicians in their decision
making as they were not interested in what was going on at a local level