Before the Liberal Reforms of 1905, poverty was an ever present endemic within the working-class of Britain. The general attitude towards those who suffered from poverty, as defined by ideas of Victorian Liberalism, gave the government little imperative to take any real action against poverty. However, after two major studies on the conditions of England had been conducted by Seebohm Rowntree and Charles Booth, the Liberal government introduced a series reforms aimed at improving the lives of the poor. Naturally there is a degree of importance to these two studies concerning how they led to government awareness of poverty; however a series of events around this era also served as possible catalysts for the introduction of social reforms, for example, the Boer War displayed the impact of poverty on war, which compromised the British concept of imperialism at the time. The main question is to what extent were the social reforms of the Liberal Government between 1905 and 1914 a response to more in depth knowledge about the extent and impact of poverty in British affairs.
Between the years of 1906-1914 many Liberal Social reforms were introduced to try and improve the lives of the poor. In the late 19th century and early 20th century there were high levels of poverty due to malnutrition and disease. Previous to the reforms the Government had taken a ‘laissez faire’ approach in the running of the country. There are many factors to be examined when trying to understand why there was sudden change of view from the government on the poor of society and why these Liberal Social Reforms were introduced. One of the possible factors was the genuine concern that they felt towards the poor.
This was largely due to the failure of the old one. Due to the rising costs, this had on the local community parishes. It was thought that the government should intervene and help the poor. The parishes were opposed to this as they believed in the concept of Lassez-Fare. Due to the implantation of the new act this seen the abolishment of the out door relief.
‘To what extent do you agree that the nationalist movement was the greatest threat facing the liberal government by 1914?’ By 1914, there were a number of threats to the liberal government. Examples of these are from the PSI (the socialist party), nationalists and the Catholic Church. The reasons why these groups were a threat to the liberal government was in part because of the weaknesses of the liberal government itself, and the poor state of the economy under the liberals. The economy especially led to a lack of Italian identity, with very high levels of emigration (mainly to the USA). These factors led to a fragile liberal government, with the main threat in my opinion being posed not by the nationalists but the socialists.
To what extent did the failings of Nazi economic policy contribute to the defeat of Germany in the Second World War? There were several different factors that all had an impact on the defeat of Germany during the Second World War and the extent of which the failings of the Nazi economic policy contributed can be argued. The meagre state of the economy, through insufficient planning, did put strains on the government and this limited the full potential of the army, the production of weapons and high demand for labour. No doubt, the economy did hinder the progression of the war however I believe that there were more significant factors that contributed to the defeat of Germany. Hitler’s strategy incompetence, the Allied bombings and losing the Battle of The Atlantic were all also important factors in the defeat of Germany.
Prior to the late 19th century ‘Laissez-faire’ was the Governments policy towards poverty in Britain. “Laissez-faire” meaning to leave alone was the attitude of both the government and the public towards the issue of the poor who were living in poverty. The state was not to interfere in the lives of people or in the workings of market economy. Individuals had to look after themselves and their families. It was believed that poverty was the individuals own fault, due to their own personal defects and moral failures.
Research Paper President Obama's New Deal vs. President Roosevelt's New Deal The original new deal that was proposed by President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930's during the great depression many columnists believe that it has been revamped into something that President Barack Obama believes can jumpstart the American economy. Since both of these men are from the Democratic Party and were voted into office by the American people under the promise that they would and could help jumpstart the economy that would lead to a decrease in unemployment. They both had a huge responsibility to the American people to hit the ground running. And although the similarities of the deals are almost to uncanny to be coincidence they each had key ideas on how to get the American people back into the workforce. I will be focusing on just a few key areas that have been struck due to the recession for President Obama and the Great Depression for President Roosevelt and how each man either fixed the problem or is attempting to.
A conservative knows that change is the rule of life among societies, but he insists that the past not be forgotten. He is the complete opposite of a liberal such as in he the fact that he can be pessismistic about the possibilities of reform, he chooses stability over change, continuity over experiment, and the past over the future. (Lesson 18) Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt both worked hard to bring the nation out of the great depression. They both instituted many programs and reforms to try and save that nation. Some historians even say that Hoover was the bridge to Roosevelt's new deal policy, however, these two men were very different in their ways of thinking and running the government.
The Victorian era. The Victorian Era in England is a famous historical period during which Queen Victoria was on the throne. It was an era of industrial and scientific breakthroughs but also a turning point in government politics and rights for English citizens. It is a time during which the population of England doubles and the first unions and strikes take place. Factory workers suffer for the first half of the century as well as the agricultural workers who have to endure the consequences of this evolution.
How did the Liberal Social Reforms of 1906-1914 improve the lives of the British people? At the beginning of the twentieth century many British people were living in poverty. It could be argued that this was very much a result of the policy of the nineteenth century governments. They believed in a ’Lassie-faire’ approach in which people were responsible for themselves. The Liberal government came to power in 1906 and began to change this.