Lloyd George was reduced to political manoeuvring to maintain his position, and he would employ such ruses as offering to resign in favour of Austen Chamberlain, which Chamberlain refused. He made the mistake, as Asquith had done before him, of thinking that he was indispensable. Lloyd George was known for his poor handling of foreign affairs, especially the Chanak crisis, which I will mention later in the essay. In an attempt to gain a foreign policy coup in 1922, Lloyd George proposed what would be the twenty-fourth conference between European leaders since the war. It was held at Genoa in April, 1922. The USA refused to attend, and the upshot was that the Germans and Soviets struck a private deal at the Treaty of Rapello, which enabled the Germans to use the military facilities of the Russians, and thus evade sections of the Versailles Treaty. One aim of the conference was to cancel all war debts and reparations; in order to put pressure on the US, the Balfour Note was issued, stating that Great Britain would only collect debts sufficient to pay her debts to the US, but the US did not cancel their debt. The Genoa Conference was a disaster for Lloyd George.
After WW1 there was great optimism in Britain, which presented a problem for LG and the Coalition, because hopes were so high that it was almost inevitable the public would end up disappointed. This was especially true of LG’s “homes fit for heroes” scheme, despite 170,000 new houses being built by 1922 the project was deemed a massive disappointment. In 1917 the Ministry of Reconstruction to look into the matter of substandard housing and it was concluded in 1919 that there were 400,000 houses across the country unfit for habitation. The plan seemed to go well, but it proved to be very expensive. The economic slump of 1921 led to the government trying to save money, so the subsidies were stopped. Only 170,000 new houses were built. Again this signalled to the public that Lloyd George couldn’t live up to his words, as he didn’t “make Germany pay” or build enough “homes fit for heroes”, which he had promised.
LG didn’t want returning soldiers to become destitute, so he began expanding unemployment benefits, which present massive problems for the Government, as they believed large-scale unemployment would only be a temporary problem. This meant, what had once covered a few jobs where there was temporary short term unemployment now extended to almost all jobs, in some cases where there might be extensive long term unemployment. If unemployment continued to rise this would present a massive problem for the Coalition, as it would cost them more and more money. This whole scenario angered the Tories, who complained about giving so much help to the unemployed.
The matter of the economy and unions presented an almost impossible problem for LG. From 1918 until late 1920 the economy was in a strong position, with unemployment down. At this time the unions had a lot of influence and LG was criticised by the Tories for giving in to them too much. This period of almost full employment was mainly due a great deal of war losses to replace (shipping for example), plus many of our trading rivals, including Germany, had far too many problems to cause us trouble. However it wasn’t all good, as certain industries felt their wages had not increased sufficiently to match inflation, but they could not strike during the war. To make things worse for LG, Britain saw the first signs of a possible Communist revolution, as the red flag flew in Glasgow. This scared the government, particularly the Tories. By late 1920 Britain and many other countries fell into depression. LG came under heavy criticism from the unions and Labour for not doing more to protect jobs, which confirmed doubts in the mind of his backbenchers about his ability to govern the country. The economic slump hit many British industries hard and by June 1921 unemployment had risen to a staggering 2,170,000. This massive unemployment meant the government were getting less money from taxes, so they began trying to save money. LG put one of his ministers, Geddes, in charge of these spending cuts, and his report later became known as “the Geddes axe”. He cut government spending by a massive 20%, which meant an end to the “homes fit for heroes” scheme, most education expansion plans and teachers’ wages. At this point it became clear to people that their wish for a better standard of living after the war would not come true.
Arguably the biggest problem for Lloyd George was the situation in Ireland. Irish nationalists drew a lot of support during the war, as Britain tried to introduce conscription the whole of Ireland. The Home Rule Act of 1914, was a British act of parliament intended to provide self-government ("home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Act was the first law ever passed by the British parliament that established devolved government in a part of the United Kingdom. However, the implementation of both it and the equally controversial Welsh Church Act 1914 was postponed for a minimum of twelve months with the outbreak of the First World War; subsequent developments in Ireland led to further postponements which meant that the Act never took effect, but was finally replaced by a fourth Act in 1920. In an attempt to force Britain into giving Ireland their independence the IRA (terrorist wing of Sinn Fein) committed many atrocities and frequently attacked signs of British rule, including shooting policemen. Irish nationalists attempted to seize power in April 1916 (Easter rising), a revolt easily crushed by the British. Although a failure, the reprisals by the British began to draw support for the IRA. They were also helped by the war continued for another two years and by the fact that the British tried to introduce conscription to the whole of Ireland. After the Easter rising, Asquith sent LG to Ireland to try and negotiate with the nationalists. It was agreed that the 26 catholic counties would get home rule; and the six protestant counties of Ulster would remain part of the UK until after the war when their ultimate fate would be decided. The Tories furiously rejected the proposal as they felt it was giving away too much to the nationalists. Not only this, it also appeared that LG was giving in to terrorism, which greatly in infuriated the whole of the Coalition. They were also helped by the war continued for another two years and by the fact that the British tried to introduce conscription to the whole of Ireland. The situation in Ireland continued to worsen and on the 21st November 1920 came one of the most notorious incidents during the Irish War of Independence, Bloody Sunday. The day began with the killing of fourteen of eighteen British agents of the Cairo Gang, or their informants, by the Irish Republican Army. Later that afternoon, British forces opened fire on the crowd at a Gaelic football match in Croke Park in north Dublin, killing 14 civilians. That same evening there were scattered shootings in the city streets, and three Irish prisoners in Dublin Castle were killed by their British captors under suspicious circumstances. By mid 1921 LG decided to make a public announcement of improved terms giving Ireland dominion status, but with an oath of loyalty to the King and the direct control of certain Irish naval bases. It was also agreed that Ulster should be allowed to decide it’s own future. This was an extremely difficult time for Lloyd George as he sympathized with the nationalists, but the Tories were insistent that Britain had to remain strong, and ensure they didn’t lose Ireland. They feared if they allowed Ireland independence, a domino effect would ensue, which would eventually lead to Britain losing India and their invaluable raw materials. LG met with Michael Collins (one of the leaders of Sinn Fein), in London in the summer of 1921. LG ran rings around Collins and his associates at the meeting and the two sides agreed to an Irish Free State as a dominion status Southern Ireland and with a smaller Ulster remaining part of GB. Some Tory MP’s were livid talks with the IRA were held in the first place, which they again considered to be LG giving in to terrorism. The treaty sparked civil war in Ireland. This civil war claimed more lives than the War of Independence that preceded it and left Irish society deeply divided. So although the treaty ensured the British Empire retained part of Ireland, it infact caused violence and deaths rather than peace. So although his intentions were good, the violence caused in Ireland by LG’s treaty, was undoubtedly one of the major factors that led to his downfall.
The Chanak Crisis, which coincided with the situation in Ireland, was the final straw for many Tory MP’s regarding LG. This crisis arose due to the Turks anger towards the Treaty of Sevres and the Greeks invading the Turkish province of Smyrna. In response the Turks pushed the Greeks out of Smyrna, involving a series of massacres, and then continued to push towards Chanak, which was a neutral zone occupied by British and French troops. The French did not want to risk war with Turkey, so they pulled out, the British did not. Encouraged by Churchill, Lloyd George ordered the British commander Harrington to issue a threat to the Turks, warning them not to advance any further. Harrington disobeyed LG and began negotiations with Turkey, who had already decided not to advance any further, despite not receiving GB’s warning. Chanak was a major embarrassment for Lloyd George, as not only did Harrington undermine him and ignore his wishes, it angered the public and his backbenchers too. It was seen as reckless behaviour by LG, risking war unnecessarily. The hurt after WW1 was still strong and to risk more British lives over such a pointless matter seemed ridiculous. Worse still, it was seen as a desperate attempt by Lloyd George to attract support and cling to power. Bonar Law’s letter to The Times, spoke for everyone by saying “We cannot alone act as policemen of the world”.
LG was almost powerless, as he lost the Tories support for being too radical, for example Chanak. The Tories were also unhappy about his handling of the Ireland situation and his co-operation of the unions. He also lost the support of the Liberal voters, mainly due to the Geddes Axe and the treatment of the unions. LG was hindered even further with the loss of Bonar Law on the grounds of ill health. Bonar Law was the lynch pin of the Coalition, and was always happy to serve under LG. His skills as a mediator between Lloyd George and his Tory backbenchers were priceless to LG, and when he left and was replaced by Chamberlain, it signalled the end for Lloyd George.
The excitement caused by the Chanak crisis encouraged Lloyd George to think that it was a good time for an election, and the majority Conservative cabinet supported him in this. However, Conservative backbenchers were opposed to fighting an election on a Coalition ticket. A meeting was summoned at the Carlton Club for 19th October, when Curzon proposed to break the resistance to the plan. However, at the meeting Baldwin spoke against Lloyd George, and Law, coming out of retirement, came out against the Coalition. In the vote that followed there was a majority of 185 to 88 against the Coalition, and as a consequence it was as an independent party that the Conservatives fought the election. Thus, Lloyd George fell from power. Law was elected leader of the Conservative party on 23rd October, and became Prime Minister.
All these factors contributed to LG’s downfall. Most of these reasons that led to his fall from power were through fault on his part, although no matter what LG did it was always going to be very difficult for him to remain in power due to the fact he had no political party of his own, and a Coalition made up mainly of Tories who would want a Tory in charge when LG was no longer of use to them. Despite his inability to govern in peace time being a major factor, I believe his woeful handling of Foreign Affairs to be the most important factor which led to his fall from power, in particular Chanak. The horrors caused by WW1 were still fresh in the minds of everybody and LG risking another war horrified the public. It also showed LG was more concerned with personal glory and his position of power rather than concentrating on more pressing matters at home in Britain, where unemployment and the standard of living were still huge problems.
