Can David Lloyd George be considered a great Prime Minister?

Can David Lloyd George be considered a great Prime Minister? It can be said Lloyd George should not be considered as a great Prime Minister as he brought some failures to Britain during his time in office including, the destruction of the Liberal party forcing it to split, the Treaty of Versailles and some of the economic problems that faced Britain. However taking these into account I still believe Lloyd George deserves to be remembered as a great Prime Minister. Lloyd George first began his political career as Chancellor of the Exchequer and went on to be successful as the Minister of Munitions during the war, he was described as having 'fire in his belly' and he got the job done. This showed Lloyd George was able to make good decisions and his charismatic personality made him liked by many, this paved the way for him to become Prime Minister in 1916. Lloyd George's first great success was obviously winning World War One. Although it can be argued it was the army generals who had led Britain to victory, Lloyd George did more by making government more efficient with the five-man war cabinet and the cabinet secretariat that co-ordinated government activities. He also done much to improve matters when Britain's food production was crucial, so much so that the output of food increased significantly between 1916 and 1917. Finally, even though a German victory had seemed

  • Word count: 623
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Lloyd George

Lloyd George "I am just a beetle in a glass case". This was Lloyd George speaking during the peacetime coalition and basically refers to the amount of problems he was faced with. We know he had many problems, and we know that he dealt with the important ones badly but why did he eventually resign? Was it the fact that he was a prisoner of the Conservatives? Was it because of his part in the decline of the Liberal party? Or was it just Lloyd George himself? For me, it would have to be his own actions. Martin Pugh would argue that it was being a prisoner of the Conservatives that led to his downfall the most. He would argue that they knew Lloyd George was going to have problems but as they were just coming back from the political wilderness, they needed someone to 'tide them over' and maybe get some 'Conservative' reforms through. Once they were stronger, they ditched him as they had gained more influence from the Irish problem. He said, "Politicians need a common basis of sentiment or objective", and was referring to the fact that according to him, Lloyd George had to forget his ideals and do what the Conservatives told him to. Trevor Wilson has argued that it was his part in the decline of the Liberal party, which contributed to his downfall. He argues that Asquith can't play any real part in the failure of the Liberals as he stuck with them during the war and blames it all

  • Word count: 2102
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Asses the most important factors that led to David Lloyd George(TM)s downfall in 1922

Asses the most important factors that led to David Lloyd George's downfall in 1922. Prime Minister, David Lloyd George made a greater impact on British public life than any in 20th century. He laid the foundations of what later became the welfare state and in 1918 he was acclaimed, as "the man who won the war". However, after just four years served, Lloyd George fell from power abruptly in 1922. His downfall came as no surprise to some, who saw his reign doomed from the start, due to the fact he was a Prime Minister without a political party. Lloyd George's political situation slowly began to worsen after his victory in the 1918 election. It was difficult to see what section of the community he could appeal to. The rise of the Labour party made it difficult for him to appeal to the working classes as a man of the people. The political environment of cut-backs of 1922 was unsuited to him, and he was increasingly dependent on the Conservatives. There were a number of issues, including his style of government, and the honours scandal, which made Lloyd George a liability in the eyes of the Coalition, which made his fall from power in 1922 inevitable. LG's style of government often came under scrutiny, a style which was considered suitable for wartime, but dramatically less effective in peace time. His tendencies to act impulsively, rarely attend parliament and consult few

  • Word count: 2798
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Was the most important reason for the collapse of the coalition government in 1922 Lloyd George himself? David Lloyd George took over on 1916 due to the lack of urgency Asquith had during World War I

Was the most important reason for the collapse of the coalition government in 1922 Lloyd George himself? David Lloyd George took over on 1916 due to the lack of urgency Asquith had during World War I. The king offers the job to Lloyd George and his own part (Liberals) do not support him due to this he divides his own party into two separate parties. Lloyd George was a strong and decisive leader in contrast to Asquith and managed to win the war. During the war he brings about more government controls and brings the country up. Due to the significant win over the war Lloyd George's popularity increases and his Liberal coalition Government won considerably in the general election in 1918. The vast majority of the government was the Conservatives. The coalition government ends in 1922 when Lloyd George is forced to resign The Conservatives decided that they did not want to remain under the control of David Lloyd George. There are many reasons why I think that Lloyd George was the most important reason for the collapse of the coalition government. One of the reasons is that he never planned any sufficient way of helping Britain during the economic slump. Two million people were out of work. He introduced the new unemployment scheme in 1921, this could not cope with the demands placed upon it but the government could not turn back. Lloyd George had now become very unpopular with

  • Word count: 1491
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Politics
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Why did Lloyd George win the election in 1918?

Why did Lloyd George win the 1918 election? There were several reasons why Lloyd George won the general election in 1918, such as his personal popularity, the success of the wartime coalition government in winning the War, the increased number of people voting and David Lloyd George's decisions and promises made during the election campaign. Lloyd George's personal popularity was mainly based on his achievement of leading the country successfully through the Great War after the collapse of the Asquith government. Although a Liberal himself, Lloyd George became the head of a coalition government of mainly Unionists (or Conservatives) with Liberals and Labour support. He was increasingly seen as having the necessary energy and drive to achieve victory, becoming known as the 'man who won the war'. Because of the success of that coalition as an example of national unity, Lloyd George wanted to keep it together in peacetime and even extend it. He asked Labour to remain a partner and invited Asquith to join him as Lord Chancellor, which would have reunited the Liberals; both approaches were rejected. Lloyd George and Andrew Bonar Law, the Conservative leader, reached an agreement to safeguard the seats of candidates from the Liberal and Conservative parties who had the official support of the coalition. They were offered a letter of endorsement, the so-called 'Coupon', from the

  • Word count: 610
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
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'David Lloyd George fell from Grace in 1922 as a result of his own mistakes after 1918'. Asses the validity of this statement

'David Lloyd George fell from Grace in 1922 as a result of his own mistakes after 1918'. Asses the validity of this

  • Word count: 1338
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Why did Lloyd George fall from power in 1922?

Why did Lloyd George fall from power in 1922? On the 19 October 1922, a two-to-one majority of Conservative members of Parliament, voted that the Conservatives where to resign their support of Lloyd George and fight as an independent party, this lead to the resignation of Lloyd George. However, this last straw with other factor such as Chanak, the honours scandal, and the Ireland situation also played a big part in his downfall. Lloyd Georges fate much depended on whether the Conservative MPs would continue to support him at the next general election which he intended to hold fairly soon. A full meeting of Conservative MPs was arranged at the Carlton Club on October 19. This meeting debated a proposal that the party should fight an election on an independent basis. Most of the backbenchers were ready to continue the coalition after the election provided the party's independence had been reasserted. However, instead of accepting this, Chamberlain the Leader of the Conservative party adopted a tough line, as a result forcing most to vote against Lloyd George. After the Carlton Club vote Chamberlain went straight to Number 10 Downing Street. "We must resign Lloyd George', he said". But Lloyd George already knew and lost no time in resigning his office. He acted as Prime Minister for four more days because Bonar Law refused to take office until he had been

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  • Word count: 775
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Politics
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Was Lloyd George a better leader during times of war thantimes of peace?

Was Lloyd George a better leader during times of war than times of peace? Lloyd George's record tells a story of a remarkably better leader in times of war than in peace, but you have to look beyond the facts to see the real story. Although he did win a war, and do nothing notable after that, he is a victim of circumstance as he wasn't really able to do much else due to the split in his party, and having to join the Conservatives in a coalition. David Lloyd George took over as Prime Minister of Britain after Asquith had shown he was unable to lead the country during times of war - or that was the feeling of the country at the time at least. This caused a bitter split in the Liberal party to which Lloyd George belonged to, with most party members staying loyal to Asquith, and some following Lloyd George. At the next general election after the war, the so called 'Coupon Election', the divided Liberal party were easily defeated by the Tories. However, Bonar-Law realised the public support for Lloyd George was sky-high as he had just won the war, and so asked Lloyd George to form a coalition with him. This is a good move for the Tories as it meant they had the public support on their side and were still able to run the country. This move was the only move that a man in Lloyd George's position could make. He had no party and the only way of staying in power was to form the

  • Word count: 582
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How successful was Lloyd George as peace-time Prime minister?

How successful was Lloyd George as peace-time Prime minister? Lloyd George was partially successful as a peace-time Prime minister: he had success in achieving certain goals as: demobbing of many war heroes; averting a general strike, crushing the imminent threat of Communism, increased the quantity of housed people, and used his position as a leader with no party with incredible bravery all this despite facing huge economic problems. However George had failures: Lloyd George had an inability to adapt from going from a war time leader to a peace time PM; often making rash and important decisions without the backing of the cabinet; and although some of his reforms had successes they also had major failures. After the conclusion to the Great War and the success of the Versailles settlement, Lloyd George and his coalition government were faced with, arguably their toughest task to date, domestic politics. The domestic situation in the aftermath of the war was chaotic and needed all of Lloyd George's brilliance. Many people have debated that Lloyd George's handling of the situation was eccentric at the least. For example his statement to gain popularity with the British labourers, "Well, I am for hanging the Kaiser" "Lloyd George was undoubtedly a national rather than party leader and was convinced that he could most effectively lead Britain through the war into peace and

  • Word count: 2050
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Why did Lloyd George become Prime Minister in December 1916?

Why did Lloyd George become Prime Minister in December 1916? The main reason why Lloyd George became Prime Minister in 1916 was because of his political manoeuvring abilities that manipulated Asquith into resigning as leader. Lloyd George wanted to enforce further conscription and demanded an inner war cabinet which Asquith was excluded from. This meant that Lloyd George had the real power and was a strong reason for him becoming Prime Minister because Asquith became outshone by Lloyd George. Asquith tried to reject this cabinet but Lloyd George left and took the Conservatives with him because they would not serve Asquith. This left Asquith in Government with no support because he relied on Lloyd George and the Conservatives in the Coalition. Lloyd George returned as Prime Minister the next day and Asquith resigned because he would not serve under anyone else. This was the main reason for Lloyd George becoming Prime Minister because he manipulated Asquith and forced him to resign leaving Lloyd George and the Coalition in power. Another reason why Lloyd George became Prime Minister was because of his huge success as Minister for Munitions during the shell-shortage-crisis at the beginning of the war for the Western front. Lloyd George dealt with the problem very well and gained popularity from the Conservatives and therefore the Conservatives said that Lloyd George should

  • Word count: 544
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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