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Home , Arthur Greenwood, Kingsley Wood, Popular Front (UK), War Cabinet

British Dear Delegates to the British War Cabinet, Welcome to the British War Cabinet (BWC) and University of Michigan Model United Nations Conference (UMMUN). I would like to extend a special welcome to those of you new to UMMUN. This committee will hopefully prove to be very exciting because of the dynamics and, of course, you, the delegates. This year, we have decided to create a new committee to fit the growing needs of delegates. You will be asked to tackle difficult situations quickly and keep your wits about you. Also, with no set topic, I expect each delegate to be well-versed in the person he or she represents as well as his or her powers and areas expertise. I do not expect you to become experts, but I do expect you to know what information you should know so that it may be called upon, if needed. This is a small committee, and as such, I will expect you all to be very active during the conference. I have a great staff this year. Dana Chidiac is my Assitant Director. She is a second year student concentrating in English. My name is Nicole Mazur. I am a fourth year student at UM, double concentrating in Political Science and Communications. My model UN career began when I got to college and have since been to conferences at University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, University of Chicago, McGill University, and Georgetown University. Last year for UMMUN, I was the Director of the United States National Security Council. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. I will get back to you as soon as possible. I look forward to meeting you all in January.

Best wishes, Nicole Mazur [email protected]

British War Cabinet 2 DAIS STAFF  Director - Nicole Mazur  Assistant Director - Dana Chidiac COMMITTEE MISSION The Cabinet is set to begin in the summer of 1940, prior to the entrance of the Soviets in cooperation with the Great Britain and the entrance of the United States. Therefore, one of the goals of the delegates will be to discern ways of getting these nations as well as others into the war. The students should be well versed in the chronology and events of World War II up to the start date of the Cabinet. After that, the students should remember that events may not follow the exact chronology of the war as we know. This is a chance to change history. TOPIC OVERVIEW The British War Cabinet, the center of the government, was announced on May 11, 1940. At that time it only consisted of five men: , , , Lord Halifax, and . The membership of the War Cabinet revealed that the principle of choice had been primarily politics. To call it a strong Cabinet would be difficult, but to say it was merely the rubber stamp of Churchill himself is not fair. Certainly in the early days Churchill powered and even sustained his colleagues. It appears that even the topic of negotiations with Hitler was raised briefly by Halifax eon May 27, 1940. Churchill believed that members of the War Cabinet should combine overseeing the whole war effort with responsibility for certain executive departments. In a political sense he hoped that this would keep his most able colleagues fully occupied, but sound administrative reasons also existed.

British War Cabinet 3 British War Cabinet 4 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH WAR CABINET The British War Cabinet, the center of the British government during WWII, was announced on May 11, 1940. At that time it only consisted of five men: Winston Churchill, Neville Chamberlain, Clement Attlee, Lord Halifax, and Arthur Greenwood. The membership of the War Cabinet revealed that the principle of choice in selecting the cabinet had been primarily politics. To call it a “strong” Cabinet would be difficult, but to say it was merely Churchill’s rubber stamp is not fair. In its early days, Churchill powered and even sustained his colleagues. It appears that the topic of negotiations with Hitler was raised briefly by Halifax on May 27, 1940. Churchill believed that members of the War Cabinet should combine overseeing the whole war effort with responsibility for certain executive departments. In a political sense, he hoped that this would keep his most able colleagues fully occupied, but sound administrative reasons also existed.

GOALS OF THE WAR CABINET The Cabinet is set to begin in the summer of 1940, prior to the entrance of the Soviets into the war in cooperation with the Great Britain and the entrance of the United States. One of the goals of the delegates, therefore, will be to discern ways of getting these nations as well as others into the war. The students should be well versed in the chronology and events of World War II up to the start date of the Cabinet. After that, the students should remember that events may not follow the exact chronology of the war as we know. This is a chance to change history.

British War Cabinet 5 MEMBERS OF THE WAR CABINET Winston Churchill Winston Churchill was born to Lord Randolph and Jennie Churchill in 1974. He served in the British army in India in the 1890s. In 1899, while he was working as a war correspondent for the Morning Post in South Africa, he was captured and placed in a prison camp; his escape from this camp made him famous. Churchill became a Conservative member of Parliament in 1901 and held various government offices over the next 30 years. From 1929 to 1939, Churchill was not active in the government, but remained in the public eye. When World War II began, he was appointed First Lord of the Admirality. He gained the post of Prime Minister in 1940. His powerful speeches demonstrated his determination not to settle for an imperfect peace with Hitler.

Ernest Bevin was born in Somerset in 1881 and was orphaned at an early age. He quit school to work as a farm laborer until he moved to Bristol to take a job as a van driver at age 18. He was a religious nonconformist and spent a short time as a Baptist lay preacher. He joined the Dockers’ Union and the Labor Party. In 1921, he became General Secretary of the newly-formed Transport and General Workers’ Union, and remained in that position until 1940. Bevin was seen by his colleagues as a “moderate trade unionist.” In 1936, he supported the government in Spain and the “heroic struggle carried on by the workers of Spain to save their democratic regime.” In May 1940, Churchill appointed him Minister of Labor, and in June he joined the House of Commons.

British War Cabinet 6 Sir Sir Kingsley Wood was born to a clergyman in Hull in 1891. He was a solicitor in London until beginning his political career at the London City Council in 1911 as a member of the Conservative party. Wood joined the House of Commons in 1919. He was appointed Postmaster General in 1931 and worked to modernize the Post Office. From 1935 until 1938, he was Minister of Health. In 1938, Wood was appointed Secretary of State for Air by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. In that position, he established the Empire Air Training Plan and doubled the strength of the Royal Air Force. In May 1940, Churchill appointed Wood Chancellor of the Exchequer. Wood did not have as much power in that position as he would have had in peacetime because it is difficult to control public spending during wartime.

Clement Attlee Clement Attlee was born in Putney in 1883. He became a lawyer in 1906 when he earned a degree from University College-Oxford. His volunteer work with a boys club sparked his interest in social problems, and he became a member of the Socialist party. In 1913, Attlee became a tutor at the London School of Economics. He left London to serve in the British Army in 1914. After being badly wounded in Mesopotamia, he returned to to recover until he went to work for the army again in France in 1918. By the end of , Attlee had ascended to the rank of Major. After the war, he returned to teaching. In 1919, Attlee entered politics as a member of the Labor Party as a mayor of Stepney. He held various positions in politics and became deputy leader of the Labor Party in 1931, then head of the

British War Cabinet 7 Labor Party in 1935. In May 1940, Attlee joined Churchill’s government as the official and the unofficial deputy Prime Minister. In that position he toned down some of Churchill’s more radical plans and paid attention to the interests of the working class.

Arthur Greenwood Arthur Greenwood was born in in 1880. He worked as a lecturer in economics at Leeds University. From 1920-1922, he was Secretary of the Research and Information Department of the Labor Party. In 1922, he was elected to the House of Commons, and in 1929, he was appointed Minister of Health. Beginning in 1935, Greenwood worked as deputy leader of the Labor Party under Attlee. In the late 1930’s, Greenwood was a vocal critic of Neville Chamberlain and his foreign policy of . In May 1940, he joined the War Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio, meaning he did not have any defined duties. Greenwood was Churchill’s biggest supporter in the 1940 Cabinet debates over whether to accept a peace offer from Germany.

Anthony Eden was born at Windlestone Hall, Bishop Auckland in 1897. He served in the First World War on the Western Font and won the Military Cross at the Battle of Somme in 1916. After the war, Eden selected a career in politics and joined the Conservative Party. In 1926, he was appointed parliamentary private secretary to Austin Chamberlain at the Foreign Office, which was a post he held until the government lost power in 1929. In the National Government formed in 1931, Eden became

British War Cabinet 8 Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs (1931-34). When became prime minister in 1935 he appointed Eden as his . Eden disagreed with Neville Chamberlain about the way to deal with fascism in Europe and in 1938 he resigned from office. When Winston Churchill took over from Chamberlain in 1940, Eden was reappointed as Foreign Secretary. Eden was the most popular member on the Cabinet with the throughout the war due to the fact that he was not directly involved in decisions the British population would dislike.

Sir John Anderson Sir John Anderson was born in Edinburgh in 1882. He entered the Colonial Office in 1905 and was later posted to Ireland where he served as joint undersecretary. In 1922 he was promoted to permanent undersecretary at the Home Office. In 1932 he was appointed governor of Bengal, India. After returning to Britain in 1938 Anderson was elected to the House of Commons. Prime Minister Chamberlain placed Anderson in charge of the Air Raid Precautions (ARP). He immediately commissioned the engineer, William Patterson, to design a small and cheap shelter that could be erected in people's gardens. Within a few months nearly one and a half million of these Anderson Shelters were distributed to people living in areas expected to be bombed by the Luftwaffe. Anderson joined the War Cabinet in October 1940 as Lord President of the Council. In this post he was in charge of organizing civilian and economic resources

William Beaverbrook William Aitken was born in Maple, Ontario in 1879. He became a stockbroker and by 1910 had made a fortune from Canadian cement mills. Aitken moved to Britain and in the House of Commons Aitken became private

British War Cabinet 9 secretary to the Colonial Secretary, Andrew . In 1918 granted Aitken the title Lord Beaverbrook, and appointed him as Minister of Information in his wartime . Beaverbrook, who developed ideas pioneered by Alfred Harmsworth and the Daily Mail, turned the Daily Express into the most widely read newspaper in the world. Beaverbrook also founded the Sunday Express (1921) and in 1929 purchased the Evening Standard. He also wrote several books including Politicians and the Press (1925) and Politicians and the War (1928). In the Second World War, Winston Churchill recruited Beaverbrook into his Cabinet where he served as Minister for Aircraft Production.

British War Cabinet 10 FOCUS QUESTIONS  What do you feel should be done about the involvement of the United States?  What about the involvement of the Soviet Union?  What powers and responsibilities do you have in your role?  What powers and responsibilities fall under your department? SOURCES Jefferys, K. (1991). The Churchill Coalition and Wartime Politics, 1940-1945. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press. Lawlor, S. (1994). Churchill and the Politics of War, 1940-1941. Cambridge, Great Britain: Cambridge University Press. Schoenfeld, M. P. (1972). The War Ministry of Winston Churchill. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press. WEBSITES http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/1953/churchill-bio.html http://www.paralumun.com/warchurchill.htm http://www.answers.com/topic/winston-churchill-political-leader-writer http://www.tgwu.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=89504&L1=- 1&22=89504 http://www.nationalreview.com/derbyshire/derbyshire101601.shtml http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/upload/pdf/CabinetMtg.pdf http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk http://www.answers.com/topic/arthur-greenwood

British War Cabinet 11 British War Cabinet 12 RULES OF COMMITTEE Language: English is the working language of the British War Cabinet (BWC). If another language is used, an English translation must be provided. Attire: Delegates should wear Western business attire during all BWC sessions. Period clothing is acceptable. Conduct: Delegates should conduct themselves in a diplomatic manner, including, but not limited to, showing courtesy to the staff and to other delegates, respecting others who have been given time to speak, and refraining from vulgarity during committee sessions. The Chair: It is the chair's duty to direct debate, call delegates to speak, and decide on motions by the body of the committee. The chair may set speaking time and rule motions out of order. The chair also reserves the right to declare topics to be non-substantive. She may, if she so wishes, delegate this authority to a member of her staff. She also reserves the right to make alterations to the rules should the need arise. Quorum: Committee session may begin when at least one-half of the delegates are present. If a delegate believes the necessary quorum is not present, he or she may request a quorum count. Otherwise, quorum will be assumed. Roll Call: At the beginning of each session, the chair will take a roll call of all delegates. Delegates arriving late should send a notice to the chair. Agenda: The BWC has no set agenda. Thus, there will be no debate on setting the agenda. Moreover, discussion may flow freely between topics without a formal vote. SPEECHES Speeches: No delegate may speak without first being recognized by the chair. The chair reserves the right to call a delegate to order if his/her remarks are not germane to the issues before the BWC. Speakers' List: The BWC has no Speakers' List. Delegates will be chosen by the chair to speak. Typically, the chair will ask for delegates wishing to speak, delegates will raise their placards, and the chair will call on one. Speaking Time: Speaking times are at the discretion of the chair. She will, however, consider heavily the desires of the Council when it comes to length. Yields: There are no yields, as there is no Speakers' List. Comments: Again, there are no comments. POINTS Point of Personal Privilege: If for some reason the delegate is impaired from participating in the debate, he or she may rise to a point of personal privilege and

British War Cabinet 13 request that the impairment be rectified. Examples include requesting that the speaker talk louder because he or she cannot be heard, requesting that the temperature of the room be changed, or requesting that more water be brought into the committee room. A point of personal privilege may also be used to increase or decrease speaking times. Points of personal privilege may interrupt speeches, but should only do so in the most serious circumstances, such as when a speaker cannot be heard. Point of Parliamentary Inquiry: If a delegate has a question concerning the workings of the Council, he or she may rise to a point of inquiry. DOCUMENTS Working Papers: Working papers are the primary means of sharing ideas in a well organized manner. They may take a number of forms, but all serve a similar purpose: enacting or expressing the Cabinet's will. Working papers may be voted on directly (that is, they need not be accepted as "resolutions"), but they must be presented to the committee in a suitable fashion beforehand. Types of working papers include:  Press Releases: The BWC may issue press releases to the various media (radio, periodicals, wire services, foreign media, etc.). Although they cannot in and of themselves enact policy, they are a good way of communicating with the rest of the country and/or world.  Radio Addresses: The Cabinet can vote to have the Chair give an address of his or the Cabinet’s design to the nation via radio.  Military Action: The Cabinet has control over military activities, and thus can issue orders.  Others: If the Cabinet believes an action to be in its interest that is not listed above, it should be brought up to the chair. She will consider it and decide whether the Cabinet has the power in question. Voting: Working papers will require a qualified majority to pass. All delegates present are required to vote. Votes allowed include yes, no, or abstain. Other votes may be considered. For the most part, voting will be done by a show of hands. Qualified Majority: A qualified majority is defined as “the consent of the chair.” For the most part, decisions will be made on a majority basis. From time to time, however, the chair reserves the right to veto the decisions of the Cabinet. Solitary Action: Delegates have complete control over their departments. They are encouraged to stay well informed about and engaged in the activities of their department as long as they do not violate the will of the Cabinet. They have

British War Cabinet 14 control over information requests by other delegates, but can be compelled by the chair to reveal information to the body as a whole. Amendments: Working papers may be amended either before they are voted upon by the delegate/s who prepared them, or they may be amended ad hoc immediately before voting. That is, if the body believes that a paper is worth voting for except for a specific sentence, that sentence may be cut out. MOTIONS Caucus: If a delegate believes a break from formal debate is necessary, he or she may motion for a caucus. Caucuses are at the discretion of the chair, but he will attempt to keep the interests of the committee members in mind. (“Caucus,” for the purpose of BWC, will always be unmoderated.) Appealing the decision of the chair: Any decision the chair makes may be appealed. However, for an appeal to pass, the Cabinet must vote unanimously against the chair. Suspension of debate: If the floor is open and there are fewer than ten minutes left in the current session, a delegate may motion for suspension of debate until the next Cabinet session. This motion ends all committee functions until the beginning of the next session. The chair reserves the right to rule absolutely on this question. Adjournment of Committee: If the floor is open within ten minutes of the end of the last session of conference, a delegate may motion for the adjournment of the Cabinet. This is solely at the chair's discretion.

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