DOCSLIB.ORG

Winston Churchill As a Winston Churchill As a Winston Churchill As a Winston Churchill As a Liberal

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Winston Churchill As a Winston Churchill As a Winston Churchill As a Winston Churchill As a Liberal Churchill Winston Churchill was one of the famous politicians to have held high office in the administrations of two different parties. The text of this article was first delivered as a toast to the University Club of Toronto and a remembrance of the ‘Other Club’ in 1995 by Liberal Senator Jerry S Grafstein QCQC. WinstonWinston ChurchillChurchill asas aa LiberalLiberal y topic for the toast to the club is Churchill: sive dreadnoughts. Military strategists in England re- MWinston Churchill as a Liberal. A strange spond that Britain’s control of the seas should be ac- topic for a club toast as some might suggest Church- celerated by enlarging her already awesome fleet to ill himself was considered by some as not exactly safeguard the Empire in all her majesty and maintain ‘clubbable,’ though he was a member of a number of the balance of power in Europe. clubs. Since we, in the Senate, particularly these days, Meanwhile, on the domestic front, a number of get the feeling that we are not exactly ‘clubbable’ young sparkling political stars are emerging. Winston ourselves, Churchill as the classic irreverent outsider Spencer Churchill, first elected to Parliament as a seems rather a kindred spirit. To ry in the election for the constituency of In Churchill jointly founded, together with Oldham, is bent on following in the illustrious, if ill- the great F. E. Smith QC, later Lord Birkenhead, one fated, steps of his late father, Lord Randolph of the finest speakers of his day, yet another kind of Churchill, who was a leading member of the Tory club. They established a dining club for politicians of establishment. Lord Randolph was a friend of the all stripes and outstanding non-politicians interested Prince of Wales and inheritor, so young Churchill in ideas, served up with superb cuisine, laced with believed, of the great social policies of Benjamin fine wine and shrouded by mellow smoke of aged Disraeli, called by all ‘Tory Democracy.’ cigars. One purpose of the club was to cut across Unfortunately, Lord Randolph Churchill’s mete- party lines and create friendships to minimise politi- oric career, aimed right at the Prime Minister’s of- cal differences and partisanship. This they grandly fice, was cut down by a serious disease, upsetting his named ‘The Other Club,’ and Churchill rarely rationality, causing him slowly to slide into a tor- missed its regular fortnightly dinners. ‘Great tact will mented and deranged death. be necessary in the avoiding of bad moments,’ After his father’s unhappy demise, young Church- Churchill wrote to Bonar Law about ‘The Other ill, already a soldier, became a notorious columnist Club’s’ organising idea. Churchill always believed and respected author, whose sensational escape from that personal friendship and civility were more im- a Boer gaol in South Africa was widely publicised in portant in public life than personalised political par- all the London papers. He has returned to England tisanship. to pursue his fame and fortune in print and politics. I intend to give you a taste of one embattled England finds herself embroiled in a divisive na- Senator’s revisionist view of history, rather than cur- tional debate, splitting the coalition government led rent politics. Any semblance in my remarks between by the Conservative Party and its alliance with Lib- today’s politics and yesterday’s history is therefore erals and others who call themselves Unionists. Sud- purely coincidental. denly, the Tory prime minister, Arthur Balfour, re- The year is . The place is England. England verses fifty years of traditional Tory Free Trade policy stands at the very height of her imperial power. Ger- and supports higher tariffs for the first time. Church- many plots to outstrip England’s superior sea-power ill, an unabashed Free Trader, uncomfortable with by secretly laying plans for the construction of mas- this sudden departure from the traditional policies of Journal of Liberal Democrat History 25: Winter 1999–2000 15 So it is in spring ing his Liberal colours, and in June of that , at the Cobden Club, held within Churchill rises to the auspices of the Midland Club in speak in Parliament Manchester (the home of Free Trade) after Lloyd George he launches a scathing attack on his in yet another tur- former Conservative colleagues. bulent debate on ‘We know perfectly well what to ex- Free Trade. pect … [the Tory Party] has become Churchill, a Tory the party of great vested interest; cor- still, is insulted ruption at home, aggression to cover it when the Tory up abroad; trickery of tariff juggles, tyr- front bench and al- anny of party machine; sentiment by most all the back the bucketful, patronage by the pint; bench (except a open hand at the public exchequer; few hecklers) im- open door at the public house; dear mediately leave the food for the millions … and … cheap House and repair to labour by the millions …’ the smoking rooms In , a new Liberal government while he is speaking forms, led by Sir Henry Campbell- — a deliberate Bannerman. It is confirmed in office snub. Weeks later, the following year in a landslide elec- Churchill rises in tion victory for the Liberal Party. the House of Com- Winston Churchill becomes a youthful mons, loses his train member of the outer Cabinet as Under of thought in mid- Secretary of the Colonies under Lord speech and retires Elgin, who sits in the Lords. It was at Winston Churchill with David Lloyd George, when both were embarrassed. Mem- this time that Eddie Marsh, soon to be- cabinet members. bers murmur that come Churchill’s lifelong assistant, re- he may be suffering luctantly agreed to join Churchill as his the Tory Party, seeks new friends and al- from the same defect that doomed his private secretary. He was told by Lady liances to maintain his principled phi- father decades before. Lytton, to assuage his fears about the losophy. At the same time, Churchill is Shortly thereafter, on May st, mercurial Churchill, that ‘the first time also becoming increasingly disen- Winston Churchill, revived, re-enters you meet Winston you see all of his chanted with the elitism of Tory social the House of Commons, pauses, bows faults and the rest of your life you spend policies that protected the prerogatives to the Speaker and crosses the floor to discovering his virtues.’ of the upper classes at the numbing dis- sit beside Lloyd George in the same seat My admiration for Churchill deep- advantage of the poor. Churchill meets occupied by his revered father when in ened even further after I happened and quickly becomes enamoured with opposition. The Parliamentary report in across a speech he gave in his successful another rising political star, David the Manchester Guardian of June , by-election in at Dundee. Asquith Lloyd George, destined to become the recorded how Churchill actually had brought him into the Cabinet as greatest Liberal of his age. They seem to crossed the floor to the Liberal benches President of the Board of Trade. At that share more things in common than set a number of times on the night of the time, Ministers on appointment were them apart. Lloyd George, a Welsh law- May, just to make sure no-one required by law to resign their seats and yer rising from humble origins by his missed the significance of the occasion. fight a by-election. Churchill sought lyrical gift of tongue, is a mesmerising Churchill realised he must make the re-election in Northwest Manchester and charming personality. Churchill is move, even though his association de- but lost. He then found a new constitu- duly mesmerised and charmed. ferred taking further punitive action ency in Dundee. The Dundee speech Churchill writes and speaks in favour of against him. As a newly minted Liberal, was made during Churchill’s most en- Free Trade in the run-up to the coming he assays opportunities and chooses a lightened period, when he ran flat out election, antagonising Tory loyalists on Liberal constituency, a seat in North under Liberal colours. The speech also all sides, including Prime Minister West Manchester, the home of Cobden clarified for me my youthful confusion Balfour and Churchill’s own Tory Asso- and Bright, the bastion of Free Trade. when I was first attracted to the siren ciation in Oldham. Conspiring with When asked why he left the Con- song of Socialism. Churchill, with pow- the Tory whips in London, in his ab- servative Party, he retorts that he did not erful clarity, boldly contrasted Liberal- sence, his association passes a resolution leave the Conservative Party or his prin- ism and Socialism with these words suggesting Churchill seek another con- ciples. Rather, the Conservative Party which have echoed down through the stituency, since he so disagrees with deserted its principles and left him. decades, with even greater resonance. party trade policy. Churchill warms to the task, carry- 16 Journal of Liberal Democrat History 25: Winter 1999–2000 Liberalism is not Socialism, and never times of unemployment (public jobs in ment. This sudden reversal in Liberal will be. There is a great gulf fixed. It is reforestation and road building). He policy turned out to be a key to the fall not a gulf of method, it is a gulf of prin- promoted legislation restricting eight- of Lloyd George and the Liberal Party. ciple … Socialism seeks to pull down wealth, Liberalism seeks to raise up hour work days for coal miners and re- The Irish Treaty was fatal to them, as it poverty. Socialism would destroy pri- strictions on child labour. He repeat- led not to peace but continuing civil vate interests; Liberalism would pre- edly advocated a ‘safety net’ to protect unrest.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY Department of History & Art History
    GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY Department of History & Art History Ethnic Conflict: Britain & Ireland in the 20th Century Spring 2012 Course Building/Hall Room Day Time Hist 388-009 Robinson B 222 Tuesday/Thursday 1.30-2.45 p.m. Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams & British Prime Minster Tony Blair meet for the first time, recalling the fate of IRA leader Michael Collins Phelim Connolly cartoon for the Irish Independent, 11 December 1997 INSTRUCTOR: Dr Kevin Matthews OFFICE: Robinson B 373B OFFICE HOURS: 12.00-1.15 & 3.00-4.15 p.m. Thurs, or by appointment. TELEPHONE: 703/993-1250 (main department number) E-MAIL: [email protected] REQUIRED TEXT & MATERIALS: 1. McKittrick, David & David McVea. Making Sense of the Troubles: The Story of Conflict in Northern Ireland 2. Townshend, Charles. Political Violence in Ireland: Government & Resistance Since 1848 3. Strunk, William & E.B. White. The Elements of Style (Note: Because a number of sources relevant to this course are out of print, other readings will be provided by the instructor via the internet; see the syllabus calendar below for a tentative list.) - 2 - All students are required to purchase two Scantron cards Form No. 882-E, and two large blue books (11" x 8.5"). Both of your blue books must be delivered to the instructor no later than the third week of the course. Failure to meet this deadline will be grounds for a failing grade on the first exam. DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE BLUE BOOKS BEFORE TURNING THEM IN. (If you drop the course, your unused blue books will be returned to you - but only after you have officially dropped.) Do not hand in your Scantron cards - but make sure you have one with you on both exam days.
    [Show full text]
  • Review of the Year April 2000 – March 2001 508964AR.CHI 8/23/02 12:18 PM Page *2
    508964AR.CHI 8/23/02 12:18 PM Page *1 THE ROTHSCHILD ARCHIVE Review of the year April 2000 – March 2001 508964AR.CHI 8/23/02 12:18 PM Page *2 Cover Picture: Mr S. V. J. Scott, a Clerk at N M Rothschild & Sons, photographed at his desk in the General Office, 1937 508964AR.CHI 8/23/02 12:18 PM Page *3 The Rothschild Archive Trust Trustees Emma Rothschild (Chair) Baron Eric de Rothschild Lionel de Rothschild Professor David Landes Anthony Chapman Staff Victor Gray (Director) Melanie Aspey (Archivist) Elaine Penn (Assistant Archivist) Richard Schofield (Assistant Archivist) Mandy Bell (Archives Assistant to October 2000) Gill Crust (Secretary) The Rothschild Archive, New Court, St. Swithin’s Lane, London EC4P 4DU Tel. +44 (0)20 7280 5874, Fax +44 (0)20 7280 5657, E-mail [email protected] Website: www.rothschildarchive.org Company No. 3702208 Registered Charity No. 1075340 508964AR.CHI 8/23/02 12:18 PM Page *4 508964AR.CHI 8/23/02 12:18 PM Page *5 CONTENTS Introduction ..................................................................... 1 Emma Rothschild, Chairman of the Rothschild Archive Trust Review of the Year’s Work .................................................. 2 Victor Gray The Cash Nexus: Bankers and Politics in History ......................... 9 Professor Niall Ferguson ‘Up to our noses in smoke’ .................................................. 16 Richard Schofield Rothschild in the News....................................................... 22 Melanie Aspey Charles Stuart and the Secret Service ...................................
    [Show full text]
  • Howard J. Garber Letter Collection This Collection Was the Gift of Howard J
    Howard J. Garber Letter Collection This collection was the gift of Howard J. Garber to Case Western Reserve University from 1979 to 1993. Dr. Howard Garber, who donated the materials in the Howard J. Garber Manuscript Collection, is a former Clevelander and alumnus of Case Western Reserve University. Between 1979 and 1993, Dr. Garber donated over 2,000 autograph letters, documents and books to the Department of Special Collections. Dr. Garber's interest in history, particularly British royalty led to his affinity for collecting manuscripts. The collection focuses primarily on political, historical and literary figures in Great Britain and includes signatures of all the Prime Ministers and First Lords of the Treasury. Many interesting items can be found in the collection, including letters from Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning Thomas Hardy, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, King George III, and Virginia Woolf. Descriptions of the Garber Collection books containing autographs and tipped-in letters can be found in the online catalog. Box 1 [oversize location noted in description] Abbott, Charles (1762-1832) English Jurist. • ALS, 1 p., n.d., n.p., to ? A'Beckett, Gilbert A. (1811-1856) Comic Writer. • ALS, 3p., April 7, 1848, Mount Temple, to Morris Barnett. Abercrombie, Lascelles. (1881-1938) Poet and Literary Critic. • A.L.S., 1 p., March 5, n.y., Sheffield, to M----? & Hughes. Aberdeen, George Hamilton Gordon (1784-1860) British Prime Minister. • ALS, 1 p., June 8, 1827, n.p., to Augustous John Fischer. • ANS, 1 p., August 9, 1839, n.p., to Mr. Wright. • ALS, 1 p., January 10, 1853, London, to Cosmos Innes.
    [Show full text]
  • David Lloyd George and Temperance Reform Philip A
    University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Honors Theses Student Research 1980 The ac use of sobriety : David Lloyd George and temperance reform Philip A. Krinsky Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses Recommended Citation Krinsky, Philip A., "The cause of sobriety : David Lloyd George and temperance reform" (1980). Honors Theses. Paper 594. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND LIBRARIES llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll/11111 3 3082 01 028 9899 - The Cause of Sobriety: David Lloyd George and Temperance Reform Philip A. Krinsky Contents I. Introduction: 1890 l II. Attack on Misery: 1890-1905 6 III. Effective Legislation: 1906-1918 16 IV. The Aftermath: 1918 to Present 34 Notes 40 Bibliographical Essay 47 Temperance was a major British issue until after World War I. Excessive drunkenness, not alcoholism per se, was the primary concern of the two parliamentary parties. When Lloyd George entered Parliament the two major parties were the Liberals and the Conservatives. Temperance was neither a problem that Parliament sought to~;;lv~~ nor the single issue of Lloyd George's public career. Rather, temperance remained within a flux of political squabbling between the two parties and even among the respective blocs within each Party. Inevitably, compromises had to be made between the dissenting factions. The major temperance controversy in Parliament was the issue of compensation. Both Parties agreed that the problem of excessive drunkenness was rooted in the excessive number of public houses throughout Britain.
    [Show full text]
  • Peter Saccio
    Churchill Professor J. Rufus Fears THE TEACHING COMPANY ® J. Rufus Fears, Ph.D. Professor of Classics, University of Oklahoma J. Rufus Fears is Professor of Classics at the University of Oklahoma, where he holds the G. T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty. He rose from Assistant Professor to Professor of History at Indiana University. From 1986 to 1990, he was Professor of Classics and Chairman of the Department of Classical Studies at Boston University. Professor Fears holds the Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has been a Danforth Fellow, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and a Harvard Prize Fellow. He has been a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, a Guggenheim Fellow, and twice a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His research has been supported by grants from the American Philosophical Society, the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Kerr Foundation, and the Zarrow Foundation. He was chosen as Indiana University’s first Distinguished Faculty Research Lecturer. He is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. Professor Fears is the author of more than seventy articles and reviews on Greek and Roman history, the history of liberty, and the lessons of history for our own day. His books and monographs include Princeps A Diis Electus: The Divine Election of the Emperor as a Political Concept at Rome, The Cult of Jupiter and Roman Imperial Ideology, The Theology of Victory at Rome, and The Cult of Virtues and Roman Imperial Ideology. He has published a three- volume edition of Selected Writings of Lord Acton, the great British historian of liberty.
    [Show full text]
  • Welsh Disestablishment: 'A Blessing in Disguise'
    Welsh disestablishment: ‘A blessing in disguise’. David W. Jones The history of the protracted campaign to achieve Welsh disestablishment was to be characterised by a litany of broken pledges and frustrated attempts. It was also an exemplar of the ‘democratic deficit’ which has haunted Welsh politics. As Sir Henry Lewis1 declared in 1914: ‘The demand for disestablishment is a symptom of the times. It is the democracy that asks for it, not the Nonconformists. The demand is national, not denominational’.2 The Welsh Church Act in 1914 represented the outcome of the final, desperate scramble to cross the legislative line, oozing political compromise and equivocation in its wake. Even then, it would not have taken place without the fortuitous occurrence of constitutional change created by the Parliament Act 1911. This removed the obstacle of veto by the House of Lords, but still allowed for statutory delay. Lord Rosebery, the prime minister, had warned a Liberal meeting in Cardiff in 1895 that the Welsh demand for disestablishment faced a harsh democratic reality, in that: ‘it is hard for the representatives of the other 37 millions of population which are comprised in the United Kingdom to give first and the foremost place to a measure which affects only a million and a half’.3 But in case his audience were insufficiently disheartened by his homily, he added that there was: ‘another and more permanent barrier which opposes itself to your wishes in respect to Welsh Disestablishment’, being the intransigence of the House of Lords.4 The legislative delay which the Lords could invoke meant that the Welsh Church Bill was introduced to parliament on 23 April 1912, but it was not to be enacted until 18 September 1914.
    [Show full text]
  • Teacher's Guide
    Winston Churchill Jeopardy Teacher Guide The following is a hard copy of the Jeopardy game you can download off our website. After most of the questions, you will find additional information. Please use this information as a starting point for discussion amongst your students. This is a great post- visit activity in order to see what your students learned while at the Museum. Most importantly, have fun with it! Museum Exhibits (Church, Wall, and Exhibit) $100 Q: From 1965 to 1967, this church was deconstructed into 7000 stones, shipped to Fulton, and rebuilt as a memorial to Winston Churchill’s visit. A: What is the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury - Please see additional information on the Church of St. Mary by going to our website and clicking on School Programs. $200 Q: In ‘The Gathering Storm’ exhibit, Churchill referred to this political leader as “…a maniac of ferocious genius of the most virulent hatred that has ever corroded the human breast…” A: Who is Adolf Hitler? $300 Q: In ‘The Sinews of Peace’ exhibit, what world leader influenced Churchill’s visit to Westminster College? A: Who is Harry S. Truman? $400 Q: These two items made regular appearances on Churchill’s desk. A: What are the cigar and whiskey? $500 Q: Churchill’s granddaughter, Edwina Sandys, created this sculpture as a representation and symbol of the end of the Cold War. It stands next to the Churchill Museum. A: What is “Breakthrough”? - This sculpture is made of eight sections of the Berlin Wall. Please see additional information on the Berlin Wall by going to our website and clicking on School Programs.
    [Show full text]
  • Curt J. Zoller Churchill Collection: Printed Materials and Ephemera: Finding Aid
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8q52v6j No online items Curt J. Zoller Churchill Collection: Printed Materials and Ephemera: Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by K. Peck. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Rare Books Department The Huntington Library 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org © 2015 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved. Curt J. Zoller Churchill Collection: 609303 1 Printed Materials and Ephemera: Finding Ai... Overview of the Collection Title: Curt J. Zoller Churchill Collection: Printed Materials and Ephemera Dates (inclusive): 1902-2010 Bulk dates: 1930-1966 Collection Number: 609303 Compiler: Zoller, Curt J., 1920-2014 Extent: approximately 550 items in 17 boxes, 2 oversized folders, and 1 bound volume. Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Rare Books Department 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org Abstract: The Curt J. Zoller Churchill Collection: Printed Materials and Ephemera contains approximately 550 items related to British statesman Winston Churchill (1874-1965). The items date from 1902 to 2010 and consist of articles from a variety of periodicals by and about Churchill, the text of speeches delivered by Churchill, ephemera, audio and visual materials, and printed World War II propaganda in a variety of languages. Language: Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Luxembourgish, and Norwegian. Note: Finding aid last updated on August 28, 2015. Access The collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
    [Show full text]
  • 94 Spring 2017 Journal of Liberal History Issue 94: Spring 2017 the Journal of Liberal History Is Published Quarterly by the Liberal Democrat History Group
    For the study of Liberal, SDP and Issue 94 / Spring 2017 / £7.50 Liberal Democrat history Journal of LiberalHI ST O R Y War authors Alan Mumford Churchill and Lloyd George Liberal authors on the First World War? David Dutton Sir Walter Runciman and the Runciman papers at Elshieshields Tower Neil Stockley Coalition: Could Liberal Democrats have handled it better? Meeting report J. Graham Jones Liberal archives at the Churchill Archives Centre Michael Meadowcroft The Lib–Lab Pact Book review Liberal Democrat History Group Liberal History 350 years of party history in 32 pages The Liberal Democrat History Group’s pamphlet, Liberal History: A concise history of the Liberal Party, SDP and Liberal Democrats, has been revised and updated to include the coalition and its impact and the 2015 election and its aftermath. The essential introduction to Liberal history, now updated to March 2017. Liberal History is available to Journal of Liberal History subscribers for the special price of £2.40 (normal price £3.00) plus £0.60 P&P. Order via our online shop (www.liberalhistory.org.uk/shop/), or by post from LDHG, 54 Midmoor Road, London SW12 0EN (cheque payable at ‘Liberal Democrat History Group’). The booklet makes an ideal gift for new party members; we can offer a 50 per cent discount for bulk orders of 40 or more copies. Contact the Editor on [email protected]. Journal of Liberal History: special issues The Liberal Party and the First World War Journal 87 (summer 2015) Includes: Did the Great War really kill the Liberal Party?; The long shadow of war; The Liberal Party, the Labour Party and the First World War; John Morley’s resignation in August 1914; Gilbert Murray v.
    [Show full text]
  • Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zoab Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 46106 7619623
    INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) dr section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages, This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again — beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation.
    [Show full text]
  • "Weapon of Starvation": the Politics, Propaganda, and Morality of Britain's Hunger Blockade of Germany, 1914-1919
    Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2015 A "Weapon of Starvation": The Politics, Propaganda, and Morality of Britain's Hunger Blockade of Germany, 1914-1919 Alyssa Cundy Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Diplomatic History Commons, European History Commons, and the Military History Commons Recommended Citation Cundy, Alyssa, "A "Weapon of Starvation": The Politics, Propaganda, and Morality of Britain's Hunger Blockade of Germany, 1914-1919" (2015). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 1763. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/1763 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A “WEAPON OF STARVATION”: THE POLITICS, PROPAGANDA, AND MORALITY OF BRITAIN’S HUNGER BLOCKADE OF GERMANY, 1914-1919 By Alyssa Nicole Cundy Bachelor of Arts (Honours), University of Western Ontario, 2007 Master of Arts, University of Western Ontario, 2008 DISSERTATION Submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Doctor of Philosophy in History Wilfrid Laurier University 2015 Alyssa N. Cundy © 2015 Abstract This dissertation examines the British naval blockade imposed on Imperial Germany between the outbreak of war in August 1914 and the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles in July 1919. The blockade has received modest attention in the historiography of the First World War, despite the assertion in the British official history that extreme privation and hunger resulted in more than 750,000 German civilian deaths.
    [Show full text]
  • Department of the Prime Minister’, Historians Urge Brown - Five Lessons from History to Guide New Prime Minister
    Monday, 11 June, 2007 Abolish ‘Department of the Prime Minister’, historians urge Brown - Five lessons from history to guide new Prime Minister A new History & Policy paper published today calls on Gordon Brown to follow in the footsteps of Lloyd George, Wilson and Major by adopting a radically different style of Government from his predecessor. Professor Emeritus George Jones of the LSE and Dr Andrew Blick argue Brown can make his mark as a leader by abolishing Blair’s semi-official ‘Department of the Prime Minister’, withdrawing from the minute detail of public service reform and focusing on the most pressing policy challenges, such as counter-terrorism and the environment. Professor Jones said: “Many past Prime Ministers – from David Lloyd George to Harold Wilson and John Major – have established contrasting identities from their predecessors. New bodies such as the Delivery Unit have enabled Blair to make unprecedented prime-ministerial interventions in public services. Brown should make it clear he intends to do the opposite. He should resist the siren voices - such as Sir Michael Barber, former head of the Delivery Unit - urging him to formalise a ‘Department of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet’. In turn he can achieve more by attempting less.” Dr Blick said: “Blair constructed a vast prime-ministerial team to bypass Cabinet. But history shows that collective government is the best way to develop and test policy, ensuring it is practically and politically effective. History is littered with premiers who isolated Cabinet from decision- making - Chamberlain, Eden and Thatcher - to disastrous effect. “We welcome the news that there will be a senior civil servant appointed to oversee collective government.
    [Show full text]