Editing Edwardian era (section)

==Politics ==
There was a growing political awareness among the working class, leading to a rise in trade unions, the [[Labour movement]] and demands for better working conditions. The aristocracy remained in control of top government offices.<ref>{{Cite book |first= David |last=Brooks |title=The Age of Upheaval: Edwardian Politics, 1899–1914 |publisher=Manchester University Press |date=1995}}</ref>

===Conservative Party===
{{Further|History of the Conservative Party (UK)}}
The [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] – at the time called "Unionists" – were the dominant political party from the 1890s until [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906]]. The party had many strengths, appealing to voters supportive of [[imperialism]], tariffs, the [[Church of England]], a powerful [[Royal Navy]], and traditional hierarchical society. There was a powerful leadership base in the landed aristocracy and landed gentry in rural England, plus strong support from the Church of England and military interests. Historians have used election returns to demonstrate that Conservatives did surprisingly well in working-class districts.<ref>Jon Lawrence, "Class and gender in the making of urban Toryism, 1880–1914." ''English Historical Review'' 108.428 (1993): 629–652.</ref><ref>Matthew Roberts, "Popular Conservatism in Britain, 1832–1914." ''Parliamentary History'' 26.3 (2007): 387–410.</ref> They had an appeal as well to the better-off element of traditional working-class Britons in the larger cities.<ref>Marc Brodie, "Voting in the Victorian and Edwardian East End of London." ''Parliamentary History'' 23.2 (2004): 225–248.</ref>

In rural areas, the national headquarters made highly effective use of paid travelling lecturers, with pamphlets, posters, and especially lantern slides, who were able to communicate effectively with rural voters – particularly the newly enfranchised agricultural workers.<ref>Kathryn Rix, "'Go Out into the Highways and the Hedges': The Diary of Michael Sykes, Conservative Political Lecturer, 1895 and 1907–8." ''Parliamentary History'' 20#2 (2001): 209–231.</ref> In the first years of the twentieth century, the Conservative government, with [[Arthur Balfour]] as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]], had numerous successes in foreign policy, defence, and education, as well as solutions for the issues of alcohol licensing and land ownership for the tenant farmers of Ireland.<ref>Robert Blake, ''The Conservative Party: from Peel to Major''(2nd ed. 1985) pp 174–75</ref>

Nevertheless, the weaknesses were accumulating, and proved so overwhelming in 1906 that the party did not return to complete power until [[1922 United Kingdom general election|1922]].<ref>David Dutton, "Unionist Politics and the aftermath of the General Election of 1906: A Reassessment." ''Historical Journal'' 22#4 (1979): 861–876.</ref> The Conservative Party was losing its drive and enthusiasm, especially after the retirement of the charismatic [[Joseph Chamberlain]]. There was a bitter split on [[Protectionism|"tariff reform"]] (that is, imposing tariffs or taxes on all imports), that drove many of the free traders over to the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] camp. Tariff reform was a losing issue that the Conservative leadership inexplicably clung to.<ref>Andrew S. Thompson, "Tariff reform: an imperial strategy, 1903–1913." ''Historical Journal'' 40#4 (1997): 1033–1054.</ref>

Conservative support weakened among the top tier of the working-class and lower middle-class, and there was dissatisfaction among intellectuals. The 1906 general election was a landslide victory for the Liberal Party, which saw its total vote share increase by 25%, while the Conservative total vote held steady.<ref>Blake, ''The Conservative Party: from Peel to Major''(1985) pp 175–89</ref>

===Labour Party===
{{Further|History of the Labour Party (UK)}}
[[File:Labour_Representation_Committee_leaders_1906.jpg|thumb|right|Leaders of the Labour Party in 1906]]
The Labour Party was emerging from the rapidly growing trade union movement after 1890. In 1903 it entered the [[Gladstone–MacDonald pact]] with the Liberals, allowing for cross-party support in elections, and the emergence of a small Labour contingent in Parliament. It was a temporary arrangement until the 1920s, when the Labour Party was strong enough to act on its own, and the Liberals were in an irreversible decline. Subtle social changes in the working-class were producing a younger generation that wanted to act independently.<ref name="Michael Childs 1929">Michael Childs, "Labour Grows Up: The Electoral System, Political Generations, and British Politics 1890–1929." ''Twentieth Century British History'' 6#2 (1995): 123–144.</ref>

Michael Childs argues that the younger generation had reason to prefer Labour over Liberal political styles. Social factors included secularised elementary education (with a disappearing role for Dissenting schools that inculcated Liberal viewpoints); the "New Unionism" after 1890 brought unskilled workers into a movement previously dominated by the skilled workers;<ref>G.R. Searle, ''A new England?: peace and war, 1886–1918'' (2004), pp 185–87.</ref> and new leisure activities, especially the [[music hall]] and sports, involved youth while repelling the older generation of Liberal voters.<ref name="Michael Childs 1929"/>

=== Liberal Party ===
The [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] lacked a unified ideological base in 1906.<ref>Ian Packer, "The great Liberal landslide: the 1906 General Election in perspective." ''Historian'' 89#1 (2006): 8–16.</ref> It contained numerous contradictory and hostile factions, such as imperialists and supporters of the Boers;<ref>John W. Auld, "The Liberal Pro-Boers." ''Journal of British Studies'' 14#2 (1975): 78–101.</ref> near-socialists and laissez-faire [[Classical liberalism|classical liberals]]; suffragettes and opponents of women's suffrage;<ref>[[Martin Pugh (author)|Martin Pugh]], ''Votes for women in Britain 1867–1928'' (1994)</ref> antiwar elements and supporters of the military alliance with France.<ref>Nabil M. Kaylani, "Liberal Politics and British-Foreign-Office 1906-1912-Overview." ''International Review of History and Political Science'' 12.3 (1975): 17–48.</ref> Nonconformist Dissenters – Protestants outside the Anglican fold – were a powerful element, dedicated to opposing the established church in the fields of education and taxation. However, the Dissenters were losing support and played a lesser and lesser role in party affairs after 1900.<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 1849549|title = English Nonconformity and the Decline of Liberalism
 |journal = The American Historical Review|volume = 63|issue = 2|pages = 352–363
 |last1 = Glaser|first1 = John F.|year = 1958|doi = 10.2307/1849549}}</ref>

The party also included Roman Catholics, including the notable Catholic intellectual [[Hilaire Belloc]], who sat as a Liberal MP between 1906 and 1910. They included secularists from the labour movement. The middle-class business, professional and intellectual communities were generally strongholds, although some old aristocratic families played important roles as well. The working-class element was moving rapidly toward the newly emerging [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]. One unifying element was widespread agreement on the use of politics and Parliament as a means to upgrade and improve society and to reform politics.<ref>R. C. K. Ensor, ''England 1870–1914'' (1936) pp 384–420.</ref><ref>George Dangerfield, ''The Strange Death of Liberal England'' (1935) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.175390 online]</ref> In the House of Lords, the Liberals lost most of their members, who in the 1890s "became Conservative in all but name." The government could force the unwilling king to create new Liberal peers, and that threat did prove decisive in the battle for dominance of Commons over Lords in 1911.<ref>Kenneth Rose, ''King George V'' (1984) pp 113, 121; Ensor. p. 430.</ref>

===Boer War===
{{See also|Opposition to the Second Boer War }}

[[File:No. 1 Stationary Hospital at Ladysmith; Boer War Wellcome L0024935.jpg|thumb|The medical staff of No. 1 Stationary Hospital at Ladysmith]]
The government entered the [[Second Boer War]] with great confidence, little expecting that the two small rural Boer republics in southern Africa with a combined White population smaller than that of London would hold off the concentrated power of the [[British Empire]] for {{frac|2|1|2}} years and take 400,000 Imperial troops to secure victory.<ref>G.R. Searle, ''A new England?: peace and war, 1886–1918'' (Oxford UP, 20040 pp 275–307.</ref> The war split the Liberal Party into anti- and pro-war factions. Great orators, such as Liberal [[David Lloyd George]], who spoke against the war, became increasingly influential. Nevertheless, Liberal Unionist [[Joseph Chamberlain]], who was largely in charge of the war, maintained his hold on power.<ref name="jstor_40238883">{{cite journal|jstor=40238883|hdl=10520/AJA03768902_608|title = Social Suffering and the Politics of Pain: Observations on the Concentration Camps in the Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902|journal = English in Africa|volume = 26|issue = 2|pages = 69–88|last1 = De Reuck|first1 = Jenny|year = 1999}}</ref>

When [[Herbert Kitchener|General Kitchener]] took command in 1900, he initiated a scorched earth policy to foil Boer [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] tactics. Captured Boer combatants were transported overseas to other [[British possessions]] as prisoners of war. However, he relocated non-combatant Boers—mostly women and children—into heavily guarded internment camps. The internment camps were overcrowded with bad sanitation and meagre food rations. Contagious diseases such as measles, typhoid and dysentery were endemic.<ref name="jstor_40238883"/>

Many of the internees died. [[Emily Hobhouse]] visited the camps and was appalled at the living conditions, which she brought to the attention of the British public. Public outcry resulted in the [[Millicent Fawcett|Fawcett Commission]] which corroborated Hobhouse's report and eventually led to improved conditions.<ref name="jstor_40238883"/> The Boers surrendered, and the Boer Republics were annexed by the British Empire. [[Jan Smuts]]—a leading Boer general—became a senior official of the new government and even became a top British official in the World War.<ref>{{cite book|author=Chris Wrigley|title=Winston Churchill: A Biographical Companion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBUslUOGOgkC&pg=PA311|year=2002|page=311|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9780874369908}}</ref>
===Australia===
In 1901, the six British self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia united to form the Commonwealth of Australia, with almost complete control of its internal affairs, but with foreign policy and defence handled by London. [[Edmund Barton]] was the first prime minister.<ref>Helen Irving, ''To Constitute a Nation: A Cultural History of Australia's Constitution'' (1999).</ref>

===The Liberal reforms===
{{Main|Liberal welfare reforms}}

[[File:Ten Years of Toryism.jpg|thumb|left|Liberal poster for 1906 election]]

The [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] under [[Henry Campbell-Bannerman]] rallied Liberals around the traditional platform of free trade and land reform and led them to [[1906 United Kingdom general election|the greatest electoral victory]] in Liberal Party history.<ref>Goldman, Lawrence. "Oxford DNB theme: The general election of 1906" [http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/themes/95/95348.html online]</ref> The [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] was overshadowed by his frontbench, most notably [[H.&nbsp;H. Asquith]] at the Exchequer, [[Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon|Edward Grey]] at the Foreign Office, [[Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane|Richard Burdon Haldane]] at the War Office and [[David Lloyd George]] at the [[Board of Trade]]. Campbell-Bannerman retired in 1908 and was succeeded by Asquith. He stepped up the government's radicalism, especially in the "[[People's Budget]]" of 1909 that proposed to fund expanded social welfare programmes with new taxes on land and high incomes. It was blocked by the Conservative-dominated [[House of Lords]], but eventually became law in April 1910.

[[File:Asquith Q 42036.jpg|thumb|right|[[H.&nbsp;H. Asquith]]]] 
Almost half of the Liberal MPs elected in 1906 were supportive of the "[[New liberalism (ideology)|new liberalism]]", which advocated government action to improve people's lives.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rosemary Rees|title=Britain, 1890–1939|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YgtH8GFcFSYC&pg=PA42|year=2003|page=42|publisher=Heinemann |isbn=9780435327576}}</ref>

Liberals in 1906–1911 passed major legislation designed to reform politics and society, such as the regulation of working hours, [[National Insurance]] and the beginnings of the welfare state, as well as curtailing the power of the House of Lords. Women's suffrage was not on the Liberal agenda.<ref>Ian Packer, ''Liberal government and politics, 1905–15'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).</ref> There were numerous major reforms helping labour, typified by the [[Trade Boards Act 1909]] that set minimum wages in certain trades with the history of "sweated" or "sweatshop" rates of especially low wages, because of surplus of available workers, the presence of women workers, or the lack of skills.<ref name="Sheila Blackburn 1991">Sheila Blackburn, "Ideology and social policy: the origins of the Trade Boards Act." ''The Historical Journal'' 34#1 (1991): 43–64.</ref>

At first it applied to four industries: chain-making, ready-made tailoring, paper-box making, and the machine-made lace and finishing trade.<ref name="Sheila Blackburn 1991" /> It was later expanded to coal mining and then to other industries with preponderance of unskilled manual labour by the [[Trade Boards Act 1918]]. Under the leadership of [[David Lloyd George]] Liberals extended minimum wages to farm workers.<ref>[[Alun Howkins]] and Nicola Verdon. "The state and the farm worker: the evolution of the minimum wage in agriculture in England and Wales, 1909–24." ''Agricultural history review'' 57.2 (2009): 257–274. [https://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/57_205HowkinsandVerdon.pdf online]</ref>

Conservative peers in the House of Lords tried to stop the [[People's Budget]]. The Liberals passed the [[Parliament Act 1911]] to sharply reduce the power of the [[House of Lords]] to block legislation. The cost was high, however, as the government was required by the King to call two general elections in 1910 to validate its position and ended up frittering away most of its large majority, with the balance of power held by [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] and [[Irish Parliamentary Party]] members.