ABSTRACT
Arguably, the single most important precondition for the spate of social reforms between 1905 and 1914 was fear of the consequences of an unfit and debilitated population. The revelations of Booth and Rowntree, and even more the physical condition of the working men who offered themselves for service in the Boer War between 1899 and 1902 alarmed many influential people. Fears were expressed for the future of the British Empire if its stock in the Mother Country had sunk so low. In this way, the causes of Imperialism and Social Reform came to be linked.
