ABSTRACT
The German system of providing for specific needs by means of the compulsory insurance of the workers was introduced by Bismarck with much publicity between 1881 and 1889. Its existence was known in Britain from the first. Towards the end of the pre-war period the British National Insurance Act of 1911 applied a scheme of compulsory workers' insurance to the needs of the sick and of the unemployed. The chapter presents the three attitudes which together made up the stance of the British policy-makers towards what they had found in Germany: revulsion, imitation and rivalry. The basic political necessity recognised by Lloyd George and all others of associating the friendly societies in the construction of an insurance scheme found in Braithwaite a response based on personal interest and commitment. The contrast in political context throws light also on aspects of the two schemes other than finance. It has implications for their structure and organisation.
