Britain in a New Century, 1900–1914

This chapter is concerned with the period that is usually referred to as ‘The Edwardian Age’ despite the fact that Edward VII only reigned between 1901 and 1910. It is a period often remembered as a ‘golden age of peace and harmony’ before the disruptions brought by the First World War, but it was in fact a period of great turmoil. The last Conservative government before the war broke up in disarray and the Liberal government which replaced it attempted to radically alter the entire political approach to social welfare. The means to pay for this brought the government into conflict with the House of Lords and for a time the two chambers of Parliament were in a state of open hostility. The government also faced demands for women’s rights to vote from militant campaigners, and a wave of industrial unrest. Outside the British mainland, Ireland appeared to be descending into a civil war, while Europe was rapidly aiming for a decisive conflict between the rival Great Power blocs.

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Political parties

The Conservatives and Liberal Unionists

The Liberals

The Labour Party

Constitutional problems Challenges to the State Britain’s foreign policy

‘Splendid isolation’

The search for allies

Rivalry with Germany

The coming of war

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The decline of the Unionists

The 1906 general election

The formation of the Labour Party

Liberal social reforms

The constitutional crisis

Ireland

Women’s rights and the suffrage movement

Industrial unrest 1908–14

British foreign policy 1900–14

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National insurance proposals

Britain and the origins of the First World War

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Analysis of the possible voting behaviour of a number of key social and professional groups in the 1906 election

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