ABSTRACT
The sexual question was inextricably linked with the politics of population in the beginning of the twentieth century. The problem of 'population' recurs in all the major discussions of the time, from the 'social question' to the threat of national decline, from issues of unemployment to the threat of war. Sexuality was the key to the question of population. The population issue remained a significant undercurrent from the 1830s but it was not until the 1870s, with the revival of the debate over contraception, that it again became a central political question. If maternalism was one stream feeding population policy in the early decades of the century, eugenics was another which more coherently attempted to transform national policy and intellectual debate, though its degree of success was limited. Finally, attempt to assess describes the approaches of eugenicists practical influence, particularly on the actual regulation of the processes of procreation and sexual behaviour.
