Disraeli, Gladstone, Lloyd George and the Crisis Years (1867–1914)

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The idea that Conservatives should use moderate social reform to bind the classes together under the Crown — preventing class conflict while preserving the social hierarchy. Key reforms: Public Health Act (1875), Artisans' Dwellings Act (1875), Trade Union Act (1875).

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Ninety-three Liberal MPs voted against it, defeating it 343–313. These rebels — called Liberal Unionists — allied with the Conservatives, splitting the Liberal Party and keeping it out of power for most of the next decade.

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Fair rent (set by a land court), Fixity of tenure (security for tenants who paid their rent), and Free sale (tenants could sell their right to occupy the land).

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A budget that raised income tax, introduced a 'supertax' on high earners, and taxed land values — to fund old age pensions and naval rearmament. It was controversial because the House of Lords rejected it, violating the convention that the Lords did not block finance bills.

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It permanently removed the Lords' power to block money bills, reduced their veto on other legislation to a two-year delay, and cut the maximum parliamentary term from seven to five years. It ended aristocratic dominance of British politics.

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Suffragists (NUWSS, led by Millicent Fawcett) used peaceful, law-abiding methods: petitions and meetings. Suffragettes (WSPU, led by Emmeline Pankhurst) used militant tactics: window-smashing, arson and hunger strikes. 'Deeds not words' was the WSPU slogan.

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The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Act 1913. It allowed the government to release suffragette hunger strikers when they became too ill, then re-arrest them once they recovered — avoiding the bad publicity of force-feeding while preventing martyrdom.

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British army officers based at the Curragh in Ireland threatened to resign rather than enforce Home Rule on Ulster. It mattered because it showed the government might not be able to use its own army to implement the Home Rule Act — a fundamental threat to state authority.

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An agreement between the miners' union, the railwaymen's union and the transport workers' union to support each other in industrial disputes. It alarmed employers and the government because a combined strike by all three would paralyse the British economy.

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1) Social surveys (Booth, Rowntree) proved poverty was structural, not personal. 2) The Boer War showed 40% of recruits were too unhealthy to fight — a national efficiency crisis. 3) The rise of Labour threatened Liberal working-class votes, pushing Liberals to offer more.

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Salisbury was a firm Unionist — he opposed all Home Rule and believed Ireland must remain within the United Kingdom. He allied with Liberal Unionists after 1886 and dominated Conservative politics from the 1880s to 1902, blocking any Irish self-government.

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Gladstone believed in 'retrenchment' — minimal state spending and non-interference. His reforms were mainly constitutional and religious (disestablishment, land reform). Lloyd George actively expanded the state, used taxation to fund welfare, and accepted state responsibility for the poor — a fundamentally different philosophy.