Lloyd-George: the man who won the war by Jonathan Rodell
A radical firebrand and outspoken opponent of the Boer War, Lloyd George was an unlikely war leader but quickly emerged as the politician most able to rise to the extraordinary challenges of the Great War. Why did contemporaries see his role as so crucial? Were they right?
Historian Martin Pugh in The Oxford Companion to British History argues that: “Lloyd George made a greater impact on British public life than any other 20th-cent. statesman. He laid the foundations of what later became the welfare state, and put a progressive income tax system at the centre of government finance. He also left his mark on the system of government by enlarging the scope of the prime minister's role. He was acclaimed, not without reason, as the 'Man Who Won the War'....he was blamed by many Liberals for destroying their party in 1918, hated in the Labour movement for his handling of industrial issues after 1918, and disparaged by Conservatives for his radicalism.”
Over the years our meetings have studied the careers of the military leaders of WW1 but we have spent little time examining the role of the politicians who played a significant role. Lloyd-George was the most outstanding of these men. Jonathan will examine his role as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and finally as Prime Minister from December 1916.
This online talk is open to all. You do not have to be a member of the Western Front Association to join this online meeting. Details of how to join the meeting using Zoom are in Andy Thompson’s March Update email sent out to everyone on our email list. If you don’t receive Andy’s emails contact him at andy.ewt@gmail.com.
Jonathan's talk starts at 8.00 pm but you can join the Zoom meeting at any time after 07.30 pm to chat to other attendees or to just listen in.