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Liberals form a government under Henry Campbell-Bannerman
In November, the Conservative Prime Minister Arthur Balfour tried to expose the divisions within the Liberal opposition by resigning, but his rival Henry Campbell-Bannerman formed a Liberal government and then led it to a smashing success at the polls in January 1906. Armed with an overall majority, the Liberals embarked on a programme of social reform. -
Herbert Asquith becomes Liberal prime minister
Illness had forced Liberal Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman to resign, and he was succeeded by Herbert Asquith. In his cabinet reshuffle, Asquith brought in Reginald McKenna and Winston Churchill, and appointed the radical, David Lloyd George, as chancellor of the exchequer. -
Parliament approves old age pensions
New legislation gave a weekly means-tested pension of a maximum of five shillings to all those aged over 70. Only about half a million people received the pension, and thus the significance of the legislation lay as much in the fact that it established a principle as in its immediate benefits. -
Chancellor David Lloyd George introduces the 'People's Budget'
The introduction of the new 'Dreadnought' class battleship and the subsequent naval arms race with Germany prompted David Lloyd George, the chancellor of the exchequer, to introduce a tax on land, to increase income tax, and to propose a 'super-tax' on incomes over £5,000 per annum. He presented these increases as designed to fund social reforms. -
House of Lords rejects the 'People's Budget'
In rejecting Chancellor David Lloyd George's budget, the Conservative-dominated House of Lords broke the parliamentary convention that the upper house should not overturn a financial bill. This ensured that House of Lords reform was one of the issues at stake in the next general election. -
Liberals win the election but lose their overall majority
The election precipitated by the Lords' rejection of the 'People's Budget' resulted in 275 seats for the Liberals, 273 for the Conservatives and 40 for Labour. The budget was then passed. The Irish Nationalists, with 82, were now in a position to force Irish 'Home Rule' back up the agenda. -
Edward VII dies and is succeeded by George V
Both Edward VII, who died in 1910, and his son, George V, ensured that the monarchy was more active than it had been in the latter years of Victoria's reign, but they exercised their influence discreetly. Edward's funeral brought together the royalty of Europe - many of them his relations - for the last time before war broke out in 1914. -
House of Lords loses its power of veto over legislation
The Liberals finally forced through House of Lords reform, which had been on the cards for two years. The reforms meant that the Lords could not veto legislation that had passed the House of Commons in three successive sessions, and that parliament itself would be dissolved after five years, not seven. In separate legislation, pay for members of parliament was introduced. -
National Insurance Act provides cover against sickness and unemployment
Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George devised a contributory scheme of health insurance for those in employment, which provided payment for medical treatment. Grafted on to the act was a limited plan for unemployment benefit drawn up by Winston Churchill. With this legislation, the Liberals laid the foundations of the Welfare State. -
Liberals propose Irish 'Home Rule' for the third time
Reflecting their dependence on Irish Nationalist votes in the House of Commons, the Liberals proposed 'Home Rule' for Ireland. In response, Ulster Protestants and unionists formed the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary force which threatened the government with civil war if the measure was carried. -
'Titanic' sinks with the loss of 1,503 lives
The White Star liner 'Titanic' was the largest vessel in the world at the time of her launch. Her builders and owners claimed that she was 'practically unsinkable', but on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York she collided with an iceberg and sank within hours, with the loss of 1,503 lives. 'Titanic' could carry over 3,500 people, but was equipped with only enough lifeboats to save 1,178, a fact that contributed to the massive loss of life. -
Suffragette Emily Davison is killed by the king's horse
Emily Wilding Davison was severely injured when she threw herself in front of the king's horse at the Derby, and died in hospital a few days later. The militancy of her organisation, the Women's Social and Political Union, proved counter-productive to the cause of women's rights, but the more moderate National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies also had little to show for its efforts through negotiation. -
Elements of the army say they won't enforce Irish 'Home Rule'
The officers of the 6th Cavalry Brigade, stationed outside Dublin, indicated that they would refuse to enforce Irish 'Home Rule' in Ulster if a parliamentary act proposing greater autonomy for Ireland were carried. The army was divided within itself, representing a potential flashpoint for the government. Irish Home Rule was shelved at the outbreak of World War One. -
WW1 Starts
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Tanks are used for the first time, by the British at Flers, France
The static trench warfare of the Western Front prompted the British to develop a self-propelled vehicle that could cross barbed wire and trenches and protect those inside from enemy fire. The 'Mark 1' tank was first employed during the Battle of the Somme, at Flers-Courcelette, but it was not until November 1917 that they were employed in decisive numbers. Once problems with reliability were overcome, the British and French used their new weapon to considerable effect against the Germans. -
WW1 Ends
By September 1918, Germany was exhausted and saw no prospect of victory. The Allies' terms became progressively harsher as they pressed their advantage on the Western Front, both to ensure the removal of Kaiser Wilhelm II as head of state and to guard against the future renewal of hostilities by Germany. Despite onerous terms, Germany eventually capitulated and signed an armistice that brought the fighting on the Western Front to a halt at 11am on 11 November 1918. -
Unemployment reaches a post-war high of 2.5 million
Prime Minister David Lloyd George had promised 'a land fit for heroes' following World War One, but after a short post-war boom, demobilised soldiers found it increasingly difficult to get work. Deprivation was widespread and industrial relations deteriorated. War debts to the United States and non-payment of European allies' war debts meant the government could not pay for many planned reforms. The 1922 Geddes Report recommended heavy cuts in education, public health and workers' benefits. -
Irish Civil War breaks out
The civil war was ignited by the Anglo-Irish Peace Treaty, which created a partitioned Irish 'Free State' within the British Empire. The pro-treaty faction under Michael Collins accepted partition and believed the treaty would eventually lead to a republic. The anti-treaty faction, led by Éamon de Valera, rejected partition and wanted a republic immediately. The war ended in victory for the pro-treaty Free State government under Collins (who was assassinated) but caused lasting bitterness. -
Prime Minister David Lloyd George resigns as his wartime coalition breaks up
The wartime coalition of Conservatives and David Lloyd George's Liberals won the 1918 general election and began the work of national recovery after World War One. But in 1922, Tory backbenchers overruled their own party leader and voted to leave the coalition, resuming independence as Conservatives. They were disgusted by Lloyd George's Anglo-Irish Treaty and fearful he was about to go to war with Turkey. With his government fatally compromised, Lloyd George resigned. -
Conservative Andrew Bonar Law becomes prime minister
Having precipitated the fall of David Lloyd George's Liberal-Conservative coalition government with a brilliant speech to his Conservative colleagues, Andrew Bonar Law was invited by George V to form a government. Law called a general election on 15 November 1922. The Conservatives won 344 seats, Labour 142, National Liberals (Lloyd George's party) approximately 53, Liberals (under Herbert Asquith) approximately 62. Ill health forced Bonar Law to retire in 1923. He died six months later. -
Conservative Stanley Baldwin becomes prime minister
Conservative Stanley Baldwin became prime minister, with Neville Chamberlain as chancellor of the exchequer, after Andrew Bonar Law resigned due to ill health. Baldwin proposed to abandon free trade, hoping that tariff reform would help to beat unemployment - an unpopular measure. Following the elections of December 1923, the reunited Liberals joined Labour to extinguish tariff reform by a vote of no confidence. Baldwin resigned. -
Ramsay Macdonald becomes the first Labour prime minister
After the vote of no confidence that saw Stanley Baldwin resign as prime minister, the leader of the largest opposition party, Ramsay Macdonald, was called on to form a minority Labour government. Labour was unable to realise its more radical ambitions because of its reliance on Liberal support. This helped Macdonald allay fears that a party representing the working class must be revolutionary, but disappointed many supporters on the left. -
Chancellor Winston Churchill returns Britain to the 'Gold Standard'
In his first budget as chancellor of the exchequer, Winston Churchill returned Britain to its pre-1914 monetary system, whereby sterling was fixed at a price reflecting the country's gold reserves. The move resulted in massive deflation and overvaluing of the pound. This made British manufacturing industries uncompetitive, which in turn exacerbated the massive economic problems Britain was to face in the 1930s. -
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is created
A group of radio manufacturers, including radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, set up the British Broadcasting Company in 1922. In 1927 the company was granted a Royal Charter, becoming the British Broadcasting Corporation under John Reith. Reith's mission was improve Britain through broadcasting, and he famously instructed the corporation to 'inform, educate and entertain'. -
All women over the age of 21 get the vote
The fifth Reform Act brought in by the Conservative government altered the 1918 Representation of the People Act, which had only allowed women over 30 who owned property to be enfranchised. The new act gave women the vote on the same terms as men. -
Wall Street Crash sparks the Great Depression
The crash of the American Wall Street financial markets in 1929 crippled the economies of the US and Europe, resulting in the Great Depression. In Britain, unemployment had peaked just below three million by 1932. It was only with rearmament in the period immediately before the outbreak of World War Two that the worst of the Depression could be said to be over. -
Labour wins the general election with Ramsay Macdonald as prime minister
Ramsay Macdonald headed the first Labour government with a clear majority. It lasted for two years. Labour won 287 seats, the Conservatives 262 and the Liberals 59. Macdonald's administration coincided with the Great Depression, a global economic slump triggered by the Wall Street Crash. Unemployment jumped by one million in 1930, and in some industrial towns reached 75%. -
'National government' coalition wins the election, but Labour support plummets
Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald called a general election to seek legitimacy for his 'national government' coalition. He was returned to power with 556 pro-national government MPs, of which 471 were Conservatives. The Labour Party expelled Macdonald for what was perceived as treachery. The new national government forced through the measures that Macdonald's Labour colleagues had vehemently opposed. -
Oswald Mosley founds the British Union of Fascists
Oswald Mosley, formerly a Conservative and then Labour member of parliament, modelled his party along Italian fascist lines. The party never became part of the political mainstream and was banned in 1940. Moseley was interned during the war and twice attempted unsuccessfully to return to parliament in post-war Britain. He died in 1980. -
Gresford Mine Disaster kills 266 in North Wales
This explosion, which killed 266 men, was one of the worst disasters in British mining history. Two hundred children were left fatherless in an area of North Wales where a 40% unemployment rate had already caused widespread poverty. -
Conservative Stanley Baldwin becomes prime minister for the third tim
Stanley Baldwin became prime minister after Ramsay Macdonald resigned due to ill health. The 'power behind the throne' during Macdonald's premiership, Baldwin remained prime minister until 28 May 1937, when he was succeeded by Neville Chamberlain. -
First Penguin paperbacks go on sale, bringing literature to the masses
Publisher Allen Lane felt there was a need for cheap, easily available editions of quality contemporary writing. The first ten Penguins included works by Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie. They cost just sixpence, the same price as a packet of cigarettes, and were available in traditional bookshops, but also in railway stations and tobacconists. Three million Penguin paperbacks were sold within a year. It was a revolution in publishing that massively widened public access to literature. -
George V dies and is succeeded by Edward VIII
As Prince of Wales, Edward had visited many parts of the country hit by the prolonged economic depression. These visits, his apparently genuine concern for the underprivileged and his official overseas tours on behalf of his father made him popular in Britain and abroad. But his choice of bride would spark a constitutional crisis. He had fallen in love with a married American woman, Wallis Simpson. When she obtained a divorce in October 1936, it opened the way for her to marry Edward. -
George VI is crowned king
Edward VIII's younger brother, the Duke of York, was crowned George VI. He and his wife Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother), became inspirational figures for Britain during World War Two. The monarch visited his armies on several battle fronts and founded the George Cross for 'acts of the greatest heroism or of the most conspicuous courage in circumstances of extreme danger'. -
WW2 Starts
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First refugee children of the 'Kindertransport' arrive in Britain
A total of 10,000 Jewish children between the ages of five and 17 were sent from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia to Britain between December 1938 and the outbreak of war in September 1939. Many were given homes by British families, or lived in hostels. Very few of them saw their parents again. -
Winston Churchill becomes prime minister of the coalition government
Following the disastrous Norwegian campaign, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain faced heavy criticism at home. By early May, Chamberlain had lost the confidence of the House of Commons. Labour ministers refused to serve in a national coalition with Chamberlain as leader, so he resigned. Churchill became prime minister on 10 May, the same day Germany invaded Holland and Belgium. -
'Blitz' begins with a massive daylight raid by the Luftwaffe
German bombing raids had already targeted Liverpool and Birmingham during August, but on 7 September the 'Blitz' intensified as 950 aircraft attacked London. It was the start of 57 consecutive nights of heavy bombing. The raid caused some 300 civilian deaths and a further 1,300 serious injuries. By the end of the Blitz, around 30,000 Londoners had been killed with another 50,000 injured. -
WW2 End
