To What Extent was Britain on the Verge of a Civil War in 1914?
The years approaching 1914 were particularly difficult for the Liberal government. Not only had there been controversy over the 1909 budget and the constitutional crisis, but the government were also under pressure from trade union militancy, the women’s movement and the problems with Ireland. There was certainly a great deal of unrest in both England and Ireland at this time, but historians disagree over how serious the threats to law and order actually were. To what extent Britain was on the verge of a civil war at this time is open to debate.
A substantial challenge for the liberals, and somewhat a threat to law and order was the period of trade union militancy which really started to cause a problem in 1909 when the government began to experience difficulties with the coal miners. The government’s Eight-hour Act had frustrated miners, who began to strike in protest. Between 1909 and 1910, strikes took place in Yorkshire, South Wales, Northuraberland and Durham. The strikers were aggravated further when mine owners brought in black-leg labour to work whilst strikes continued. Mining strikes were particularly known for rioting and looting, and during one particular strike in Tonypandy, Churchill brought in the military to crush uprisings, which led to sympathy strikes in other pits. Though, as T.O. Lloyd points out, these early strikes did not seriously affect the Liberal government (evidence of which is shown in the 1910 election results), the worst was yet to come.
In 1911 a Dockers strike in Southampton and subsequent sympathy strikes in other ports led to widespread rioting, looting and blooRABhed. Troops were brought in by the government in the South Wales coal strike (October 1910- June 1911) and soldiers opened fir near Llanelli, killing two men. This led to immediate outrage, and by introducing armed forces into an industrial dispute, the government were just asking for trouble. Asquith said that he would use ‘all the crowns forces’ against strikers, which only made the trade unions more determined. The cabinet had no idea of what a strike was actually like, they were too easily frightened and ready to assume things could be controlled by brute force.
Within a week of the Dockers strikes, the economy had been affected by a disruptive strike of the railway workers. Lloyd George had recognised the need for industrial peace for the sake of governmental diplomacy, and appealed to strikers to remeraber that Britains international situation was delicate. Lloyd George obviously sensed that a British crisis was impending, and this could weaken her ability in the event of a world war.
1912 was perhaps the crisis year in relations between the government and the trade unions. In this year the greatest nuraber of days were lost through striking than ever before. There was a massive coal strike, during which the government’s ignorance was really shown up. They expected to see a fairly quick solution, and had no idea of how slowly events would move. By February 1912, the whole miner’s federation was on strike, and the government began to realise that they could not solve this problem immediately. In March 1912 the government introduced the Minimum Wage Act, which, although didn’t completely satisfy miners, did show them that the government had taken an important step away from laissez-faire. By April the miners were back at work.
After this, trade union militancy calmed down somewhat. Between 1913 and 1914 there was series of short strikes, and although the Triple Alliance of the National Union of Railwaymen, Transport Workers Federation and Miners Federation were planning a massive strike for 1914 -which George Dangerfield felt would have stood Britain on the verge of revolution and anarchy- this was prevented when Britain entered the First World War.
This period of trade union militancy had given rise to syndicalism, which, as Lloyd expressed, was one of the few attempts to apply an anarchist version of socialism in Britain. It can also be noted that in the years before 1914, merabership of the T.U.C. increased considerably, from 1 648 000 in 1910 to 2 232 000 by 1913.
Although trade union militancy and general unrest did pose a challenge to the Liberals, there was not a serious threat of a breakdown of law and order, and although tensions were high (particularly in 1912), the government did manage to slowly suppress problems one by one with a mixture of conciliation and firmness. Therefore, it would be unrealistic to say that, due to the actions of the trade unions, Britain was on the verge of a civil war in 1914.
However, a more militant group showing a much greater disrespect for the law, were the women’s movement. From as early as 1867 women’s suffrage was acknowledged, and though not accepted, it was certainly debated. Keir Hardie particularly favoured women’s emancipation.
In 1867, a non-militant group called the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society (NUWSS, or Suffragists) was formed, and Historian Martin Pugh believes that it was because of this group that, by 1906, the Liberals had accepted women’s suffrage.
However, the work of the NUWSS was somewhat overshadowed by the actions of the Women’s Social and Political Union (suffragettes) formed in 1903. Although the Liberals had accepted women’s suffrage by 1906, they didn’t make it a priority, as they had more pressing matters to attend to, and when Asquith was made PM in 1908, he was very anti women’s suffrages. However, as the suffragettes increased pressure on the govt, the Conciliation Bill was proposed which would enfranchise about 1 million women. However, the Liberals would not accept this Bill because the enfranchised women (wealthy landowners) were likely to be of Conservative nature, therefore if they were given the vote, the Conservatives would get more votes. The Bill was tried again in 1911, but by this time, the suffragettes weren’t interested in a compromise plan. Their campaign had become less a question of politics than a matter of ensuring women were taken seriously and treated equally. Lloyd points out that “the women’s struggle for the vote became, in its extreme manifestation, an unpolitical movement”.
By 1912, the suffragettes had upped their campaign. They focussed more on organised violence and showed a greater disregard for the law than the trade unions ever had. They began acts of arson, setting fire to post-boxes, churches and railway stations. They physically attacked cabinet ministers and in one incident on Lossiemouth golf course, Asquith was attacked, and suffragettes tore at his clothes and beat him with dog whips.
The crisis year for the government, concerning suffragettes, came in 1913. By this time the suffragettes were out of control and showing blatant disregard for the law. They committed several acts of arson, including a fire borab attack on Lloyd George’s house, for which Mrs Pankhurst was given a three year jail sentence. In the 1913 Derby, Emily DaviRABon died for her cause as she threw herself in front of the king’s horse. In this year, the Private Merabers Bill was defeated and the ‘Cat and Mouse’ Act introduced. In this, hunger strikers were released from prison, sent to hospitals where they were force fed until strong again, and then sent back to prison. Suffragette violence spiralled out of control. The government were in a no win situation -they could not afford to put up with continued attacks, but neither did thy want to be seen to give in to violence. The suffragists criticised the suffragettes, saying that they were actually holding back the cause.
In the notion of their complete disregard for law and order, it could be considered that the issue of the suffragettes was the ‘rurablings’ of a civil war. However, in 1914, Asquith was persuaded round to the idea of women’s suffrage and then, on August 4th 1914, Britain entered the First World War, and the suffragettes stopped their campaign to help the war effort. The crisis year, it seemed, was over, and the suffragettes had shown that in the final instance, they were prepared to put their country before their campaign. This demonstrated that although the suffragettes felt very strongly about their cause, they would not go to such extreme lengths as a civil war in order to achieve their goals. Also, by 1914, their actions had calmed down considerably, and therefore it would again be unrealistic to say that Britain was on the verge of a civil war in 1914.
Another, and perhaps a more pressing problem was the problem of Ireland. In 191, the Parliament Act had promised Home Rule for Ireland, but by this time many Irish, particularly Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.) wanted more than Home Rule, they wanted a similar solution to the dual monarchy of Austria and Hungary in 1867. As these ideas were ignored, they moved to demand a complete break with Britain- an independent republic for Ireland. By 1912, the situation in Ireland had changed greatly from that of 16 years ago when the first Home Rule bill was proposed. Ulster had developed industrially and many businessmen feared that Home Rule (and Griffith’s talk of introducing tariff) would mean losing valuable markets in the rest of Britain.
Also, Ulster had a largely Protestant population who felt a Catholic government in Dublin would dominate and discriminate against them. Even before Home rule was introduced in the commons, the Ulster unionists had begun a resistance campaign. They held massive demonstrations and threatened to set up a provincial government if the bill was passed. The Conservatives supported the actions of the Ulster unionists, hoping to bring down the Liberal government. In July 1912, Andrew Bonar Law, the new Conservative leader, went to Ireland to actively encourage an armed rebellion against a law about to be passed by the legally elected British government. Asquith himself worsened the situation by saying he would skimply ‘wait and see’ what the outcome was to be, and Lowe argues that he ‘could have eased the situation by discussing the possibility of a partition, allowing the our counties in Ulster with a protestant majority (Antrim, Armagh, Down and Derry) to remain under British rule.
The Curragh mutiny further undermined the government’s position, and showed the Ulster volunteers that if fighting should break out, the government may not have been able to rely on the loyalty of their armed forces for support. In April 1914, the Larne gun running incident inflamed the situation further, and when an all-party conference was held in July 1914 (after the Home Rule bill had been passed for a third time in May) Redmond realised that he was faced with a civil war, and hastily set about making compromises. However, the Unionists stepped up their demanRAB and the conference eventually broke up, having achieved nothing.
In the Howth Incident, on 26th July 1914, 38 people were wounded by armed troops, which immediately increased tensions. The precariousness of the peace had been realised and Ireland, at this point, seemed to be on the verge of a civil war. This was prevented when Britain entered World War One and the government agreed to suspend action until one year after World War One had finished.
Although during the crisis year of 1914, Ireland did seem to be very close to a civil war, at no point was there a threat of a civil war in mainland Britain, because all the militancy took place in Ireland between the unionists and the republicans.
In conclusion, the problems with trade unions, the suffragettes and Ireland all contributed to an ever-increasing feeling of unease and high tension in Britain. Although separately, it can be concluded that each issue did not put Britain on the verge of a civil war in 1914, when looked at together, it can be seen that the problems were collectively making a huge impact in Britain. Yet, the threat of a civil war in Britain was very little, smaller even than the possibility of the collapse of the Liberal government. The liberal party was facing many problems, but they were slowly overcoming them, one by one. They had not ceased to govern, law and order was not completely collapsing in Britain, and the fabric of society was not crurabling. We have also seen that by 1914, many of the problems were beginning to settles, and the crisis years seemed to have passed. Therefore, although it did seem the Ireland may be on the brink of civil war, it would be inaccurate to say that the whole of Britain was on the verge of a civil war in 1914.
The years approaching 1914 were particularly difficult for the Liberal government. Not only had there been controversy over the 1909 budget and the constitutional crisis, but the government were also under pressure from trade union militancy, the women’s movement and the problems with Ireland. There was certainly a great deal of unrest in both England and Ireland at this time, but historians disagree over how serious the threats to law and order actually were. To what extent Britain was on the verge of a civil war at this time is open to debate.
A substantial challenge for the liberals, and somewhat a threat to law and order was the period of trade union militancy which really started to cause a problem in 1909 when the government began to experience difficulties with the coal miners. The government’s Eight-hour Act had frustrated miners, who began to strike in protest. Between 1909 and 1910, strikes took place in Yorkshire, South Wales, Northuraberland and Durham. The strikers were aggravated further when mine owners brought in black-leg labour to work whilst strikes continued. Mining strikes were particularly known for rioting and looting, and during one particular strike in Tonypandy, Churchill brought in the military to crush uprisings, which led to sympathy strikes in other pits. Though, as T.O. Lloyd points out, these early strikes did not seriously affect the Liberal government (evidence of which is shown in the 1910 election results), the worst was yet to come.
In 1911 a Dockers strike in Southampton and subsequent sympathy strikes in other ports led to widespread rioting, looting and blooRABhed. Troops were brought in by the government in the South Wales coal strike (October 1910- June 1911) and soldiers opened fir near Llanelli, killing two men. This led to immediate outrage, and by introducing armed forces into an industrial dispute, the government were just asking for trouble. Asquith said that he would use ‘all the crowns forces’ against strikers, which only made the trade unions more determined. The cabinet had no idea of what a strike was actually like, they were too easily frightened and ready to assume things could be controlled by brute force.
Within a week of the Dockers strikes, the economy had been affected by a disruptive strike of the railway workers. Lloyd George had recognised the need for industrial peace for the sake of governmental diplomacy, and appealed to strikers to remeraber that Britains international situation was delicate. Lloyd George obviously sensed that a British crisis was impending, and this could weaken her ability in the event of a world war.
1912 was perhaps the crisis year in relations between the government and the trade unions. In this year the greatest nuraber of days were lost through striking than ever before. There was a massive coal strike, during which the government’s ignorance was really shown up. They expected to see a fairly quick solution, and had no idea of how slowly events would move. By February 1912, the whole miner’s federation was on strike, and the government began to realise that they could not solve this problem immediately. In March 1912 the government introduced the Minimum Wage Act, which, although didn’t completely satisfy miners, did show them that the government had taken an important step away from laissez-faire. By April the miners were back at work.
After this, trade union militancy calmed down somewhat. Between 1913 and 1914 there was series of short strikes, and although the Triple Alliance of the National Union of Railwaymen, Transport Workers Federation and Miners Federation were planning a massive strike for 1914 -which George Dangerfield felt would have stood Britain on the verge of revolution and anarchy- this was prevented when Britain entered the First World War.
This period of trade union militancy had given rise to syndicalism, which, as Lloyd expressed, was one of the few attempts to apply an anarchist version of socialism in Britain. It can also be noted that in the years before 1914, merabership of the T.U.C. increased considerably, from 1 648 000 in 1910 to 2 232 000 by 1913.
Although trade union militancy and general unrest did pose a challenge to the Liberals, there was not a serious threat of a breakdown of law and order, and although tensions were high (particularly in 1912), the government did manage to slowly suppress problems one by one with a mixture of conciliation and firmness. Therefore, it would be unrealistic to say that, due to the actions of the trade unions, Britain was on the verge of a civil war in 1914.
However, a more militant group showing a much greater disrespect for the law, were the women’s movement. From as early as 1867 women’s suffrage was acknowledged, and though not accepted, it was certainly debated. Keir Hardie particularly favoured women’s emancipation.
In 1867, a non-militant group called the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society (NUWSS, or Suffragists) was formed, and Historian Martin Pugh believes that it was because of this group that, by 1906, the Liberals had accepted women’s suffrage.
However, the work of the NUWSS was somewhat overshadowed by the actions of the Women’s Social and Political Union (suffragettes) formed in 1903. Although the Liberals had accepted women’s suffrage by 1906, they didn’t make it a priority, as they had more pressing matters to attend to, and when Asquith was made PM in 1908, he was very anti women’s suffrages. However, as the suffragettes increased pressure on the govt, the Conciliation Bill was proposed which would enfranchise about 1 million women. However, the Liberals would not accept this Bill because the enfranchised women (wealthy landowners) were likely to be of Conservative nature, therefore if they were given the vote, the Conservatives would get more votes. The Bill was tried again in 1911, but by this time, the suffragettes weren’t interested in a compromise plan. Their campaign had become less a question of politics than a matter of ensuring women were taken seriously and treated equally. Lloyd points out that “the women’s struggle for the vote became, in its extreme manifestation, an unpolitical movement”.
By 1912, the suffragettes had upped their campaign. They focussed more on organised violence and showed a greater disregard for the law than the trade unions ever had. They began acts of arson, setting fire to post-boxes, churches and railway stations. They physically attacked cabinet ministers and in one incident on Lossiemouth golf course, Asquith was attacked, and suffragettes tore at his clothes and beat him with dog whips.
The crisis year for the government, concerning suffragettes, came in 1913. By this time the suffragettes were out of control and showing blatant disregard for the law. They committed several acts of arson, including a fire borab attack on Lloyd George’s house, for which Mrs Pankhurst was given a three year jail sentence. In the 1913 Derby, Emily DaviRABon died for her cause as she threw herself in front of the king’s horse. In this year, the Private Merabers Bill was defeated and the ‘Cat and Mouse’ Act introduced. In this, hunger strikers were released from prison, sent to hospitals where they were force fed until strong again, and then sent back to prison. Suffragette violence spiralled out of control. The government were in a no win situation -they could not afford to put up with continued attacks, but neither did thy want to be seen to give in to violence. The suffragists criticised the suffragettes, saying that they were actually holding back the cause.
In the notion of their complete disregard for law and order, it could be considered that the issue of the suffragettes was the ‘rurablings’ of a civil war. However, in 1914, Asquith was persuaded round to the idea of women’s suffrage and then, on August 4th 1914, Britain entered the First World War, and the suffragettes stopped their campaign to help the war effort. The crisis year, it seemed, was over, and the suffragettes had shown that in the final instance, they were prepared to put their country before their campaign. This demonstrated that although the suffragettes felt very strongly about their cause, they would not go to such extreme lengths as a civil war in order to achieve their goals. Also, by 1914, their actions had calmed down considerably, and therefore it would again be unrealistic to say that Britain was on the verge of a civil war in 1914.
Another, and perhaps a more pressing problem was the problem of Ireland. In 191, the Parliament Act had promised Home Rule for Ireland, but by this time many Irish, particularly Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.) wanted more than Home Rule, they wanted a similar solution to the dual monarchy of Austria and Hungary in 1867. As these ideas were ignored, they moved to demand a complete break with Britain- an independent republic for Ireland. By 1912, the situation in Ireland had changed greatly from that of 16 years ago when the first Home Rule bill was proposed. Ulster had developed industrially and many businessmen feared that Home Rule (and Griffith’s talk of introducing tariff) would mean losing valuable markets in the rest of Britain.
Also, Ulster had a largely Protestant population who felt a Catholic government in Dublin would dominate and discriminate against them. Even before Home rule was introduced in the commons, the Ulster unionists had begun a resistance campaign. They held massive demonstrations and threatened to set up a provincial government if the bill was passed. The Conservatives supported the actions of the Ulster unionists, hoping to bring down the Liberal government. In July 1912, Andrew Bonar Law, the new Conservative leader, went to Ireland to actively encourage an armed rebellion against a law about to be passed by the legally elected British government. Asquith himself worsened the situation by saying he would skimply ‘wait and see’ what the outcome was to be, and Lowe argues that he ‘could have eased the situation by discussing the possibility of a partition, allowing the our counties in Ulster with a protestant majority (Antrim, Armagh, Down and Derry) to remain under British rule.
The Curragh mutiny further undermined the government’s position, and showed the Ulster volunteers that if fighting should break out, the government may not have been able to rely on the loyalty of their armed forces for support. In April 1914, the Larne gun running incident inflamed the situation further, and when an all-party conference was held in July 1914 (after the Home Rule bill had been passed for a third time in May) Redmond realised that he was faced with a civil war, and hastily set about making compromises. However, the Unionists stepped up their demanRAB and the conference eventually broke up, having achieved nothing.
In the Howth Incident, on 26th July 1914, 38 people were wounded by armed troops, which immediately increased tensions. The precariousness of the peace had been realised and Ireland, at this point, seemed to be on the verge of a civil war. This was prevented when Britain entered World War One and the government agreed to suspend action until one year after World War One had finished.
Although during the crisis year of 1914, Ireland did seem to be very close to a civil war, at no point was there a threat of a civil war in mainland Britain, because all the militancy took place in Ireland between the unionists and the republicans.
In conclusion, the problems with trade unions, the suffragettes and Ireland all contributed to an ever-increasing feeling of unease and high tension in Britain. Although separately, it can be concluded that each issue did not put Britain on the verge of a civil war in 1914, when looked at together, it can be seen that the problems were collectively making a huge impact in Britain. Yet, the threat of a civil war in Britain was very little, smaller even than the possibility of the collapse of the Liberal government. The liberal party was facing many problems, but they were slowly overcoming them, one by one. They had not ceased to govern, law and order was not completely collapsing in Britain, and the fabric of society was not crurabling. We have also seen that by 1914, many of the problems were beginning to settles, and the crisis years seemed to have passed. Therefore, although it did seem the Ireland may be on the brink of civil war, it would be inaccurate to say that the whole of Britain was on the verge of a civil war in 1914.