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Strange Death of Liberal England Pre 1914

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Many scholars agree that the Edwardian period was the golden age for Britain as the British Empire thrived both economically and socially in the global climate. Yet the era saw dramatic shifts in politics, the Liberal Party came to power in 1906 and aimed to structure the modernisation of British society, however this was contravened as excluded actors in the past such as the common labourers and women began to take an interest and had eventually had a significant impact on British politics. George Dangerfield’s inevitabilist view that there was a strange death of Liberal England up to 1914 evokes the concept that ‘Liberal England’s consensus politics, a consensus based upon Liberal virtues of rationality and tolerance, was cut down by the rise of political violence and protest against the state’1and ‘for it was in 1910 that fires long smouldering in the English spirit suddenly flared up, so that by the end of 1913 liberal England was reduced to ashes’2 It is recognised that particular actors which were the cause of rebellion and crisis were the Ulster Unionists, the Suffragettes, militant trade unions and the Conservative Party. Although the ‘Dangerfield thesis’ to some extent is profoundly credible and authentic, historians have argued that his view is exaggerated and the actuality of the Liberal Party and national adherence was very much thriving up until the eve of the Great War. This essay will argue the credibility of George Dangerfield’s view using appropriate evidence and scholarly interpretations to provide a structural debate and sound conclusion. One of Dangerfield’s arguments of the demise of Liberal England up to 1914 is based upon the threat of Irish Civil War by the Ulster Unionists. The Liberals intentions were to bring in another Irish Home Rule Bill, and in April 1912 it was introduced. The latter of the Irish Unionist Party had split from the Liberal Unionists over the issue of home rule and by 1910 many had dedicated themselves to the leadership of Sir Edward Carson who had a well maintained campaign against Irish Home Rule. Even with uprising opposition, ‘The Liberals remained true to their Gladstonian inheritance but at the cost of unleashing ferocious Unionist protests and a political crisis which was to threaten to spill over into civil war.’3 Which ostensibly supports Dangerfield’s view as the strong leadership and support of Sir Edward Carson by the Ulster Volunteers formed in 1912 provided a major threat towards the Liberal party, not to mention the support of the Conservative Party also. However, Dangerfield can be discredited as evidence suggests that despite the Liberal Parties split over the issue of Home rule, although Ulster Unionists opposed against the bill, it was eventually passed and it can be said that ‘they had re-emerged as a politically dominant force under Campbell-Bannerman and Asquith – winning three general elections in a row between 1906 and 1910’4 profoundly agreeing with the concept that liberalism in England was very much alive and thriving in the political and economic climate. Following on from

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