Britain in Peace and War 1900–1918

One of the optional British depth studies for OCR Paper 3. This topic blends domestic reform (Liberal welfare state, suffrage) with the causes and impact of World War One — one of the most tested periods in GCSE History.

Liberal Reforms 1906–14

The 1906 Liberal government under Campbell-Bannerman and then Asquith introduced the foundations of the welfare state:

Why reform?

• Boer War evidence: one-third of recruits unfit — national security concern.
• Rowntree's survey (1901): proved poverty was structural, not personal failure.
• Labour Party threat: new socialist party winning working-class votes; Liberals needed to respond.
• New Liberalism: shift from laissez-faire to belief in limited state intervention.

Key reforms

Reform	Year	Benefit
Free school meals	1906	For malnourished children
School medical inspections	1907	First state health screening
Old-age pensions	1908	5 shillings/week for over-70s
Labour Exchanges	1909	Help for unemployed to find work
National Insurance Act	1911	Sickness and unemployment insurance

People's Budget (1909): Lloyd George's budget to fund reforms by taxing the rich. House of Lords rejected it — constitutional crisis; Parliament Act (1911) removed Lords' power to block money bills.

Women's Suffrage

Women could not vote in parliamentary elections before 1918.

Suffragists (NUWSS — National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies)

• Led by Millicent Fawcett.
• Campaigned peacefully: petitions, meetings, leaflets.
• Argued women deserved the vote on principle.

Suffragettes (WSPU — Women's Social and Political Union)

• Founded 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst and daughters.
• Motto: "Deeds not words" — direct action.
• Tactics: breaking windows, arson, chaining themselves to railings.
• Cat and Mouse Act (1913): released hunger-striking prisoners when too weak, re-arrested when recovered.
• Emily Wilding Davison: died after stepping onto the Epsom Derby track (June 1913) — became a martyr.

Did militancy help or hinder the cause? OCR loves this debate: historians disagree — some argue it generated publicity; others say it alienated moderate supporters.

How women won the vote

• Representation of the People Act (1918): women over 30 who owned property could vote.
• 1928: full equal suffrage (women over 21).
• Key factor: women's war work 1914–18 — munitions, nursing, transport — changed public and political attitudes.

Causes of World War One

OCR uses the MAIN acronym (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism) and also the FATE concept:

Cause	Detail
Militarism	Arms race (esp. Anglo-German naval race; Dreadnoughts); military planning (Schlieffen Plan)
Alliances	Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy) vs Triple Entente (France, Russia, Britain)
Imperialism	Rivalry over African and Asian colonies; Morocco Crises (1905, 1911)
Nationalism	Pan-Slavic nationalism in the Balkans; Austro-Hungarian fear of Serbian expansion
Trigger	Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (June 1914, Sarajevo) by Gavrilo Princip

The July Crisis (July–August 1914): Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia; Russia mobilised to defend Serbia; Germany activated the Schlieffen Plan (invade France via Belgium); Britain entered the war after Germany invaded Belgium (Treaty of London 1839 guaranteed Belgian neutrality).

The Home Front 1914–18

The war transformed British society:

• Recruitment: initial volunteers (Lord Kitchener); conscription introduced 1916.
• Women's war work: over one million women entered the workforce — munitions ("munitionettes"), transport, agriculture (Women's Land Army), nursing (VADs).
• DORA (Defence of the Realm Act, 1914): gave government sweeping powers — censorship, control of factories, BST introduced (daylight saving), alcohol restrictions.
• Rationing: food rationing introduced 1918 after German U-boat campaign threatened supplies.
• Propaganda: posters, white feather campaigns, cinema.

Consequences and interpretations

• 300,000 British military dead in 1914 alone; total c.700,000 British military dead by 1918.
• Social change: women's new roles; class barriers eroded in the trenches; pressure for democracy increased.
• Political change: Lloyd George replaced Asquith (1916) — coalition government; 1918 Reform Act extended the vote.
• Treaty of Versailles (1919): Germany blamed for war (Article 231 — "War Guilt Clause"); reparations; territorial losses. Seeds of WWII (debated by historians).

Common OCR exam mistakes

1. Saying women got the vote because of suffragette militancy alone — historians debate this; war work is often cited as the decisive factor.
2. Saying conscription was introduced at the start of the war — voluntary recruitment first (1914–15); conscription only from January 1916.
3. Confusing the NUWSS (constitutional, Fawcett) with the WSPU (militant, Pankhurst).
4. On WWI causes: saying Franz Ferdinand's assassination "caused" the war — it was the trigger, not the underlying cause.