Kenneth O. Morgan - The Age of Lloyd George: The Liberal Party and British Politics, 1890-1929

FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1971

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ISBN 0 04 942092 5 CASED

0 04 942093 3 PAPER

First published in the United States, 1971
by Barnes and Noble, Inc.

Printed in Great Britain

in 10 on 11 point Plantin type

by The Aldine Press, Letchworth

The reader and the teacher of history might be forgiven for thinking that there are now too many series of historical documents in existence, all claiming to offer light on particular problems and all able to fulfil their claims. At any rate, the general editor of yet another series feels obliged to explain why he is helping one more collection of such volumes into existence.

One purpose of this series is to put at the disposal of the student original materials illustrating historical problems, but this is no longer anything out of the way. A little less usual is the decision to admit every sort of historical question: there are no barriers of time or place or theme. However, what really distinguishes this enterprise is the fact that it combines generous collections of documents with introductory essays long enough to explore the theme widely and deeply. In the doctrine of educationalists, it is the original documents that should be given to the student; in the experience of teachers, documents thrown naked before the untrained mind turn from pearls to paste. The study of history cannot be confined either to the learning up of results without a consideration of the foundations, or to a review of those foundations without the assistance of the expert mind. The task of teaching involves explanation and instruction, and these volumes recognize this possibly unfashionable fact. Beyond that, they enable the writers to say new and important things about their subject matter: to write history of an exploratory kind, which is the only important historical writing there is.

As a result, each volume will be a historical monograph worth the attention which all such monographs deserve, and each volume will stand on its own. While the format of the series is uniform, the contents will vary according to need. Some problems require the reconsideration which makes the known enlighteningly new; others need the attention of original research; yet others will have to enter controversy because the prevailing notions on many historical questions are demonstrably wrong. The authors of this series are free to treat their subject in whatever manner it seems to them to require. They will present some of their evidence for inspection and help the learner to see how history is written, but they will themselves also write history.

G.R.E.

The following people and institutions have very kindly granted me permission to quote from documents of which they hold the copyright: Mr A. J. P. Taylor and the First Beaverbrook Foundation (Bonar Laws and J. C. C. Davidsons correspondence; David Lloyd George, War Memoirsi Land and the Nation; We Can Conquer Unemployment; Lloyd Georges memorandum in Life and Letters of Austen Chamberlain); Mr Mark Bonham-Carter (Asquiths correspondence; Roy Jenkins, Asquith; letters by Asquith in Lloyd George, War Memoirs); Mrs Mary Bennett (H. A. L. Fishers correspondence); 5th Marquess of Salisbury (4th Marquess of Salisburys correspondence); Fladgate & Co (Winston Churchills correspondence); Lord Kennet (Hilton Youngs correspondence); Viscount Addison (Christopher Addison: Four and a Half Years, 19141919, Hutchinson & Co); Asia Publishing House (Edwin Montagus correspondence); Constable & Co (F. A. Charming, Memories of Midland Politics, 18851910); Curtis Brown Ltd (R. J. Campbell, The New Theology); Victor Gollancz Ltd (Lord Riddell, Intimate Diary of the Peace Conference and After, 19181923); London School of Economics (Beatrice Webb, Our Partnership); William Heinemann Ltd (Randolph Churchill, Lord Derby, King of Lancashire); Macmillan & Co (J. M. Keynes, Economic Consequences of the Peace); Oxford University Press (Thomas Jones, Whitehall Diary); Stanley Paul & Co Ltd (H. A. Taylor, Robert Donald).

This volume is an inquiry into a crucial phase of British party politics. It is not conceived as an addition to the large and growing number of biographical studies of David Lloyd George. Rather it aims to use Lloyd Georges career as a means of tracing the revival, triumph, division and decline of his own Liberal Party, in which he himself was the decisive agent for change. It spans the period from 1890, when Lloyd George entered Parliament and when the Liberals were in the early processes of reorganization and recovery, down to the 1929 general election, when Lloyd Georges last crusade failed and when the Liberals were shown to be no longer serious challengers for political power.

I am very grateful to The Queens College for financial and secretarial assistance which has enabled me to complete the research for this book. I am also indebted to Professor G. R. Elton, the editor of this series, for some valuable criticism of my manuscript, to Dr Cameron Hazlehurst for purging the proofs of several errors, and to my father for preparing the Index. And I cannot conclude without mentioning the gratitude felt by all students of Lloyd Georges career for the helpfulness of Mr A. J. P. Taylor, Miss Rosemary Brooks and all the staff at the Beaverbrook Library in making so freely available the incomparable archives housed there, and in making research there such an agreeable experience.