David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George[1] of Dwyfor, OM, PC (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was a British statesman of the Liberal Party. As Chancellor of the Exchequer (1908–1915), Lloyd George was a key figure in the introduction of many reforms which laid the foundations of the modern welfare state. His most important role came as the highly energetic Prime Minister of the Wartime Coalition Government (1916–22), during and immediately after the First World War. He was a major player at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that reordered Europe after the defeat of the Central Powers.
As Prime Minister, Lloyd George favoured the Conservatives in his coalition in the 1918 elections, leaving the Liberal Party a minority. He became leader of the Liberal Party in the late 1920s, but it grew even smaller and more divided. By the 1930s he was a marginalised and widely mistrusted figure. He relunctant spoke in support of the Second World War amidst fears that he secretly had German sympathies.[2] He did however, meet with Hitler and spoke favourably of him prior to WWII.
Chronological events
The following events form part of "The Great War: On this day" project. It has been primarily sourced from volumes 1, 2 and 3 of Chronology of the War (1918-1920), edited by Lord Edward Gleichen. The source material identifies concise, historical events in simple, chronological order.
1910
- 29 Apr - The People's Budget is passed which, but later blocked by the House of Lords.
1911
- 21 Jul - Mansion House Speech.
1914
- 08 Sep - Speech at Local Government Board.
- 19 Sep - Speech at Queen's Hall.[3]
- 29 Sep - Speech at Welsh National Conference held at Cardiff.[3]
- 17 Nov - Introduces first War Budget.
1916
- 06 Dec - David Lloyd George is appointed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following his ousting of H.H. Asquith.
1918
- 05 Jan - "British War Aims" statement.
References/notes
- ↑ Under the rules governing titles within the peerage, Lloyd George's name in his title was hyphenated even though his surname was not.
- ↑ "David Lloyd George". Wikipedia: The free encyclopaedia. Accessed 22 January, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Various authors. (1915). Great Speeches of the War. Hazell, Watson and Viney, London.