READ ALL ABOUT IT - DAVID LLOYD GEORGE BECOMES SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR

Born on the 17th January 1863, a man that would dedicate post of his life to politics and helping to bring about change for the poor. In 1905 David Lloyd George became the President of the Born of Trade, a position he will hold until 1908. From here, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer on the 12th April and this was were he made one of the biggest changes that we can still see today. From an early age, David had opposed the Poor Law and believed the government should guarantee an income to those who were too old to work. The Poor Law amongst other things stated that no able-bodied person was to receive money or other help from the Poor Law authorities except in the workhouse. This was all about to change as David Lloyd George started his new role. 

As Chancellor of the Exchequer, David introduced the Old Age Pensions Act, its aim to provide from 1s - 5s, a week to people over seventy years old. To qualify, the person had to earn less than 12s a week, so only those who really needed it would benefit. This money needed to be raised from somewhere and so he also introduced the People's Budget, where tax was increased depending on how much you earned, with a Supertax being given to those who earned over £5,000 a year. The rich also had to pay more in death duties, as well as on the profits made through business. Several months later, he also introduced National Insurance to help pay for workers healthcare. These changes meant that for thousands of people living in poverty, they had a change to survive. It wouldn't make them rich, but it would certainly help ease the pressure of everyday life. 

On the 25th May 1915, David Lloyd George left his position as Chancellor of the Exchequer and become the Minister of Munitions as part of the first coalition ministry. Although very little is said about it, David started this position at the time of the 1915 Shell Scandal and so very quickly had to get more people making the shells and transporting them to the front line than ever before. On the 6th of June 1916, David also became Secretary of State For War, taking over from Lord Kitchener upon his sudden death and just one month later on the 9th July, left his position as Minister of Munitions. David Lloyd George as Secretary of State For War did not last long and on the 5th December, he resigned. This was largely due to him being denied permission to chair a small committee that would manage the war.

Despite resigning as Secretary of State For War, by the end of 1916, David Lloyd George had made it to the top. He was now the British Prime Minister, a position he would hold until 1922. During the latter years of the war, David managed to persuade the navy to use a convoy system, explaining that this would be the best and safest way to ship supplies and troops to their various destinations. I believe this to be one of his biggest achievements, not just for the First World War as it was used for many years to come. 

Post war, David Lloyd George attended the Paris Peace Conference on behalf of Britain to help draft the Versailles Treaty. He made he views well known that whilst Germany needed to be punished for what it had done, they also needed to remain strong due to the rising of Communism in Russia. Once the war was won, David was also able to look to the future and tried to set about reforms on education, health, housing and transport but was unfortunately met with huge criticism by other politicians. 

When the Second World War began in 1939, David Lloyd George was asked to help form a war cabinet but he declined with old age and ill health being his reasons. On the 26th March 1945, David Lloyd George died aged 82 years old, yet his strong belief's lived on and post second world war, was partly what inspired the changes brought about that we know today.  

Lord Kitchener Needs YOU

The outbreak of the First World War saw Lord Kitchener appointed the Secretary of State for War by British Prime Minister Asquith. It was during this role that he predicted a long, hard war and continually tried to voice his opinion even when most of the country were against him. The British people were under the impression that the war would be over by Christmas 1914, yet we all know now that this wasn't the case and that Herbert Kitchener was to be proved right. 

Lord Kitchener had vision and drive, for he saw the importance of needing a huge army to stand a chance of defeating Germany and thus winning the war. He was an extremely intelligent man who also realised that this war would be one that would shake Britain to the core. He excepted that Britain would suffer a vast amount of casualties, death and destruction and whilst he may not have wished this to be the case, he knew forward planning was essential to win the war. 

At the earliest opportunity, Lord Kitchener started a recruitment campaign, one which would become the face of the First World War, as well as one of the most effective and talked about pieces of propaganda in history. A poster appeared on noticeboards, buildings and in newspapers, depicting Lord Kitchener telling his audience that he needed them to join his army. He would never know it, but he would become one of the most famous men to come out of any war, particularly for this poster. Lord Kitchener cleverly used emotive language to appeal to his audience and promote the cause - it would be a poster that over 100 years later, is being show in schools across the country as a learning tool on many different levels. Even now, parodies based on this original poster spring up across the internet. 

At the beginning of the war, Britain was extremely lacking in a trusted land-based army and would have, if it wasn't for Kitchener, tried to fight the war almost solely using sea-power. I believe Lord Kitchener understood wartime and war needs more than the war council gave him credit for. Again, this was proven when plans for the British Expeditionary Force to be deployed in Amiens were unveiled. Kitchener voiced his concerns and argued his case that the small Belgium army, along with the British Expeditionary Force wouldn't be able to hold off attacks made by the German army. As a result, a retreat would have to be made, with weapons and supplies having to be abandoned. A retreat so early into the war would have had devastating consequences to British morale. 

The British Expeditionary Force at the time consisted of approximately 100,000 men, many of whom were only reservists. Loss of these trained men during the first few weeks would have more than likely lost us the war well before Christmas 1914. As the war continued, Lord Kitchener fell out with many politicians as well as professional soldiers, with a lot of his ideas being overrided. 

But it wasn't just the front line and recruitment of soldiers that Lord Kitchener assisted in, for he also helped on the home front. He encouraged the women of Britain to knit socks for their fighting menfolk that contained the Kitchener stitch. This was a new technique for a seamless join so that the socks wouldn't rub the toes. 

Tragically, Herbert Kitchener's life was cut short when the armoured cruiser HMS Hampshire he was travelling on struck a German mine on 5th June, whilst on route to Arkhangelsk in Russian. HMS Hampshire sunk west of the Orkney Islands, Kitchener himself only 65 years old. 

After Kitchener's death, the Mayor of London at the time, set up the Lord Kitchener National Memorial Fund which was used to aid casualties of the war, either practically or financially. When the war finally came to an end in 1918, some soldiers, ex-soldiers, their sons and their daughters were able to apply to receive university educations and it was all thanks to the fund set up. 

Life AT War - Day by Day

1st September 1914

Lord Kitchener has arrived in Paris, St Petersburg in Russia has changed its name to Petrograd.


Russia felt the need to change the name of the city as it included the German words  Sankt and burg.