Lloyd George acquired recognition speaking for the interests of Welsh nonconformists--including temperance, disestablishment of the Anglican church in Wales, nondenominational education, and local autonomy. He was viewed as an unorthodox, independent Liberal, a reputation enhanced by his uncompromising opposition to the South African War (1899-1902). Later he won national prominence as leader of the nonconformist opposition to the Conservative government's Education Act of 1902. When Sir Henry CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN formed his Liberal cabinet in 1905, he included Lloyd George as a representative of nonconformist interests. In the post of president of the Board of Trade, Lloyd George was highly successful as a champion of business and labor negotiator. Prime Minister Herbert ASQUITH promoted him to chancellor of the exchequer in 1908.

Lloyd George became an active social reformer, horrifying traditionalists by using the annual government budget to construct policy as well as to raise money. His "people's budget" of 1909, with its land taxes, provoked a clash with the Conservative-dominated House of Lords, ending in curtailment (1911) of the House of Lords' power to veto legislation. In 1911, Lloyd George guided through Parliament his pioneering National Health Insurance Act. This act, in conjunction with his Old Age Pensions Act (1908), is often identified as the foundation of the British welfare state.

At first reluctant to approve Great Britain's entry (August 1914) into WORLD WAR I, Lloyd George soon advocated a knockout blow against Germany, demanding greater vigor and efficiency from the government. As munitions minister in 1915-16, he ensured that a steady supply of guns and shells reached the western front, becoming a hero of the press but making many political enemies. He became minister of war shortly before he joined with the Conservative leaders to maneuver Asquith out of office in December 1916. Lloyd George then became prime minister and the dominant figure in the new 5-member coalition war cabinet.

Lloyd George imposed an effective regime of "war socialism" upon the British people, but he quarreled with his generals, particularly Douglas HAIG, and was unable to cut the heavy casualties on the western front. Nevertheless, he was popularly regarded as the man who won the war, and he exploited this reputation to win a huge election victory for his coalition following the 1918 armistice.

The last 4 years of Lloyd George's premiership (1918-22) were anticlimactic. He was the principal British negotiator at the PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE and five subsequent international parleys, but his "conference diplomacy" failed to mitigate postwar tensions. His government's housing program ("homes for heroes") was a disaster; there was mounting unemployment and labor unrest; and a major recession began in 1921. In Ireland he initially adopted a policy of harsh repression against the nationalist rebels, but he finally negotiated the treaty (1921) that established the Irish Free State. This settlement was his one major postwar success, but it damaged his relations with the Conservatives, on whom his government depended. The Conservatives finally withdrew their support after the CHANAK CRISIS (1922) in which Lloyd George brought Britain to the brink of war with Turkey.

After the coalition fell in October 1922, Lloyd George was reunited with the Asquithian Liberals. He later split with Asquith again, but he succeeded him as Liberal party leader (1926-31). With the decline of Liberalism, Lloyd George's fortunes waned. He never again held office, although he was a leading parliamentary critic of Labour and, more so, Conservative foreign and domestic policies. He was awarded an earldom shortly before his death on Mar. 26, 1945.

Don M. Cregier

• 1 Richard Lloyd George 2nd Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor = Roberta Ida Freeman McAlpine
  
  • 1 Owen George