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BRITAIN, IRELAND and INDIA (3 of 5)

The British government's strategy for economic recovery was frugality in spending by both the government and the public. Britain's military was held at minimum strength -- nearly 3.7 million men having been demobilized after the war. Britain continued to maintain social programs that were more extensive than those that existed in the United States, getting enough money to the truly needy as the country struggled to rebuild its economy.

In domestic reforms, Lloyd-George's coalition government broke up thousands of estates, large and small. Young men from estate-owning families had been decimated during the war, and Britain's estate-owning families were losing their influence.

In foreign policy, Lloyd-George's government pursued cooperation with much of Europe. Britain tried to make it easier for Germany to make its reparation payments. The Lloyd-George government agreed that Russia should be brought back into the European community of nations. And regarding Turkey's defeat in the Great War, the British government supported an enlarged Greece -- Greece having been Britain's ally in World War I. The Greeks were fighting the Turks again. Lloyd-George supported independence from Turkish rule for the Greeks in western Asia Minor. The able Turkish leader, Kemal Ataturk, advanced against the Greek forces in Turkey, and he destroyed the Greek army.

Lloyd-George's failed policy concerning the Greeks and some other failures, including a continuing decline in Britain's economy, wore down support for his government. Some in Britain had become uncomfortable with David Lloyd-George's personality and character. Conservatives rebelled against Lloyd-George. His government, which had been a coalition in opposition to Labour and the Left, fell apart, and Lloyd-George resigned in October 1922 -- eleven days before Mussolini came to power.

A general election held toward the end of October resulted in the election of 347 conservatives to Parliament. Labour won 142 seats -- up from 59 in 1918 -- and Britain's Communists proved their weakness by winning only two seats. A conservative government was formed. Then, at the end of 1923, new elections were held. Conservative seats in parliament dropped to 258, and seats for the Labour Party rose to 191. Labour and members of the Liberal Party joined in forming a coalition government. Its prime minister was Ramsay MacDonald, who was also foreign secretary. MacDonald was a former anti-war activist, a boy from a poor family who had married well. Although he believed in parliamentary government and in democratic methods, fear in conservative circles accompanied his inclusion into the government, including the fear that the new government would be influenced by Moscow. A few investors panicked and sold their investments, as did some American investors in British stocks. But the radical legislation that they expected did not happen, while MacDonald and his Labour Party continued to seek support from the Liberals and the middle classes.

MacDonald's government increased spending on building public housing -- housing with controlled rents. His government worked at improving unemployment benefits, while employment figures did not improve. The figure that was rising was the percentage of the nation's income that the government was spending. It was up to twelve percent from the five percent that it had been before the war, and it was to stay at twelve percent throughout the era between the two World Wars.

MacDonald's trade agreement with Russia came under attack. And after just a few months in office, new elections were held. The conservatives made much of a claim of a new Communist threat, using a letter from the head of the Communist Internationale, Zinoviev, to British Communists, a letter describing the recent trade agreement between Britain and the Soviet Union as advancing the prospects for revolution in Britain. The letter is believed to have been a forgery, and the Left believed it to be a trick by conservatives. Whether the letter had a significant impact on voters remains debatable. At any rate, Labour lost the elections to parliament because of a middleclass swing to conservative candidates. The Conservative Party won 415 seats, and a new conservative government was formed under Stanley Baldwin.