Herbert henry asquith's life

Poverty, diligence, intelligence (if not agility) and ambition; There is an indomitable temperament: there is no doubt that these qualities are typical of heroes who will achieve great success. On the whole, this is an appropriate description of young herbert henry asquith. He was born in Yorkshire on September 1852. His father was a small wool merchant, a Protestant who did not believe in the state religion. When he died, the child had just reached school age; His mother is sickly; Young Asquith went to London at the age of 12, lived with an uncle and went to middle school in downtown London. Later, with a scholarship, he entered Belial College of Oxford University, which was and is a big nursery for training politicians and administrative officials. There, Asquith's study has always been excellent, and he earned most of the awards. His future as a university teacher is secure.

But the profession of lawyer is calling him. 1875, he was 23 years old and left Oxford for London. When he was barely hired and still struggling for a living, he occasionally wrote articles for newspapers and magazines in exchange for a little remuneration. At that time, he married Helen merante, the daughter of a doctor in Manchester. She has some meager income of her own. They have four sons and a daughter. All these children have extraordinary talents. At the same time, an opportunity to enter politics came. Through a Scottish lawyer friend named Haldane, Asquith was elected as the Liberal Party candidate in East Fife one year before her marriage-1866. He won the seat.

His salary as a lawyer was limited, and this situation did not improve until he questioned the manager of The Times during the trial of Piguet's forgery case. This is a victory in court. After that, his annual income soared to 5000 pounds. 189 1 year, when they were on vacation in Allen Island, his wife died suddenly, leaving him alone and five young children. This is a bolt from the blue. Three years later, he married margot tennant, the daughter of Sir Charles tennant Bart. Margot is a warm, frank and sociable woman. She encouraged him to enjoy the fun of high society. She is the ornament of high society. His role in parliament is becoming more and more important. In 1892, he proposed an amendment of no confidence in the government, which was passed. Later, the Marquis of Salisbury resigned, Gladstone came to power and appointed Asquith as Minister of the Interior.

He joined the parliament only six years ago 1892, and his achievements proved that he deserved it. In the eyes of a good judge (Sir Philip Magnus). He is "the most outstanding home secretary of this century", and he is also a powerful debater, if not an inspiring one. When Earl rosebery succeeded Gladstone, Asquith served as Home Secretary until 15 months later, Salisbury was re-elected in 1895. In that election, the chaos at the top of the Liberal Party led to the Liberal Party's crushing defeat. But Asquith occupied a seat in East Fife with a bigger advantage. For the Liberal Party, he represents the future.

He leads a luxurious life in London. He has a house in Cavendish Square and employs 14 servants and two coachmen. This is really a huge burden for an opposition politician. Therefore, it is not surprising that Asquith broke away from convention and returned to his old practice as a lawyer. His career as a lawyer can bring him 5000 to 1000 a year. The war in South Africa is approaching. It is said that the Liberal Party is divided into three factions. Dude, before the end of the 1902 war, there were some signs that the unity of the Liberal Party was being restored. 1903, when Joseph Chamberlain publicly expressed its support for "imperial preferential tariffs" including taxation on imported food, Asquith saw that the Liberal Party was about to win a new general election. He, Sir Edward Grey and Richard Haldane have reached an agreement that after the election victory-which they think is inevitable-the party leader Campbell Bannerman will become prime minister. However, to enter the upper house, the lower house should be led by Asquith. However, when this moment came, henry campbell Bannerman never gave in. As we can see, this three-person contract has meekly served in his government. Then the liberal party won a total victory. Asquith became Chancellor of the Exchequer (1905) and became the heir to the throne of Campbell Bannerman.

During his tenure, he presented three budgets. In the second budget, he put forward the revolutionary idea of distinguishing labor income from non-labor income. At this time, the inherent quarrel between the two houses of parliament happened again. 1908, Campbell Bannerman completely collapsed; He resigned in April, and the king summoned Asquith, who immediately became prime minister. He and his family moved to Downing Street 10, and his wife margot thought, "This house is inconvenient, with three broken stairs." Lloyd George is the Minister of Finance in the Cabinet. Asquith was in trouble in his cabinet: authoritative ministers like Winston Churchill and Lloyd George agreed that the Admiralty's request for six new large battleships was unreasonable. They are members of a group called "economists" in the government. Asquith proposed a compromise. Four new ships should be given immediately, and four more should be given when it proves necessary (needed after five months). Lloyd George's first budget (1909) was severely criticized. It is described as a socialist, and it will obviously be rejected by the House of Lords, because Balfour, the leader of the Conservative Party, is urging them to do so. Asquith is prepared to seal in a sufficient number of new noble to push for the veto of the budget. 19 10 The general election in June showed that the majority of the Independent Liberal Party had vanished, and the decision was in the hands of 40 Labour Party party member and 70 Irish nationalists (they didn't like the budget to increase whisky tax). Before the crisis was solved, King Edward VII died. The new King George V proposed to hold a meeting of party leaders to discuss the constitutional crisis. The meeting was attended by eight participants, the so-called eight saints. "It's like a cabinet, but more United." Belfo said. The meeting did not solve the problem, and the constitutional dispute continued during the new king's rule. The second general election was held at the end of the year, which almost completely copied the results of the last general election, and the upper house gave in; Therefore, there is no need to take a lot of expedient measures to canonize new noble, which is almost disgraceful.

New and more dangerous problems lie ahead of us: the dock and coal miners' strike, and the movement of advocating women's participation in politics led by Mrs. pankhurst. At the same time, dark clouds are gathering over Europe. This is the Agadir crisis. Churchill and Lloyd George, two economists two years ago, are now enthusiastically supporting the preparatory work.

Hot, when the crisis in Europe has not yet reached its peak, another more recent crisis has shaken the British regime. 19 13 In June, the House of Commons passed an Irish Home Rule Act (this is the third time), but it was rejected by the House of Lords. It is necessary to reintroduce this bill to Parliament in June 19 14, which raises the question of whether Ulster should be excluded from Dublin Parliament, and if so. Well, if the squire wants to stay in power, he must get the votes of Irish nationalism, and the nationalists oppose Ulster's separation from the Dublin government. The king was very worried about the bloody conflict and suggested that a meeting be held with all parties involved, at which an agreed solution might be produced. Asquith met with andrew bonar law, leader of the Conservative Party, to seek compromise. They discussed which county in Ulster should be excluded from Irish autonomy. Later, Asquith suggested to Sir edward carson, leader of Ulster United Party, that Ulster could have a special veto power over certain rights of Dublin Parliament to legislate for Ulster. Then, he persuaded Irish nationalist leader Redmond to agree to a three-year plan to exclude Ulster from the Irish parliament.

However, all these events were covered up by what people called "conflict mutiny". In this mutiny, 58 cavalry officers would rather resign than be sent to suppress Ulster. But in fact, I did not intend to let them do such a thing. William stabilized the situation and Asquith took over the War Department. 1965438+In late July 2004, a meeting was held in Buckingham Palace to try to solve the Irish problem, but it failed. Later, the European War pushed the Irish issue to a secondary position. Asquith agrees with Bona's law, and we must wait until this bigger conflict is over. Does he think what he left on the parliamentary table will remain unchanged after a period of time? God knows!

When the war broke out, Asquith's career as a British political leader was coming to an end. He did not hesitate to lead Britain into battle. Accepted the resignations of old friends Lord John Murray and john burns. Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchen was appointed Minister of the Army. He can look back on his achievements during his leadership of the National Government, but he may not do so: this government laid the foundation of a welfare state-pension regulations, unemployment insurance, labor institutions and medical insurance. He presided over the constitutional struggle with the House of Lords, which ended in half-the claws of the House of Lords have been cut off, but the demand for reforming the House of Lords has not been realized. Nevertheless, these achievements are amazing and unparalleled until Attlee came to power after World War II. In its final stage-as it turns out-Britain, ruled by the old Liberal Party, showed vitality and stability of goals, which was commensurate with Gladstone's political party. Asquith, as its head, is in complete control of a group of talented and peculiar people: Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Richard Haldane and Edward Grey, if not others. Commanding such an army without hearing any discontented noise shows what Asquith was like in 19 14. He is very greedy for drinks. However, Bona Law, who has no reason to like him, said, "Asquith speaks better when he is drunk than when we are awake." War is another matter. War needs a completely different government, which can only have one purpose, and all other policies must unconditionally obey this purpose; War requires ministers to be managers first, and then politicians. A wartime prime minister needs not only wisdom but also energy. He won't be blamed for losing the election, but he will be blamed for losing a battle. The military defeat in the Da Daniil Strait eventually led to the replacement of the Liberal government by the Coalition government. It can be said that the battle of Gallipoli was Churchill's battle, perhaps, but Asquith was the prime minister, actually the commander-in-chief, responsible for appointing candidates, so he also assumed the fault of one of his generals. To make matters worse, Asquith didn't trust Churchill's judgment.

The generals who lost a battle in France blamed the failure on the lack of shells; Later, it can be seen in Pashendal that too many shells can also lead to military failure. However, at that time, the press criticized the minister and first condemned Asquith. The newspaper propaganda is full of resentment and malice, reaching an alarming level. However, it also reported some facts; Asquith is old, sometimes he is exhausted, and he is drinking-although, it is said that he has never been drunk enough to affect his judgment. This is a fact that his enemies insist on. He can't devote himself to the war with enough enthusiasm, and he has no intention of political intrigue (which Lloyd George likes, however). He doesn't think highly of the talent and reputation of Bona Law, the leader of the Conservative Party. Worse things are yet to come: conscription, Asquith exaggerating public dissatisfaction with the bill, and the Easter rebellion in Ireland 19 16. At that time, the Governor of Ireland was Augustine Biller, an old friend of Asquith. But for the prime minister, this did not make the problem easy to solve.

Personal misfortune made the situation even more unbearable. Asquith has been exchanging love letters with a young woman for years. Her name is Veronica Stanley. She is both beautiful and clever. He confided in her-occasionally revealing state secrets. However, without any warning, she suddenly announced that she would soon marry Edwin montague, Asquith's most loyal political supporter, whom she had rejected before. As we all know, correspondence love is a great pain for at least one of them, and Miss Stanley thinks it is unbearable to go on like this. The blow came when Asquith was depressed. Once again, he gave in to the Conservative Party's demand that Haldane should not be a minister in the planned coalition government. In his view, this betrayal of old friends is despicable, just as Charles I sacrificed Strafford.

The war is over, and it has caused more and more terrible casualties (including Raymond, Asquith's son, who died in the first few hours of the Battle of the Somme in France). At the same time, there was a fierce quarrel within the cabinet. The Marquis of Lansdowne, a cabinet member, drafted a memorandum at Asquith's suggestion, in which he defended himself and said that he supported open negotiations with the Germans. "We are slowly but steadily destroying the outstanding boys and girls in the British Isles ..." Pessimism and war-weariness reached their peak. 191611.0617, this memo was circulated in the cabinet. It was quickly leaked to the press and used as new material to attack the Prime Minister for directing the war, despite the fact that Asquith did not agree with the memorandum. The newspaper report coincides with the political conspiracy of Lloyd George, Bona Law and Sir Max aitken. Asquith is neither able nor willing to fight back against these plots. Lloyd George has now issued an ultimatum: either reorganize a three-person war steering committee, with himself as the chairman, or he will resign. After chaotic and intense talks, Asquith resigned on 19 16 12. He served as prime minister for eight years.

The main departments in the government led by the radical Lloyd George are in the hands of the Conservative Party. "The change of government," said Lord Black, "sounded the death knell of the old Liberal Party." For Asquith, the biggest blow was that his old friend Arthur Balfour forged his enemy. Mrs asquith said that he would never understand this. Asquith lost his seat in East Fife in the general election of 19 18. But at 1920, he won Paisley's seat (which he lost four years later). 1925 became the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of Asquith. A few months later, he won the Guardian Medal, which was a great comfort to him. His tragic fate is to preside over the decline of his once great political party. He died on February 1928.