"It may be that Asquith, great man as he was, was not cut out for a popular leader in time of war. His character and his whole training were against slogans, war cries, and popular nationalism. Lichnowsky, the German Ambassador, mentions that when he took his leave on the outbreak of war in 1914, he saw tears stealing down the cheek of the grave, imperturbable Prime Minister. To him, as to Edward Grey, the coming of war meant the failure of their work and their hopes. They had known the danger; they had laboured hard to prevent it. They had enabled the country, if war must come, to enter it with full strength and preparedness."
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Prime Ministers of the United KingdomPoliticians from EnglandAcademics from EnglandMembers of the Parliament of the United KingdomPeople from Leeds
Original Language: English
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Sources
Gilbert Murray, 'Asquith's Achievements as a Statesman', The Listener (18 September 1952), p. 453
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/H._H._Asquith
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H. H. Asquith
Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, KG, PC (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. As Prime Minister, his Liberal Party government passed social legislation beginning the modern British welfare state and reducing the power of the House of Lords. He was the leader of the country during World War I and formed a wartime coalition with the Conservative Party. He was was forced to resign in favor of David Lloyd George
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