David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, (1863 – 1945) from the British Liberal Party was a highly effective leader of the coalition government that took power in late 1916 and managed the British war effort. However his coalition premiership was supported more by Conservatives than by his own Liberals, and the subsequent split was a key factor in the decline of the Liberal Party as a serious political force.
He won a landslide in the election of 1918, held just after the war ended, where he spoke out for harsh terms against Germany. However he was much more moderate at Paris. Unlike Clemenceau and Orlando, Lloyd George did not want to destroy the German economy and political system—as Clemenceau demanded—with massive reparations. Asked how he had done at the peace conference, he commented, "Not badly, considering I was seated between Jesus Christ and Napoleon ".
It has been said that “Lloyd George was the most affable and the most resilient, and he was probably the best at negotiating”. In an article from the New York Times it says that "Lloyd George was a pragmatist determined to protect and expand the interests of the British Empire."
Read more about this topic: The Big Four (World War I)
Famous quotes containing the words lloyd george, david and/or lloyd:
“Diplomats were invented simply to waste time.”
—David Lloyd George (1863–1945)
“Low-anchored cloud,
Newfoundland air,
Fountain-head and source of rivers,
Dew-cloth, dream drapery,
And napkin spread by fays;”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The Landlord is a gentleman ... who does not earn his wealth. He has a host of agents and clerks that receive for him. He does not even take the trouble to spend his wealth. He has a host of people around him to do the actual spending. He never sees it until he comes to enjoy it. His sole function, his chief pride, is the stately consumption of wealth produced by others.”
—David Lloyd George (1863–1945)