A Comment On The Functional Transformation Of British Government From 1914 To 1939

The thesis presents and analyzes the functional transformation of the British government between 1914 and 1939 from three aspects: its content, the cause of the transformation and its historical status. The thesis is divided into there parts:In the first part, it introduces the main content for two parts and presents the transformation in a chronological order showing the different policies during different periods. It points out the transformation is a slow but irreversible process.The second part mainly analyzes the reason of the transformation from four perspectives. First, from the perspective of historical background, the World War I and its disastrous strike on British society renders the government to change its function. Second, from the viewpoint of economics, the long period of economic depression which causes lots of social problems forces the government to interfere with the economics. Third, the neo-liberalism and the theory of Keynes provide the theoretical basis for the transformation. Last, the modernization of British politics calls for the transformation. Due to the interaction of the above factors, the function of the British government has changed gradually.The third part comments on the historical status of the transformation. It promotes the recovery and development of British economics and society. The transformation of the economical function lays the foundation for the large-scale interference with economics and nationalization after World War II. The transformation of the social function accumulates experiences for the welfare state after World War II. Generally speaking, the transformation serves as a transition role in the modernization of British politics.