What were the strengths and weaknesses of Britain in 1900?

Answer 1

Strengths

• Britain had the largest empire in the world - this was a source of economic strength for them as they had an abundance of resources which they could trade.
• Britain was industrialised - in 1900, Britain had undergone an industrial revolution. This meant Britain was a wealthy country as it was the first to have such a revolution.
• Large navy - the British navy was the largest in the world, twice as big as the next two biggest combined.
• In 1900, Britain was both politically and socially stable. There had been no revolution to overthrow the monarchy; instead, the gradual loss of power of the monarchy was evolutionary so caused no tension between social classes.

Weaknesses

• Parliament only allowed men, and women did not have the right to vote.
• Poverty was a large problem in Britain in 1900. Not only this, but there was extreme class division.
• There was a huge lack of social mobility (people could not move between classes, eg. from working class to middle class and vice versa - they were "trapped" by the class system
• There was no real welfare system - the "Poor Law" was ineffective.
• Low pay was a real problem - the working class were trapped in poverty.
• The Boer War - Britain did not perform well in the war, despite the size and apparent "advanced" nature of the armed forces. The war also showed a lot about the poverty in the country - 1/3 of recruits had to be turned away as they were so weak and undernourished due to lack of food as a result of low pay.