Introduction

Abstract

All ages are ages of reappraisal; social and political institutions must readjust to changes in the environment. If we use the term to describe the state of British politics between the two world wars, it is, however, with some quite specific features of the period in mind. The First World War — the Great War as it was called then — affected the position of Britain in the world and altered the internal balance of her economy and society more than any single experience for a very long time. So great were the strains upon traditional institutions, that there was even serious talk of the possibility of a revolutionary solution to the problems of the day. In fact in retrospect all these problems did receive some kind of solution; all the institutions that had been challenged underwent a sufficient degree of adjustment to make them viable once more. In this volume of essays our concern is with the constitutional, political and administrative aspects of the general theme.