May 2--Lord Kitchener is becoming the storm centre of the Cabinet
upheaval; attacks on him by the Northcliffe newspapers are resented by
other newspapers and by many of the public; a "White Paper,"
containing reports from firms and officers throughout the country,
shows that drink is having a serious effect on repairs to warships and
transports and on the output of munitions.
May 4--Since the beginning of the war the British Army has had 2,246
officers killed, 4,177 wounded and 762 missing; Chancellor Lloyd
George, in a budget speech in Parliament, places the expenditure for
the next six months at $10,500,000 a day.
May 7--Government abandons the plan to place extra taxes on spirits
and instead substitutes a complete prohibition of the sale of spirits
less than three years old.
May 12--The Committee on Alleged German Atrocities, headed by Viscount
Bryce, appointed by Premier Asquith, makes public its report, which
contains an account of hundreds of cases investigated; the report
finds that there were in many parts of Belgium "systematically
organized massacres of the civil population"; that in the general
conduct of the war innocent civilians, men and women "were murdered in
large number, women violated, and children murdered"; that "looting,
house burning, and the wanton destruction of property were ordered" by
German officers; that "the rules and usages of war were frequently
broken," civilians, including women and children, being used as a
shield for troops, and that the Red Cross and white flag were
frequently abused.
May 13--Premier Asquith announces in the house of Commons the new
policy of the Government with reference to alien enemies now resident
in Great Britain; those of military age will be interned, while those
not of military age, and women and children will be deported; King
George orders the names of the German and Austrian Emperors, and of
five German Kings and Princes stricken from the rolls of the Order of
the Garter.
May 18--Premier Asquith is forming a "National Cabinet," or coalition
government, in which some of the Cabinet posts at present occupied by
Liberals will go to Unionist and Labor Party leaders; the crisis is
the result of the resignation of Lord Fisher as First Sea Lord of the
Admiralty, due to differences between him and Winston Churchill, First
Lord of the Admiralty; Churchill has been much criticised,
particularly for the fiasco at Antwerp and the policy pursued in the
Dardanelles, while the loss of the Lusitania has further stirred his
opponents.
May 19--The Northcliffe newspapers state that there has been
difficulty over high explosives for the army, those in charge at the
War Office not having awakened in time to the need for such explosives
in large quantities; these papers criticise Lord Kitchener's conduct
of the War Office; racing will be stopped after this week for the
duration of the war, except at Newmarket.
May 25--The make-up of the new coalition Cabinet is announced; it is
headed by Mr. Asquith and contains twelve Liberals, eight Unionists,
one Laborite, and one non-partisan, Lord Kitchener; Arthur J. Balfour
becomes First Lord of the Admiralty; John Redmond refuses a place in
the Cabinet; Liberal newspapers criticise the entry into the Cabinet
of Sir Edward Carson, who becomes Attorney General.
May 27--Admiral Sir Henry Jackson is appointed First Sea Lord of the
Admiralty in the place of Admiral Lord Fisher.
June 3--Premier Asquith ends a visit of four days at the British
front, during which he consulted with Field Marshal French and General
Joffre; Minister of Munitions Lloyd George, in a speech at Manchester,
declares that England must have more munitions and that the fate of
the nation rests on the workshops.
June 8--House of Commons passes the Munitions bill on third reading;
the measure establishes a new department to handle munitions.
June 9--Premier Asquith announces in the House of Commons that the
total British casualties up to May 31 were 50,342 killed, 153,980
wounded, and 53,747 missing.
June 15--House of Commons votes a war credit of $1,250,000,000, making
a total of $4,310,000,000 thus far voted; Asquith says expenditure
will be not less than $15,000,000 a day.