Minister of Munitions

The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis of 1915 when there was much newspaper criticism of the shortage of artillery shells. The agency was created by the Munitions of War Act 1915 passed on 2 July 1915. Under the very vigorous leadership of Liberal party politician David Lloyd George, the Ministry in its first year set up a system that fully mobilized Britain's potential for producing a massive outpouring of munitions.

The government policy, according to historian J. A. R. Marriott, was that:

no private interest was to be permitted to obstruct the service, or imperil the safety, of the State. Trade Union regulations must be suspended; employers' profits must be limited, skilled men must fight, if not in the trenches, in the factories; man-power must be economize by the dilution of labour and the employment of women; Private factories must pass under the control of the State, and new national factories be set up. Results justified the new policy: the output was prodigious; the goods were at last delivered.^[1]

Wartime role

David Lloyd George, Minister in 1915–1916

Lloyd George gained a heroic reputation with his energetic work as Minister of Munitions, from 1915–1916, setting the stage for his political rise.^[2] When the Shell Crisis of 1915 dismayed public opinion, with the news that the Army was running short of artillery ammunition, demands rose for a strong leader to take charge of munitions production. A new coalition ministry was formed in May 1915 and Lloyd George was made Minister of Munitions, in a new department created to solve the munitions shortage.^[3]

In this position he received acclaim for a big rise in output, which formed the basis for his political ascent to Prime Minister in late 1916. All historians agree that he boosted national morale and focused attention on the urgent need for greater output but many also say the increase in munitions output from 1915–1916, was due largely to reforms already decided, though not yet effective, before he arrived. American historian R. J. Q. Adams provided details that showed that the Ministry broke through the cumbersome bureaucracy of the War Office, resolved labour problems, rationalized the supply system and dramatically increased production. Within a year it became the largest buyer, seller and employer in Britain.^[2]

The Ministry was staffed at the top levels by businessmen loaned by their companies for the duration of the war. These men were able to coordinate the needs of big business with those of the state and reach a compromise on price and profits. Government agents bought essential supplies from abroad. Once bought, the Ministry would control their distribution in order to prevent speculative price rises and to enable normal marketing to continue. The whole of the Indian jute crop, for example, was bought and distributed in this way. Steel, wool, leather and flax came under similar controls. By 1918, the Ministry had a staff of 65,000 people, employing some 3 million workers in over 20,000 factories. Most Ministers appointed were senior politicians, starting with David Lloyd George. The post was abolished in 1921, as part of a cutback of government and as a delayed result of the Armistice in 1918.

By 1918 the ministry was superintending 20,000 factories, with large numbers of women new to engineering work. To improve efficiency and its public relations, the Ministry opened a department focused on workers' welfare. It improved first aid conditions; promoted factory safety; handled medical conditions induced by the handling of dangerous chemicals and TNT; provided day care for children; limited overtime; and sometimes provided transportation and lodging for workers.^[4]

Ministers of Munitions, 1915–1921

Name	Entered office	Left office
David Lloyd George	25 May 1915	9 July 1916
Edwin Montagu	9 July 1916	10 December 1916
Christopher Addison	10 December 1916	17 July 1917
Winston Churchill	17 July 1917	10 January 1919
The Lord Inverforth	10 January 1919	21 March 1921

Parliamentary Secretaries to the Ministry of Munitions, 1916–1919

Name	Entered office	Left office
Laming Worthington-Evans	14 December 1916	30 January 1918
F. G. Kellaway	14 December 1916	1 April 1920
J. E. B. Seely	10 July 1918	10 January 1919
John Baird	10 January 1919	29 April 1919

Parliamentary and Financial Secretaries to the Ministry of Munitions, 1918–1921

Name	Entered office	Left office
Sir Laming Worthington-Evans, Bt	30 January 1918	18 July 1918
James Hope	27 January 1919	31 March 1921

Footnotes

^ J. A. R. Marriott, Modern England: 1885-1945 (4th ed. 1948) p. 376
^ ^a ^b R. J. Q. Adams, "Delivering the Goods: Reappaising the Ministry of Munitions: 1915–1916." Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies (1975) 7#3 pp: 232–244. a basic overview in JSTOR
^ Fraser, Peter (1983). "The British 'Shells Scandal' of 1915". Canadian Journal of History. 18 (1). University of Toronto Press: 69–86. ISSN 0008-4107.
^ F.R. Hartesveldt, "Caring for workers: the health and welfare programs of the British Ministry of Munitions, 1916-1918." Maryland historian 1.1 (2001): 26+.

Primary sources

Lloyd George, David. War Memoirs (2nd ed. 1934) vol 1 ch 9. 19

[1] J. A. R. Marriott, Modern England: 1885-1945 (4th ed. 1948) p. 376

[Adams-2] R. J. Q. Adams, "Delivering the Goods: Reappaising the Ministry of Munitions: 1915–1916." Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies (1975) 7#3 pp: 232–244. a basic overview in JSTOR

[3] Fraser, Peter (1983). "The British 'Shells Scandal' of 1915". Canadian Journal of History. 18 (1). University of Toronto Press: 69–86. ISSN 0008-4107.

[4] F.R. Hartesveldt, "Caring for workers: the health and welfare programs of the British Ministry of Munitions, 1916-1918." Maryland historian 1.1 (2001): 26+.

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