Product Code Database
A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senior military officers and opposition politicians as members.
During the war, lengthy cabinet discussions came to be seen as a source of vacillation in Britain's war effort.
The number of cabinet ministries grew throughout the nineteenth century. Following dissatisfaction at the conduct of the Crimean War, Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli proposed that the number of cabinet members never exceed 10 (he had 12 at the time). However, this didn't happen, and the number of ministries continued to grow: 15 in 1859, 21 in 1914, and 23 in 1916.Schuyler, The British War Cabinet, p. 380 Despite talk of "inner circles" within the Asquith Administration, all committees reported to the 23 cabinet ministers, whose priorities were diverse in nature, and who had final say over war policy formation for the first two years of World War I. This cumbersome arrangement could not stand; a more efficient way of prosecuting the war was needed.
In December 1916 it was proposed that Prime Minister H. H. Asquith should delegate decision-making to a small, three-man committee chaired by the Secretary of State for War, David Lloyd George. Asquith initially agreed (provided the committee reported to him and he retained the right to attend if he chose) before changing his mind after being infuriated by a news story in The Times which portrayed the proposed change as a defeat for him. The political crisis grew from this point until Asquith was forced to resign as Prime Minister; he was succeeded by Lloyd George who thereupon formed a small war cabinet. The original members of the war cabinet were:
Lloyd George, Curzon, and Bonar Law served throughout the existence of the war cabinet. Later members included:
Unlike a normal peacetime cabinet, few of these men had departmental responsibilities – Bonar Law, and then Chamberlain, served as chancellors of the exchequer, but the rest had no specific portfolio. The title of, "minister without portfolio" was important. It allowed total devotion to war duties, without the distraction of civil cabinet responsibilities. Among others, the Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour, was never a member of the war cabinet, nor were the service ministers Edward Stanley (Army) and Edward Carson (Navy). The latter did join, but only after leaving the Admiralty. Whenever these specialties were needed by the war cabinet, they were summoned. The functioning of the war cabinet is best summed up by Lord Hutchison during a Parliamentary debate held on 14 March 1934.
Despite its efficiency, on 8 June 1917 at Lord Milner's urging, it became necessary to form a War Policy Committee within the war cabinet to coordinate war strategy. Its members included David Lloyd George, Lord Milner, Lord Curzon, Jan Smuts, and Maurice Hankey.Marlowe, John, Milner: Apostle of Empire, p. 279Roskill, Stephen, Hankey: Man of Secrets, Vol. I, p. 399 Upon his transfer from the war cabinet to the War Office as Secretary of State for War in April 1918, the X Committee was created so Lord Milner could meet with the Prime Minister before war cabinet sessions to continue the talks.
Previously, all cabinet members were paid based upon their cabinet status. With the creation of ministers without portfolio, it was suggested that these positions go unpaid. Indeed, Henry Petty-Lansdowne, a millionaire, while a member without portfolio in Asquith's government, received no pay. The debate, which took place in the House of Commons on 13 February 1917, was decided in the new government's favour.Schuyler, Political Science Quarterly, p. 384 Appropriations of £5,000 a year (£350,000 in 2020) were made. CPI index
The British war cabinet marked the first time minutes were recorded of official meetings.UK Govt. blog, 9 December 1916 This innovation set the trend for all important corporate and governmental meetings since.UK National Archives, World War I war cabinet minutes
With World War I over, and the two main peace treaties signed with German Empire and Austria-Hungary, Lloyd George decided to discontinue the war cabinet. Its last meeting was held on 27 October 1919.UK National Archives, CAB 23-12, p. 91 of 10' Roskill, Stephen, Hankey, Man of Secrets, Vol. II, p. 127
To strengthen ties between countries, the writing of an imperial constitution was a significant priority in 1917. However, the delegates postponed the matter until after the war, and they failed to take it up.
Minutes to the Imperial War Cabinet meetings are held at the National Archives (Kew).
Dominated largely by Conservative ministers who served under Chamberlain's National Government between 1937 and 1939, the additions of Lord Hankey (a former Cabinet Secretary from the First World War) and Winston Churchill (strong anti-appeaser) seemed to give the cabinet more balance. Unlike David Lloyd George's war cabinet, the members of this one were also heads of government departments.
In January 1940, after disagreements with the Chiefs of Staff, Hore-Belisha resigned from the National Government, refusing a move to the post of President of the Board of Trade. He was succeeded by Oliver Stanley.
It was originally the practice for the Chiefs of Staff to attend all military discussions of the Chamberlain war cabinet. Churchill became uneasy with this, as he felt that when they attended they did not confine their comments to purely military issues. To overcome this, a Military Co-ordination Committee was set up, consisting of the three service ministers normally chaired by Chatfield. This together with the service chiefs would co-ordinate the strategic ideas of 'top hats' and 'brass' and agree strategic proposals to put forward to the war cabinet. Unfortunately, except when chaired by the Prime Minister, the Military Co-ordinating Committee lacked sufficient authority to override a Minister "fighting his corner". When Churchill took over from Chatfield, whilst continuing to represent the Admiralty, this introduced additional problems, and did little to improve the pre-existing ones. Chamberlain announced a further change in arrangements in the Norway Debate, but this (and the Military Co-ordination Committee) was overtaken by events, the Churchill war cabinet being run on rather different principles.Martin Gilbert, Finest Hour, Winston S Churchill 1939–1941, Book Club Associates, London 1983 p. 40
Churchill strongly believed that the war cabinet should be kept to a relatively small number of individuals to allow efficient execution of the war effort. Even so, there were a number of ministers who, though they were not members of the war cabinet, were "Constant Attenders".Winston Churchill, The Hinge of Fate, p. 78. Boston, Houghton Mifflin 1950. As the war cabinet considered issues that pertained to a given branch of the service or government due input was obtained from the respective body.
The War Cabinet would undergo a number of changes in composition over the next five years. On 19 February 1942 a reconstructed war cabinet was announced by Churchill consisting of the following members:Winston Churchill, The Hinge of Fate, p. 76. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co. 1950.
This war cabinet was consistent with Churchill's view that members should also hold "responsible offices and not mere advisors at large with nothing to do but think and talk and take decisions by compromise or majority".Winston Churchill, The Hinge of Fate, p. 75. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co. 1950. The war cabinet often met within the Cabinet War Rooms, particularly during The Blitz of London.
Thatcher chose not to include any representation of HM Treasury on the advice of former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan (who had been British Minister Resident in the Mediterranean theatre for the second half of World War II), that the security and defence of the armed forces and the war effort should not be compromised for financial reasons. Release of MT's private files for 1982 – the Falklands War (1) Margaret Thatcher Foundation.
Following the deaths of Fairbairn and Gullett in the Canberra air disaster and the loss of seats in the 1940 Australian federal election the war cabinet of October 1940 consisted of:
The government was replaced by a Labor one on 3 October 1941. A new war cabinet was formed, consisting of:
Frederick Shedden, the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Defence, served as secretary of the war cabinet, which met regularly throughout the war. It held its last meeting in Canberra on 19 January 1946.
While the Australian war cabinets included only members of the governing party, the Advisory War Council which was established in October 1940 included members of the opposition as well. This body did not have executive powers, but from the formation of the Labor Government in October 1941 it was agreed that its decisions would be treated as war cabinet decisions, with only some issues being formally referred to the war cabinet for separate decision. As a result, the Advisory War Council had significant influence on Australia's war effort.
The cabinet comprised:
3 full members:
Netanyahu disbanded the war cabinet on June 17, 2024, eight days after Gantz and Eisenkot resigned from the government and the war cabinet.
|
|
