‘Lloyd George created a ‘land fit for heroes’ in the years immediately following WWI’ To what extent do you agree with this statement?

One of the main aims of Lloyd George’s post war coalition government was to create a ‘land fit forheroes’; a Britain that troops coming back from the war could be proud of as a reward for and demonstrationof the value of their service. However creating this idyllic Britain was going to cost money, and the post-waryears brought a serious economic crisis, including austerity, inflation, government debt, unemployment, lowwages and industrial unrest, and to create a ‘land fit for heroes’ these problems would have to be dealt withfirst. Unfortunately, whilst Lloyd George had proved himself to be an effective wartime government leader, itwas made apparent by the post war years that he was not as well suited to a leadership role in a peacetimegovernment.
A notable change within the welfare state, an area of the welfare state that greatly affected newlydemobilised soldiers, could be seen in national insurance. When the National Insurance Act was introduced in1911 it covered only 3 million workers, increasing by 1 million (munitions workers) in wartime. However postwar Lloyd George extended provisions massively; covering 8 million more workers (a total of 12 million). Thisdramatic increase was a good sign as not only did it protect more workers from unemployment, but it showedthat the government were taking the problems of the poor seriously. Some would argue differently; despitethe increase in coverage the same pre-existing problems remained; the money coving insurance claims camefrom the individuals themselves, with no state involvement in the provision of insurance pay-outs. The moneypaid to the insurance schemes came from the wages of individuals covered by it, contributing further to theissue of low wages. Furthermore, despite and increase in the amount of people covered, coverage remained tobe only for short term employment occurring during the transition between jobs or due to seasonalemployment. Those suffering from long-term unemployment were not helped at all by national insurance asthe government and public continued to believe that long-term unemployment was due to laziness (despiteoverwhelming evidence to the contrary).
The end of war brought changes upon the staples industries that all deemed unfavourable. During the warthere had been an economic boom as the demand for materials dramatically increased which had a knock oneffect on other aspects of the industry: imports and exports increased, unemployment reduced, profits andwages rose, industrial production grew by roughly 20% and women experienced newly found freedom workingin place of the men at war. However as soon as the war ended Britain experienced an economic slump as thedemand for materials and goods declined and restrictions on trade were enforced by other countries whowanted to achieve better self-sufficiency (Italy) or imposed tariffs on certain imports (USA). This, again, had aknock-on effect: the lack of demand meant that production was massively scaled back, resulting in the layingoff of many skilled and unskilled workers, thus contributing to unemployment. Another industrial change thatangered workers was the de-nationalising of the coal mines. During the war coal mines had been taken fromprivate owners and brought under government control and so when war was over the mines were returned totheir owners. Workers were not happy about this and the coal miner’s trade union demanded that mines bere-nationalised and their wages increased, threatening to join forces with railwaymen and transport workersto take part in a General Strike. Lloyd George responded by refusing to re-nationalise mines or interfere in paynegotiations, increasing anger and tensions and adding to the likelihood of a strike. However even though hedid not appease the miners with re-nationalisation, he did use his negotiation and public speaking skills todiffuse the situation and prevent a strike, so some success was achieved. Whilst Lloyd George failed to step into appease the coal miners and relieve tensions, the lack of demand for goods and consequences of it wereout of his hands, so he instead focused on providing more housing of a higher quality and other benefits.