Minister of Munitions

"Ministry of Munitions" redirects here. For the ministry in Japan during WWII, see Ministry of Munitions (Japan).

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 public criticism of the shortage of shells available.

Wartime role

See also: Shell Crisis of 1915

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. 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.

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 Department, resolved labour problems, rationalized the supply system and dramatically increased production. Within a year it became the largest buyer, seller and employer in Britain.

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.

Ministers of Munitions, 1915–1921

Name	Entered office	Left office
David Lloyd George	25 May 1915	9 July 1916
Hon. Edwin Samuel 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
Sir Laming Worthington-Evans, Bt	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

Further reading

• Adams, R. J. Q. "Delivering the Goods: Reappaising the Ministry of Munitions: 1915–1916." Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies (1975) 7#3 pp. 232–244 ISSN 0095-1390 (overview in JSTOR)
• Adams, Ralph James Q. Arms and the wizard: Lloyd George and the Ministry of Munitions, 1915–1916 (London: Cassell, 1978) OCLC 471710656.
• Beiriger, Eugene Edward. Churchill, Munitions and Mechanical Warfare (Peter Lang, New York, 1997) ISBN 0820433144.
• Burk, Kathleen. Britain, America and the Sinews of War, 1914–1918 (Allen & Unwin, London, 1985) ISBN 0049400762.
• Gilbert, Bentley. David Lloyd George: Organizer of Victory 1912–1916 (Batsford, London 1992), pp. 209–250 OCLC 503607106.
• Grigg, John. Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1912–1916 (Eyre Methuen, London, 1985) pp. 223–256 ISBN 0413466604.
• Hill, L. Brooks. "David Lloyd George as minister of munitions: A study of his speaking tour of industrial centers." Southern Journal of Communication (1971) 36#4 pp. 312–323. ISSN 0038-4585.
• Hay, Denys. "IV. The Official History Of The Ministry Of Munitions." Economic History Review (1944) 14#2 pp. 185–190. in JSTOR ISSN 0013-0117.
• Marriner, Sehila. "The Ministry of Munitions 1915–1919 and government accounting procedures." Accounting and Business Research vol 10. sup1 (1980), pp. 130–142. ISSN 0001-4788.
• Woollacott, Angela. On her their lives depend: munitions workers in the Great War (U of California Press, 1994) ISBN 0520085027.

Primary sources

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