Tatler cover - Britain abstains from drinking, WW1

Not during the war, thank you. Front cover of The Tatler magazine featuring a bulldog, representing Great Britain, refusing a tankard of frothy beer, a metaphor for the government's measures to curb drinking during the First World War. Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George (later Prime Minister), strongly believed that the consumption of alcohol was hampering the war effort and the production of munitions and is famously quoted as saying, We are fighting the Germans, Austrians and drink, and as far as I can see, the greatest of those Foes is drink. He began a campaign in April 1915 (a date which coincides with this front cover), to persuade public figures to abstain from drink for the duration of the war. King George V famously pledged that the royal household would not consume alcohol while the war continued and Lord Kitchener (Secretary of State for War) and Lord Haldane (Lord Chancellor) followed his example. Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, who enjoyed a drink, refused to take the pledge, a source of conflict with Lloyd George

Abstinence Bulldog Frothy Refusal Tankard Tatler Teetotal Temperance

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