<P> In the general election of 1918, Lloyd George, "the Man Who Won the War", led his coalition into another khaki election and won a sweeping victory over the Asquithian Liberals and the newly emerging Labour Party . Lloyd George and the Conservative leader Bonar Law wrote a joint letter of support to candidates to indicate they were considered the official Coalition candidates--this "coupon", as it became known, was issued to opponents of many sitting Liberal MPs, devastating the incumbents . Asquith and most of his Liberal colleagues lost their seats . Lloyd George was increasingly under the influence of the rejuvenated Conservative party . The Liberal party never recovered . </P> <P> Before the war, the government spent 13 percent of gross national product (GNP); in 1918 it spent 59 percent of GNP . The war was financed by borrowing large sums at home and abroad, by new taxes, and by inflation . It was implicitly financed by postponing maintenance and repair, and cancelling unneeded projects . The government avoided indirect taxes because they raised the cost of living, and caused discontent among the working class . In 1913 - 14, indirect taxes on tobacco and alcohol yielded £ 75 million, while direct taxes yielded £ 88 million, including an income tax of £ 44 million and estate duties of £ 22 million . That is, 54 percent of revenue came from direct taxes; by 1918, direct taxes were 80 percent of revenue . There was a strong emphasis on being "fair" and being "scientific ." The public generally supported the heavy new taxes, with minimal complaints . The Treasury rejected proposals for a stiff capital levy, which the Labour Party wanted to use to weaken the capitalists . Instead, there was an excess profits tax, of 50 percent of profits above the normal prewar level; the rate was raised to 80 percent in 1917 . Excise taxes were added on luxury imports such as automobiles, clocks and watches . There was no sales tax or value added tax . The main increase in revenue came from income tax, which in 1915 went up to 3s . 6d in the pound (17.5%), and individual exemptions were lowered . The income tax rate grew to 5s in the pound (25%) in 1916, and 6s (30%) in 1918 . Altogether, taxes provided at most 30 percent of national expenditure, with the rest from borrowing . The national debt soared from £ 625 million to £ 7,800 million . Government bonds typically paid five percent . Inflation escalated so that the pound in 1919 purchased only a third of the basket it had purchased it 1914 . Wages were laggard, and the poor and retired were especially hard hit . </P> <P> The British Royal Family faced a serious problem during the First World War because of its blood ties to the ruling family of Germany, Britain's prime adversary in the war . Before the war, the British royal family had been known as the House of Saxe - Coburg and Gotha . In 1910, George V became King on the death of his father, King Edward VII, and remained king throughout the war . He was the first cousin of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, who came to symbolise all the horrors of the war . Queen Mary, although British like her mother, was the daughter of the Duke of Teck, a descendant of the German Royal House of Württemberg . During the war H.G. Wells wrote about Britain's "alien and uninspiring court", and George famously replied: "I may be uninspiring, but I'll be damned if I'm alien ." </P> <P> On 17 July 1917, to appease British nationalist feelings, King George issued an Order in Council that changed the name of the British Royal Family to the House of Windsor . He specifically adopted Windsor as the surname for all descendants of Queen Victoria then living in Britain, excluding women who married into other families and their descendants . He and his relatives who were British subjects relinquished the use of all German titles and styles, and adopted English surnames . George compensated several of his male relatives by creating them British peers . Thus, his cousin, Prince Louis of Battenberg, became the Marquess of Milford Haven, while his brother - in - law, the Duke of Teck, became the Marquess of Cambridge . Others, such as Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig - Holstein and Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig - Holstein, simply stopped using their territorial designations . The system for titling members of the royal family was also simplified . Relatives of the British royal family who fought on the German side were simply cut off; their British peerages were suspended by a 1919 Order in Council under the provisions of the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 . </P>

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