Who Was the Leader of Great Britain During WWI?

By Staff WriterLast Updated March 25, 2020

Herbert Henry Asquith was the prime minister who led Britain into World War I in 1915. David Lloyd George became prime minister in 1916, and he continued the war effort. The monarch during the war was King George V.

Asquith declared war on Germany in 1914 to protect Belgium. The government suffered a crisis in war production in 1915, and a coalition government was formed. Asquith was later ousted as prime minister, and fellow Liberal Party member George took his place due to popular demand from the new government. George was known as the prime minister who won the war for Great Britain. King George V severed ties with his German lineage by changing the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the House of Windsor.