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Clemenceau and the unbridled idealism of American president WOODROW WILSON. Once the treaty was signed, Lloyd George was hailed at home as the “man who won the war.” The onset of peace ushered in a period of political instability in British politics. In 1921 Lloyd George finally granted Ireland home rule, although at the expense of Conservative support. His efforts at introducing new social legislation also came to naught. The breaking point occurred in 1922 over the prospect of war with Turkey, and the Conservatives under Arthur Baldwin withdrew from the coalition. Unfortunately for Lloyd George, the Liberals remained badly split over his handling of Asquith’s dismissal, and they never again rose to power. He nonetheless became party head in 1926 and led them until 1931. He also argued over the next two decades for the implementation of far-reaching social reforms, especially after the Great Depression commenced in 1929. Lloyd George then turned his attention back to European affairs, and in 1935 expressed mistaken admiration for ADOLF HITLER’s economic policies. Five years later he strongly criticized Prime Minister NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN’s policy of appeasing the Nazis and supported his replacement by WINSTON CHURCHILL. Churchill cordially invited the old war hero to serve in his cabinet, but he declined owing to poor health. Lloyd George spent his last years confined to home, where he was elevated to the peerage. He died in Ty Newydd, Wales, on March 26, 1945, one of England’s greatest wartime leaders and one of the 20th century’s most outspoken proponents of social reform. However, his very success spelled the demise of the Liberals as a force in national politics. Further Reading Grayson, Richard S. Liberals, International Relations, and Appeasement: The Liberal Party, 1919–1939. Portland, Ore.: Frank Cass, 2001. Grigg, John. Lloyd George: War Leader, 1916–1918. New York: Penguin Putnam, 2002. Johnson, Gaynor. “Curzon, Lloyd George, and the Control of British Foreign Policy, 1919–22: A Reassessment.” Diplomacy and Statecraft 11 (November 2000): 49–71. Lentin, Anthony. Lloyd George and the Lost Peace: From Versailles to Hitler, 1919–1940. London: Palgrave, 2001.
Lloyd George, David. War Memoirs of David Lloyd George, 6 vols. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1933–37. Packer, Ian L. G. Lloyd George, Liberalism, and the Land: The Land Issue and Party Politics in England, 1906–1914. Rochester, N.Y.: Boydell Press, 2001. Veeder, V. V. “Lloyd George, Lenin, and Cannibals: The Harriman Arbitration.” Arbitration International 16, no. 2 (2000): 39–115. Winter, J. M. The Great War and the British People. New York: Palgrave, 2003.
Lon Nol (1913–1985) president of Cambodia Lon Nol was born in Prey Veng Province, Cambodia, on November 13, 1913, the son of a civil servant. He received a French education locally and went on to attend the prestigious Lycée Chasseloup Laubat in Saigon. He returned home in 1937 and joined the colonial civil service as a magistrate. A simple man, Lon also expressed great devotion to the ruling crown prince, Norodom Sihanouk, who assisted in getting him a military commission. After Cambodia achieved independence from France in 1955, Lon was appointed as head of the Cambodian armed forces. He served his prince loyally, ruthlessly suppressing all forms of political dissent. He was particularly quick to direct his anger against ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia, whom he hated. Sihanouk nonetheless found him a pliant subordinate, and in 1966 he appointed Lon prime minister. By this time the war in neighboring South Vietnam was expanding, and the communist government in Hanoi began using Cambodian territory as a sanctuary against American bombing. This greatly angered the Cambodian military, who wished to drive the invaders out, but Sihanouk opted for a course of strict neutrality. As long as the Vietnamese communists did not interfere in Cambodian politics he turned a blind eye to their presence. But on March 18, 1970, Lon and Vice Premier Sirak Matak executed a bloodless coup that toppled the regime. Thereafter Cambodia was closely allied with the United States in the war against North Vietnam. Once in command, Lon carried out an extensive purge of Vietnamese living in Cambodia, in which several thousand people died. He allowed the Americans to conduct intensive bombing operations against communist bases throughout the country. In retaliation, the Vietnamese began arming and training an indigenous