A number of attempts at reform under the Conservative government of 1901-1905 had failed to make any lasting changes to the system and left the auxiliary forces disorganised and demoralised.

[2] In order to ensure his bill would pass without difficulty, he consulted privately with senior Army officers and the King, as well as the leader of the Opposition, to gain their support for the principles of the legislation.

Despite his efforts, several groups vocally opposed his approach: first, the National Service League, led by Field Marshal Lord Roberts, and backed by retired senior officers and some Conservative MPs.

In the face of all these forces, Haldane made a series of last-minute changes to the bill when he presented it in March 1907, including restricting compulsory service to Home defence only.

[5][6] Nevertheless, the structure remained much larger than was likely to be necessary for home defence and included all the supporting arms and services for the planned fourteen full divisions[7] and he commented that 'they could go abroad if they wish.'

It had its third reading in June, passing with a comfortable majority, and received the Royal Assent in August; the Act became effective immediately, though the bulk of its reforms were scheduled to begin on 1 April 1908.

The Act was divided into three main sections; the first created "County Associations", which would be the local bodies which would administer and support the Territorial units - they would, however, have no military control over them when called out for service.

[15] The force came to 123 battalions of infantry, 32 brigades of coastal artillery, and little else; there was a small group of fortress engineers and a medical staff of about 600 men, but no service arms.

[18] The regiments were liable to be called out for defence against an invasion or an insurrection,[19] and were not prepared for effective mobilisation; the units possessed no transport resources, or even a designated quartermaster.

[20] The third arm was the Volunteers, mainly drawn from small businessmen, artisans, and professionals; they were predominantly urban middle-class units, training at weekends and with no annual camp.

[20] The status of the volunteer units was further complicated by their origins as private societies; they received some central funding, but were mostly supported by local subscriptions and the generosity of their commanders.

A sixth was mobilised on 14 December, which completed the two corps originally planned as an expeditionary force,[25] and after a brief panic in mid-December a seventh was dispatched at the end of January, leaving the country virtually empty of regular troops.

[28] On 16 December, the first request was sent from South Africa for auxiliary troops, and a commitment was made to send a "considerable force of militia and picked yeomanry and volunteers".

[26] A large number of battalions of the Militia, which had volunteered for overseas service, were eventually sent out of the country during the war; sixty, with around 46,000 men, went to South Africa, whilst eight more served in colonial garrisons.

The Fourth,[38] Fifth[39] and Sixth[40] Corps would be composed of a mixture of regular and auxiliary forces, with sixty selected "first-line" Volunteer and Militia battalions.

The system of central per-capita grants helped support the units, despite the worrying side-effect of causing an incentive to keep as many men on the books as possible regardless of fitness, but even so it was becoming apparent that many Volunteer Corps were headed towards financial collapse unless some action were taken.

[51] After a brief hiatus during the 1906 general election, which the Liberals won comfortably, Haldane turned his attention to the Tangier Crisis, which had almost brought France and Germany to war in December.

Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, had privately agreed to commit the Army to the aid of France, if attacked, and Haldane began to consider how best to accomplish this.

[53] The question now became how to provide this force, and after a short period Haldane settled on a strength of six twelve-battalion infantry divisions with supporting arms.

[64] Meanwhile, Haldane faced strong opposition from two other quarters: first, the National Service League, led by Field Marshal Lord Roberts, and backed by many retired senior officers and some Conservative MPs and peers who argued that auxiliary forces would be ineffective against Continental armies and that conscription was the only solution.

[71] On 25 February Haldane introduced the new Army Estimates, which showed a saving of slightly over two million pounds, and discussed the forthcoming reforms, stating that the critical problem was to ensure continued recruitment for line regiments from the Militia and to provide financial support for the stability of the Volunteer units.

Hugh Arnold-Forster, the previous War Secretary, argued that the Territorial Force would prove ineffective in opposition to conscripted Continental armies, whilst the Labour Party objected generally to any increase in military strength.

The opposition was mainly led by the Irish MPs, who voted against the government for reasons unrelated to the bill, and some of the Labour Party; most of the Unionists, save a few like Vincent or Charles Dilke, abstained rather than oppose.

[81] The Act anticipated that such schemes would have the lord-lieutenant of the county as the president,[82] and required at least half of the membership would consist of officers drawn from all branches of the Territorial Force[83] (or, preceding that, the Yeomanry and Volunteers[84]).

[117] First appointments to the lowest grade of officer in any Territorial Force unit were to be given to persons recommended by the association president, provided they fulfilled all the necessary qualifications.

[143] No more than four thousand men could be liable under this latter provision at any one time,[144] and the power was not to be exercised except for overseas service[145] when "warlike operations are in preparation or in progress".

[146] The Reserve Forces and Militia Act 1898 was extended to allow up to six thousand men in total to be liable for callout without proclamation, and for the period of their liability to be up to two years.

By the end of 1908, the Territorial Force stood at 68% of establishment strength, and a popular recruiting campaign in the following spring led by the Daily Mail brought it up to 88%.

By the end of the year, the Special Reserve as at 84% of its nominal strength; those officers and men who had not chosen to transfer remained enrolled in the Militia, serving out their six-year enlistments.

[177] According to BEF commander in chief, Field Marshal (then) Sir John French, "Without the assistance which the Territorials afforded between October 1914 and June 1915, it would have been impossible to hold the line in France and Belgium.