Era of Great War 1910 - 1928 Flashcards
REASONS FOR RECRUITMENT
Propoganda - Men were bombarded with images in newspapers, magizines and cinemas telling them to do their duty for their country.
Economic necessity (Fear of unemployment) - Recruitment numbers were high in places were unemployment was high.
Sense of Adventure (war fever) - Opportunity to see new places whilst performing heroic deeds and leaving behind a boring job.
Peer pressure - Women encouraged men into service by giving them a white feather to present them as a coward if they didn’t sign up.
Pals Battalions - Men felt more comfortable to sign up if they were going with people the knew. After 13 hearts players signs up, 600 hearts supporters in 6 days joined the 16th Royal Scott’s which became known as McCrae’s Battalion.
Local loyalties - The Cameronians largely recruited from Glasgow and Lanarkshire. The Royal Scott’s mainly recruited from Edinburgh.
EXPERIENCE OF LIFE IN THE TRENCHES
Trench foot - Caused by poorly fitted boots and living in freezing mud and water. Trench foot meant that feet swelled to two to three times their normal size and went numb.
Boredome - Soldiers spent a-lot of time with nothing to do in the trenches when they weren’t attacking an enemy. This also made them very anxious as they were waiting around for an unknown attack.
Shell Shock - Affected their mental health and now a days is known as PTSD. It was when soldiers were badly traumatised by war and remained affected for long periods after. Symptoms such as anxiety, nightmares and sickness.
Lice - Lice were common as men rarely if ever washed and they lived in the folds of kilts. Men could go up to a month without washing.
Rats - There were no cats to attack rats and plenty of rotting corpses for them to eat. They also stole food. Rats also carried diseases.
Food - Men were given strict rations due to a shortage of food in Britain due to war. Rations were specially designed to ensure men got their vitamins and food groups however the food tasted awful.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF WAR TECHNOLOGY
Gas - Blinded the enemy and could attack by surprise.
Inventions of gas masks made gas less effective and if wind blew in the wrong direction it could kill their own troops.
Machine Guns - Could kill hundreds of men at once and could fire 400 to 600 rounds per minute.
Could overheat and jam and were too heavy to carry if advancing on an attack.
Heavy artillery - Could fire long distances and could destroy enemy trenches.
Could accidentally fire on own troops and constant noise and explosions contributed to shell shock.
Aircraft - Allowed people to drop bombs on the enemy and aerial photography allowed troops to see the enemy’s position by seeing the trenches from above.
No real understanding of aerial welfare and planes were a new invention and no understanding of weather as it is related to flight operations.
Tanks - Provided good shielding and defences for soldiers crossing no man’s land as they are bullet proof and fitted with guns.
They were slow moving and often got stuck in the mud.
MILITARY TACTICS
- Artillery bombardment
- Going ‘over the top’
- Take enemy trench
- Retaliate with counter attack
- Cost heavy casualties
- Progress was slow
- Strict military discipline was essential and men were shot for desertion.
- Success of gas attacks depended. on wind direction
DORA
No one was allowed to talk about naval or military matters in public places to stop information being passed on to the enemy.
No one was allowed to buy binoculars to stop spies gathering information.
No one was allowed to trespass on railways or bridges to minimise the risk of bombs being planted as this would distrup supplies being sent to troops.
No one was allowed to light bonfires or fireworks to stop enemy planes from working out where towns are.
Beer was watered down in pubs to stop people being drunk.
The government introduces British summer time to give more daylight for extra work to make people work longer hours for the war effort.
WHY WAS RATIONING INTRODUCED
Fairer allocations - People who lives in towns or the countryside could grow their own food in gardens which meant they had more unlike cities where there wasn’t space so rationing was introduced to make sure everyone got enough.
Fairer prices - As food became more scarce sellers increased their prices making it harder for poorer people to get food.
Failure of propaganda campaigns - The government encourages people not to waste food, however propaganda campaigns weren’t successful so food shortages happened.
German U-Boat campaign - Attacks on British ships meant that by August 1917, 1500000 tons of British merchant shipping had been sunk meaning there was a lack of resources.
Demand for home front - People working in Britain for the war effort needed to have enough food to be able to keep the country running (fewer farmers)
Demand for frontlines - soldiers and men working at the front needed food supplies to give them the energy to keep fighting.
Rationing was fully introduce in Scotland by April 1918.
Sugar was first rationed.
Town councils were encouraged to allocate patches of land to townspeople to grow vegetables.
Farmers were payed more to plough pasture land to plant crops.
CHANGING THE ROLE OF WOMEN
Before the war, attitudes towards women were poor.
During the war, women had to fill in men’s jobs.
Majority of women didn’t keep their jobs after the war.
Munitions factories
Conductors on trams and busses
Secretaries in offices
Nurses
Police
Mechanics
Farmers (Women’s land army)
PROPOGANDA
Propaganda was used in posters, magazines, cinemas. It was designed to gain support for the war effort and encouraged men to sign up by appealing to ideas of patriotism - protecting their country. Propaganda also encourages women to start working in men’s jobs. It also encouraged people not to waste food.
CONSCRIPTION AND CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS
The law of conscription for single men between the ages of 19 to 40 in January 1916. In May 1916, conscription was extended to married men and by 1918 men up to the age of 50 were being conscripted. Men who were unwell or worked in reserved occupations were excused.
A ‘conchie’ was someone who refused to fight due to religious, pacifist or political beliefs.
TREATMENT OF CONCHIES
Assault - Physically assaulted in the streets by public who felt they were neglecting their duty while their families dealt which death.
Embarrassment - Women presented men not in military uniform with a white feather to humiliate them.
Abuse - Verbal abuse in every day life.
Ridiculed - Newspapers organised campaigns against conchies which featured abusive cartoons and articles.
Labour camps - Could be sent to labour camps such as Dyce Quarry in Aberdeen. At least 73 conchies died due to harsh treatment.
Military Tribunals - Tribunals were made up local people who would listen to the reasons and decided whether or not to accept the objection.
CASUALTIES AND DEATHS
The total number of military and civilian casualties in WW1 was over 37 million ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history.
Of them, atleast 2 million died from diseases and 6 million went missing, presumed dead.
Over 557000 men joined up in Scotland for WW1, 1 in 4 of them died.
Men who returned were never the same again and there was a high rate of suicide.
War memorials were allocated in most towns and villages.
WOMENS WAR WORK
Nurses - Extra nurses were needed to treat soldiers at home and aswell as on the front line. Many also worked in hospitals treating unrelated war cases. They often had little medical training.
Postal service - Ensured large numbers of letters from soldiers reached family/friends, vise versa.
Teacher - Women taught in elementary schools and boys grammar schools and even though they had the same training as men, were payed less than 80% of the salary of men.
Munition factories - When there was a shortage of war materials, women had to work to make bombs and missiles which was very dangerous and could lead to serious injury or death.
Textile workers - Textile factories stopped producing goods for home to manufacturing items needed for war effort. Soldiers and sailors needed uniforms quickly and women made them.
Land army - Volunteers who worked on farms as there was a shortage of farm workers. Around 1918, 20000 WLA volunteers had filled the job spaces and 250000 women worked as labourers on the land.
RESERVED OCCUPATIONS
Reserved occupations was issued by the government. These war workers were essential to the war effort and were exempt from conscription.
Police - Solving crimes, catching criminals and keeping order. They also hunted spies and most German spies were quickly arrested.
Farmers - To grow food for troops and civilians to ensure there was enough food supply. German U boats were blocking food supplies from coming in.
Coastguards - Protecting Scotlands shoreline from enemy invasion. They escorted merchant ships carrying supplies and hospital ships bringing wounded soldiers back home.
Doctors - Attended the sick and wounded at home and at front. We’re not many female doctors at this time so men were kept busy in hospitals around Scotland.
Munition factories - Men worked as labourers to build the factories and others worked in factories.
Clergymen - Many priests and ministers stayed home to look after t r he pastoral needs of their communities and some went to war to look after the fighting men to allow men to still receive support.
REASONS FOR POST WAR DECLINE ON HEAVY INDUSTRY
Reliance on war orders - War demanded resources that Scotland could easily provide so business thrived and as they were doing well, owners did not invest in new technology or reorganise. This caused a decline in heavy industry because when the war ended there wasn’t as many ordered for their companies eg. Shipbuilding.
New technology - Many industries had not invested in new technology during the war period. Methods of producing ships had advanced. This caused a decline because goods could not be produced quickly or cheaply.
World trade - World trade in post - war era was not strong as the war had damaged economies around the world, particularly in Europe. This caused a decline in heavy industries because it meant that demand for scottish products declined, for example luxury liners were no longer prioritised.
Foreign competition - Companies abroad were industrialising and could produce cheaper goods and foreign shipbuilding companies could produce ships cheaper as their government were providing them subsides. This caused a decline because it meant orders and contracts went to companies abroad.
Industrial action - Strikes happened as workers were extremely unhappy with their working conditions. This caused decline as scottish companies were seen to be unreliable and orders went abroad as a result.
IMPACT ON FISHING AND AGRICULTURE
Before the war, fishing industry was very important to Scotland as they exported large amounts of herring to Germany and Russias However the war meant that the North sea was totally closed due to the threat of german naval attacks. Many fishing boats were also taken by the navy for the war. After the war, the boats were free to go fishing again, but there was far too many boats chasing the same amount of fish so boats couldn’t make enough money to stay in business. Also the German and Russian markets had been lost.
The war hit Scottish farming hard. Many horses were taken to serve on the Western front and many farm workers signed up to fight. Many farmers did well out of the war and some saw that their wages doubled. Farms that reared sheep made a lot of money as the government needed wool for soldiers uniforms and blankets. After the war, machines began to replace workers and animals and agriculture in Scotland declined. Wool was also no longer in demand and the government was no longer prepared to help control prices.
NEW INDUSTRIES IN THE 1920s
New industry’s such as electronics, radio and car production became important in the 1920s. However they mainly developed in England which had good electricity supply. In scotland, there were large areas that were still not connected to the national grid and in addition, mass unemployment and poverty meant scot’s couldn’t afford the new produces. Scottish didn’t benefit from the new industries.
