History- Attitudes to the War in Britain Flashcards
At the start, the war looked like an adventure. In 1914 there was huge enthusiasm for the war. It seems strange now, but nobody at the time knew what it was going to be like. Some people felt that fighting in the war would be an adventure, others thought that it was right to fight for your country when it went to War. The war would be “over by Christmas”- Britain would win easily.
People didn’t really know what was going on. The government deliberately kept people ignorant of what was going on:
letters from soldiers were censored.
Reporters weren’t allowed to see battles very often.
Newspapers were censored from 1914.
No photographs could be taken which showed dead soldiers.
Casualty figures weren’t available from the government.
Britain had never been involved in a war where most of the fighting was done in trenches, or one in which so many people were killed. People away from the front couldn’t imagine how terrible the war was.
he government couldn’t keep the facts about the war secret forever. As the war carried on people couldn’t help finding out more, and attitudes began to change.
during the war 1500 civilians were killed in bombing raids. This was a new and terrible danger.
There were no obvious successes on the Western front until 1918.
The government could hide the overall casualty figures, but they couldn’t hide crippled and blinded veterans who returned to Britain, or keep their deaths secret from the families of soldiers.
Rationing was difficult, and richer people felt it was a hardship. Taxes had increased to pay for the war. By 1917 most people in Britain were sick of the war, and wanted to see it end.
ropaganda posters were used to encourage men to sign up – such as the famous poster of Lord Kitchener with the caption “your country needs you”.
Some propaganda was aimed abroad – in particular to encourage US military involvement.
In September 1914 the newly founded war propaganda bureau asked 25 of Britain’s leading writers to aid the war effort. They produced pamphlets such as the report on alleged German outrages which included shocking accusations of German crimes.
The Ministry of information produce propaganda films, but it’s not clear how much public support they generated. The propaganda film “the Battle of the Somme”, made by the British topical committee, was so realistic, it could’ve been seen as anti war.
In June 1917, the government set up the National war aims committee to issue propaganda literature and sponsor speeches to improve morale.
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