Warfare: Changes To Recruitment In Ww1 Flashcards
Who led the ‘call to arms’ at the start of WW1?
Lord Kitchener
How did the government plan to recruit enough soldiers?
A recruitment campaign
12 million posters were printed in 1 year
How many people volunteered every day at the start of the war?
20’000
How many men joined to services on the 3rd September 1914?
Over 33’000
What 1914 initiative encouraged men to join up together?
Pals battalions
Men all from a similar area/background/profession joining up together
What was the impact of pals battalions?
They suffered greatly on the frontline
Had a devastating effect on the local areas at home because of the numbers of casualties
So the government ended the use of them and began to realise conscription was their best bet
How many men had joined the army by the end of 1914?
1 million volunteered
Why did volunteerism fall by 1915?
The news of reality was beginning to reach home: heavy losses,trench conditions, evaporation of the idea the war was an adventure and would be over by christmas 1914
Why did the western front end up requiring conscription?
The war of attrition mean more solders were needed than volunteerism could provide
The french army was increaisnly unable to match the Germans in numbers- meant allies had to deploy more men
When was the National Registration Act?
1915
What was the national registration act?
Survey of all the men in britain
It was designed to find out how many men there were between 15-60 and what jobs they had
It showed that 5 million men weren’t serving in the armed forces
Of these, 1.6 million had occupations regarded as important to the economy and war effort
All men had to register and that register was later used to send call up letters when conscription was used
When was the Derby scheme?
1915
What was the Derby Scheme
Lord Derby was put in charge of recruitment in October 1915
He invited all men 18-41 to attest (publicly pledge) their willing to serve if called on
A pledge was given that married men wouldn’t be called upon until the supply of unmarried was exhauseted
Men who attested were sent back home and to jobs until called on
What did men who attested to serve in the Derby scheme get?
A grey armband with a red crown as a sign they had volunteered
Why is the Derby scheme generally regarded as a failure?
Over 2 million men attested for later recruitment but only 200’000 men enlisted as a result of the scheme
Patriotic attitudes were falling away as the war progressed
