Breadth study flashcards

Middleton Reforms -1780s

• response to defeat during US war of Independence

• PM Pitt encouraged Navy comptroller Middleton to implement 3 key reformsto improve naval efficiency, including financial management, shipbuilding, and recruitment.

• ensured Britain prepared for war against Spain in 1794

Key aspects of Middleton reforms

• coppering of the fleet: warships required less repairs

• extensive stocks of ropes and timber

• new dockyards in Plymouth and Portsmouth

• led to investments in carronades: replaced slow-match fuses with gunlock firing mechanisms - broadsides faster and more accurate

Key features of navy 1815-1830

• 1815: 100 battleships, only 13 in active duty in 1817

• retraction: little need for one of its size, many decommissioned

• strength in small ships: frigates, sloops and brigs

impact of development on naval warfare - 1815-1830

• operated without impunity globally

• policing British empire

• battleships became prison hulks and floating supply depots

• smaller naval force

• Gunboat diplomacy: threatening nations with navy as a primary weapon

first steamships - 1830s-40s

• first steamships HMS Medea(sloop)(1834) and HMS Gladiator (1844)(frigate)

• conservative sea lords initially suspicious of steam and unreliable form of power

• Melville, Lord of Ad.: calculated to strike fatal blow to naval supremacy of empire

• paddle makes it a targer

• small paddle on sloop - no longer reliant on wind, resistant to getting rid of sails in case engine breaks

impact of steam on naval warfare

• Graham proposed 10 more steam powered battleships - too big an expense in peacetime

• wooden ship: engine and fuel engine must be small

• reliable in transporting supplies and passing messages efficiently

• French began to introduce steam engines and screw propellors to frigates in the 1840s. First one Napoleon (1845) and later Redoubtable (1876), which included a steam hull

HMS Agamemnon (1852)

• first steam powered battleship with full sail rigging

• weight problem in applying tech. to marine craft - hull could only carry equivalent weight, engines very small

• guns increasing weight and power: high explosive shells rip wooden ships apart

• ships required to transition to iron - French began iron cladding in 1855

HMS Warrior (1860)

• world’s first fully iron-clad ship

• French Navy created La Gloire

• hybrid battleship: combines latest tech with traditional thinking

• shortly after Armstrong’s artillery: fewer cannons required to rotate as opposed to broadside

Graham Reforms (1832)

• Graham worried army reduced too far and GB’s position as world power dependent on strong navy

• reversed policy of battleship reduction for smaller ships

• new systemic programme of refitting existing ships and building new battleships

• admiralty commissioned steam powered frigates from 1845 onwards

• daily exercises with guns - encouraged naval training as many inexperienced

• HMS Excellent - permanent school for gunnery set up, decommissioned HMS Boyne

• standardised methods of gunnery, flexible to move soldiers around

• changed regulations for promotion of officers: serve 2yrs before promotion. Avoided nepotism among sea lords

• abolished naval office and Victualling board: all means of supply in own control

• Admirals oversee Portsmouth and Plymouth

HMS Devastation (1871)

• first steam powered ship with no rigging, emphasising conservative attitudes

• in service until 1907

• main armament mounted on top of hull, not inside it

HMS Inflexible (1876)

• Victorian iron-clad battleship carrying main armament in centrally placed turrets

• mounted larger guns on deck than any other ship

• thickest armour ever fitted

• Polemasts fitted in 1885, replacing full sailing rig

HMS Dreadnought (1906)

• first capital ship powered by steam turbines

• 1st battleship with uniform main battery of guns

• smaller guns on top of main guns and tackle new torpedo boats and submarines

• 10 12-in guns, torpedo tubes, 11-in steel plating

• travelled at 21.6 knots

• shoot further than any other ship - out of enemy’s range of view

• Navy vulnerable to Dreadnought: Germany builds 3/4, competition for hegemony

• GB ran out but bigger empire by WW1

• 1914: GB had 29, FR 10, DE 17

1904 Entente with France

• help each other if fighting

• alliance: previously GB enjoyed splendid isolation, questioned it post-Boer war

submarines

• ensured naval supremacy

• Fischer believed it’d render battleship obsolete

• Fischer commenced building programme of battlecruisers, despite resistance from Admiralty

• German embraced them, attacking Lusitania undetected

• unrestricted warfare → havoc in the Atlantic

• 1914: submarine successfully sinks Ottoman iron clad ship

• WW1: effective against small ships

context of Fischer reforms

• innovator, strategist and moderniser

• superintendent of HMS Excellent 1892-4

• supervised construction of latest warship

• innovation transformational and forefront of technological change

• highly energetic and forward thinking

• required to be cost-effective - Liberal Gov’s demands for social reforms

Key aspects of Fischer Reforms (1904-11)

• sold 90 ships and 64 more in reserve, too weak to fight and slow to run away, many refitted too much or too old

• compromised 2 power standard → essential in managing navy

• created Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve: GB had large reserve to call upon in war

• reorganised fleet and all latest ships stationed in Gibraltar and Channel due to German threat. 2 Main fleets to focus better on home defence

• designed new battlecruisers and had hand in designing Dreadnoughts, accelerating Naval Arms race

• moved fleets in Empire around: 5 ships patrolling China put in the Channel

Carronade - how it works

• improvements to guns: introduced in 1770s, developed by Carron Ironworks in Falkrirk

• flintlock firing mechanisms for cannons

• defend against pirates

• short cannons and barrel, wider muzzle = broader angle of fire

• quick to reload, less gunpowder

• deadly at close range loaded with grapeshot

• mounted on a slide, recoil absorbed, leaving carriage in place

• shot against masts

• used on frigates and sloops

Carronades - where used

• French wars

• Trafalgar: sweep soldiers off the deck

• American war of Independence

• 1812 war: US ships kept away, ineffective

carronades - significance

• product of Industrial revolution

• used to protect trading ships but not on decks, shorter and on top deck

• capture and get rid of troops on trop deck

• liability in 1812 → ineffective at long range

congreve rockets - background

• experimented with them fighting in South India in 1790s

• brought back to Woolwich Arsenal, London, after Battle of Mysore

• variant developed by Sir William Congreve - British engineer who believe manufacture profitable

• book helped convince gov. was worthy of investment

• army conservative to maintain safety net

carronades - how it works

• infantry had rocket troop to take enemy by surprise

• fireworks fired by infantry towards enemy troops

• cities: start fires on thatched roofs, attack ships effectively

• loud and frightening - psychological impact

carronades - where used

• 2nd Battle of Copenhagen: effective in destroying wooden buildings, targeted and bombarded civilians

• first used in October 1806. 2000 fired at Boulogne port = immense psychological impact on citizens

• Wellington reluctant to use in peninsular due to conservatism

• colonial wars, e.g. 1st Burma War 1814-26

• USA war (1812): Fort McHenry under attack and bombarded. Didn’t fall, surrounded soldiers with destruction.

congreve rockets - significance

• psychological and sporadic weapon: no clarity as to where it would hit

• rockets: unwieldly and wholly inaccurate

• dents morale and instils morale

• loud, but ineffective and unreliable as a damage-causing weapon

armstrong artillery - how it works

• Armstrong founded engineering company near Newcastle in 1847

• first company to develop breech-loading cannons

• screw mechanism to improve range

• strong hinge and mechanical door to ensure projectile securely locked in place

• new shells developed to improve efficiency of artillery: coated in lead that expanded slightly when gun fired, shell gripped rifling inside barrel, creating more spin

armstrong artillery - where used

• short magazine lee enfield rifle: 3m mass produced during WW1

• Lee Enfield musket

armstrong artillery - significance

• breech-loading guns could be turret mounted with near 360 degree fire effect

• easier to manage military

• shells opposed to cannonballs: lead malleable as metal. Explosion causes lead to expand and pushes projective out of the gun. Lead cleans sides of bore as it explodes, self-cleaning

• Lead expands, no force pushes at sides, travels further as it’s gripped by barrel. Improved accuracy and distance, required less men to fire it, less gunpowder

• engineers and maintenance required, army reluctant as training expensive

Vickers Machine gun

• introduced in 1912, following industrial revolution

• created Maxim in 1884

• charging handle on bottom of machine gun, allowing bullets to be ejected quickly away from holder - manufactured so bullets fall on ground

• firing mechanism: recoil of MG to load another round to be fired

• fires .303 round

• fire at max. range of 4500m

• rounds are fed from side into gun, come in barrel from top and fed into chamber

• water-cooled firearm

• recoil-operated with lock mechanism

Vickers machine gun - uses

• popular for GB in WW1

• defend trenches and support other forces, e.g. later mobilised to shoot down German planes

• attack on 24th: 250 round shorts of 1m fired by 10 guns. Continuous party employed to carry ammunition

Vickers machine gun - significance

• sustained fire and high degree of accuracy

• renowned: reliability, precision, capability of constant fire

• highly effective: dependable and versatile in infantry support roles, vital to defensive strategies

• in operation until 1960s

• caused millions of deaths

Mark 1 Tank - how it works

• invented in 1915, design led by Triton and Wilson as part of Churchill’s landships committee

• protected by 12mm armoured plates, defended by Vickers machine guns and 2 6-lb er guns

• male: 2 guns to destroy enemy strongholds

• female: 3x as many machine guns to mow down enemy infantry

FT-17 Light Tank - Colonel Estienne (1915)

• tracked lightweight armoured fighting vehicle with Renault

• in service 1917 onwards

• machine gun swapped to 37mm anti-tank gun

• constant breakdowns, no engine repairs

• in use until 1940

Tanks - where used

• first used at Battle of the Somme

• Mark 1 at Somme: broke barbed wire, destroyed German strongholds, only a 1/3 made it to frontline

Tanks - significance

• effective in crossing trenches, crushed barbed wire, protective

• failed to break through enemy lines, mechanically unreliable, very loud (unstealthy), speed 1mph on damaged ground

• Mark 1 not bulletproof, more likely to get stuck in mud than hit by enemy fire

Recruitment in the 1790s

• army didn’t develop in line with problems

• heavily based on recruiting criminals/those in poverty, dregs of society - poorly paid, weak, provides steady stream of income- same amount as farm labourer

• unfavourable for those who want to stay at home and support family - away up to 12yrs

• voluntarism: liberal ideal, not forced to enlist - expected to want to be there and follow orders

Leadership in the 1790s

• low paid, harsh discipline: branding and flogging as punishment

• Wellington disparaging of avg. GB soldier, “scum”

• up until 1870: most obtained cavalry or infantry officer position via commission from resigning officers

• new candidate produced evidence of ‘education of a gentleman’ to obtain approval of regiment colonel and produce lots of money

• proves standing in society

• changes in tactics required formal training, black market including supplies

• ensured aristocrats held onto power and poor didn’t become officers

Empire in the 1790s

• stationed abroad up to 12yrs anywhere in Empire - unappealing

• empire grew significantly early-mid 1800s - likelihood higher

• India, Australia, Canada, South Africa

Duke of York Reforms

• leader of expeditionary force in disastrous Flanders campaign

• restricted purchase of commissions to ruling class - no shockwaves

• 2yrs service as officer to become captain and 6 to become a major

• Raglan and Lucan aristocratic leaders: lack of ability, poor comms.

• light infantry regiments created

• Training college (Sandhurst) and school for orphaned children in Chelsea created

• increased soldiers pay, decreased flogging

• improved medical provision

• key role in constructing Martello Towers to protect GB coast

• not meritocratic, reactionary, short-term, limited in scope

Palmerston reforms (1855)

• new war office controlled supplies - ran Commissariat

• Board of Ordinance abolished May 1855

• Army Medical Dep. created - healthcare issue

• Army Clothing Dep. to provide coats

• Created Land Transport Corps: replaced traditional hiring civilian wagons to carry supplies

• educational requirements created to improve military knowledge

• enabled the professionalisation of the army

Aberdeen

• PM January 1855 onwards

• war and colonial office divided, separate offices

• SoS for war became cabinet position

• seeking to create reforms

Cardwell reforms - causes

• Prussia defeats Austria and later France - rising threat due to military reforms (professional, educated, well-trained), threat to GB

• purchase system: responsible for battlefield failures and corruption

• advanced weaponry = technical training and engineers

• British army in peninsular: resembled tramps, with poor uniforms and shoes, scavenging and looting

• British army never lived off land, preferring to maintain good relations with locals, good supply of food crucial, proved by Wellington

• Supplies for troops could no longer be amateur

who was Cardwell?

• SoS for war under Gladstone

• liberals open to change/reform - flexible and adaptable, such as with the Education Act

• religious principles key

• address issues

Cardwell reforms - aims

• centralise power of war office

• abolish commissions and challenge aristocrats

• create a reserve army stationed in GB- lower terms of service for enlisted method

Cardwell- administrative reforms

• easy to pass as Cardwell SoS

• flogging abolished in peacetime (1868) and branding entirely (1871): war needs more discipline, although it made army more enticing and improved recruitment

• consults with dominions (AUS, NZ and CAN): self governing yet had GB troops. Had to sort out own defence and troops, relieving 20k troops and pressure for army to be abroad.

• abolished bounty money (1870): paying officers to recruit as many people as possible - incentive, recruitment services not fully voluntary. Improves quality of trops

Cardwell - legal reforms

• persuades PM and Gov to pass new laws through Parlt.

• army enlistment act (1870): altered how long you could be abroad. 6yrs abroad and then 6yrs in reserves in GB, prev. 12yrs,

• if you stayed 21yrs and kept training = pension provided

• Regulation of Forces Act (1871): made it more possible to serve locally from home in reserves = more attractive

• monarch persuaded to pass royal warrant in 1871: eventually phase out purchase system. Compensated for loss of commission, increasingly replaced by meritocratic system

Cardwell - financial reforms

• secures £2m of funding from treasury to expand military

• 20,000 new soldiers in GB and 20k from dominions

• arms race

Cardwell reforms - impact

• bigger impact in long-term than short-term

• recruitment still difficult: economic prosperity = difficult as factories being built - insignificant

• purchase system: social capital at high level exists despite meritocracy

• conditions improve and discipline differs

• pay mediocre but pensions helpful

Haldane Reforms - raising standards of training and inspection

• creation of officer training corps: encapsulated Cadet Corps of all 3 services. 20k schoolboys enrolled by 1914

• new rifles, drill books and training grounds

• Territorial army trained one day a week and longer in summer. Essential during WW1, especially in holding of Germans at Ypres

• emphasised training of officers in warfare as well as improving understanding of strategy

• introduction of new technologies and weapons: machine guns and more modern artillery

• foundation for military organisation

Haldane Reforms - BEF/TA

• Territorial army created (1908): via territorial and reserve forces act. Reserve force of part-time soldiers mobilised in a national emergency. 236,400 by September 1913

• aim to have army operate within budget of £28m, as well as prepared for major war

• 2 line army: BEF of 3 army corps (250k men) and TF with volunteers, militia and yeomanry to strengthen BEF

Haldane reforms - Leadership (Army Council and Imperial General staff)

• army council created: make policy and increase parliamentary control

• creation of General staff and office of the Chief of the Imperial General staff

• abolition of Commander-in-Chief post and Committee of Imperial defence created

• war office re-organised

• amalgamation of militia and volunteers into TA

• improvements to reorganise Army Med. Corps and field ambulance services

• army reorganised into sections with permanent staff of experienced soldiers

• centralised decision-making

• General staff: aspect of military operations well-coordinated and logistics to command structures

Why were the Haldane reforms introduced?

• Boer war proved to be difficult, exposing deficiencies in: organisation, equipment, doctrine and training

• Traditional doctrine and poorly-trained troops

• outgunned and ranged by artillery guns, Mauser rifles, didn’t exploit machine guns

• reconnaissance: technology, smoke signals, balloons

• what to do with cavalry - scouting, skirmishing, fire tactics, terrain, replace sword with guns

• war correspondents control journalism

• liberal gov and impending german threat

• earlier humiliations indicated further reforms necessary

• 80k first class army reserve took place of 100k incompetents: first line of undoubted excellence - Cardwell improved magnitude

• Esher committee (1904): clean sweeps of war office, inc. Roberts as Commander. Army Council appt. new C renamed Inspector General of Armed Forces. Defense planning by committee of Imperial defence and newly formed general staff. Modelled on Admiralty

• Elgin (1904): Lansdowne no plan of campaign. British reserves exhausted within months. 400k charges with supplies and enlisting.

HMS Victory

• wood, sail, broadside cannons and carronades

• Used at Battle of Trafalgar

• Apotheosis of wood and sail battleships

HMS Agamemnon

• wood, sail and steam hybrid, broadside cannons

• Launched in 1833: RN’s first experimental steam powered battleshops

• Full broadside armament of 94 guns

• Bombarded Sevastopol and run ashore on Russian coast during 1854 Great Storm

HMS Warrior

• Iron, sail and steam hybrid, broadside cannons and forward-facing breech loading guns

• Hybrid battleship with latest tech. - Armstrong’s artillery

• Coupled with trad. thinking, epitomising expectation to fire broadside

HMS Inflexible

• Iron clad, sail (til 1885) and steam, breech-loading, deck-mounted turret guns

• Mounted larger guns and thickest armour ever

• Admiralty still conservatively resisted losing sail power and converted masts to poles for lookouts and signal flags

• First to be equipped with machine guns and torpedo tubes to fire new Whitehead torpedoes

HMS Devastation

• iron, steam, breech-loading, deck-mounted turret guns and torpedoes

• Didn’t carry sails and main armament on top of hull, instead of inside

• Remained in service until 1907

• 18 Breech-loaded guns, 2 in rotating turrets, 2 torpedo launchers

HMS Dreadnought

• steel, steam turbine, breech loading, deck mounted turret guns, anti submarine/aircraft guns and whitehead torpedoes

• First capital ship to be fully powered by steam turbines and was the most powerful battleship ever

• eight deck mounted turrets with two guns in each and five torpedo tubes

• 27 quick firing 12 pounder guns designed to fire aeroplanes, submarines and other small boats

• it was the apotheosis Of naval development and greatly hastened the naval arms race

• there were 44 dreadnought battle ships in the Battle of Jutland which involved 250 combat ships

HMS Lion

• Light steel, steam turbine, breech loading, deck mounted turret guns, anti submarine and aircraft guns and whitehead torpedoes

• Lead ship of Lion class battlecruisers or Fisher’s Battle cats.

financing small wars

•From 1815 to 1914, Britain’s ‘small’ wars were paid for by taxation and small increases to the national debt.

•The colonial wars fought by Britain were cheap – enemies were too few in number and poorly equipped, while the British were easily able to recruit local troops for fighting.

financing crimea and boer wars

extensive government borrowing. This was mostly funded by ‘Consols’ – a name given to certain British government bonds (or gilts) in the form of perpetual bonds redeemable at the option of the government. These were issued by the Bank of England and earned interest for the bearers.

financing the first world war

•As the First World War took its heavy toll on the finances of the British Empire, the government issued ‘War Bonds’, priced as low as £5 so that ordinary people could afford to invest and ‘do their bit’ for the war effort.

impact of early wars

• George III’s carriage was attacked by rioting republicans in 1795 because of increased food prices, and politicians were criticised for their perceived excesses

•Real wages stagnated during the war, and the low paid were hit by rising food prices, especially of bread.

•There were hard times for families with menfolk away at the war (about one-sixth of the country’s male workforce were in the forces), and especially for those whose breadwinners either did not return or came home maimed and unable to work.

•A new system of parish ‘relief’ – the Speenhamland system of 1795 – supplemented workers’ wages out of parish funds. This form of welfare took its name from place in Berkshire where local magistrates decided to base local relief on the cost of bread; it was widely adopted and remained in use until 1834.

financing the war debt and its impact

• •The French Wars of 1793–1815 cost around £1,600 million. Much of this cost was caused by funding Britain’s coalitions allies.

  •To finance this expense, Pitt and his successors borrowed from merchant bankers and brokers.

  •Financiers such as Nathan Rothschild helped to fund the swelling national debt and arrange loans. Provincial banks multiplied – 119 in 1784 to over 800 by the end of the war.

  •Taxes were raised, most innovatively by income tax for the first time (1799–1802, and again from 1803–16), set at 10% of incomes over £200. Pitt therefore feared for his life, and was constantly guarded.

  •There were also taxes on horses, tobacco, tea, sugar, and spirits.

  •Government also offered stocks and shares, numbers of stock market traders doubled (432 in 1792 to 726 in 1812), and the new London Stock Exchange was opened in 1802.

impact of wars on agriculture

•The farming revolution was spurred on by the demands of the war. Farmers benefited from higher wartime prices. In 1793, the government set up a Board of Agriculture, to make surveys of farming in every county.

•Enclosure of land continued, despite war with France.

•Britain’s farms had to produce more food to make up for a reduction in imports caused by wartime restrictions on trade. Grain continued to be imported.

•Price of wheat rose sharply. Consequent rise in bread prices was made worse by poor harvests in 1809 and 1810.

•Colonial ‘tropical’ items such as sugar and tea were still imported. Shortage of timber, for shipbuilding, did threaten the war effort.

impact of wars on industry

•The Industrial Revolution had begun in Britain before the French Wars, and continued apace through them. New machinery was transforming the textile industry.

•This boom went on through the war – rather than halt industrial progress, the wars stimulated it.

•Textile mills defied the law and sold goods to France as well as making uniforms for the British army.

•Iron-making also boomed, because of the demand for cannons and small arms weapons.

•Naval dockyards at Chatham, Portsmouth and Devonport were busy building new ships and repairing older vessels.

•War demanded infrastructure improvement, such as canal building. Steam engine development also continued.

total war

•a state of war which involves the whole of the population, and touches every aspect of daily life.

•Civilians expected to accept privations for the war effort – rationing, lower wages, longer hours, and so on.

•Civilians expected to work in war-related occupations.

•People subjected to conscription – men into the armed forces; women into skilled or unskilled labour.

•Manufacture of consumer goods suspended to allow priority for production of war materials.

•People expected to make do with less during wartime.

•Transport and buildings could be requisitioned.

•Total War shaped society to maximise the war effort.

• Britain forced to become as self sufficient as possible due to naval blockade, meaning women had to work the land and rationing be put in place.

food during the FWW

•Food was always a problem in  wartime for the island nation of Britain.

•This is a primary reason why the Royal Navy was always given priority.

•In 1914, some 60% of Britain’s food was imported.

•Unrestricted U-boat sinkings meant that Britain could be starved into submission.

•The government therefore built more ships, and created a Food Agency to ration food.

•By 1918, U-Boats were so successful that compulsory food rationing was introduced.

financing the FWW

•The First World War cost the British government a lot of money! The national debt increased from £625 million in 1914, to £7,800 million in 1918.

•These funds had to be borrowed from British and international institutions (most in USA) through bonds which offered good returns on investment.

•Small bonds were also available for British investors. This was the first time in British history that  the British people were asked personally to help finance the war effort.

•Taxation was also increased. All three Chancellors of the Exchequer – Lloyd George, McKenna, and Bonar Law – raised income tax, which increased from 3.75% in 1914 to 30% in 1918. Also, in 1914, the number of tax payers was 1.5 million. This increased to 7.7 million by 1918.

impact of tanks on financing

• Tanks arguably had more impact on the Home Front than they did on the Western front battlefields. The reason for this is that the tanks became focal points for raising funds all over Britain. Towns and cities competed with each other to raise more money in their ‘Tank Banks’ than their rivals.

managing the war economy

•There was a shells scandal in the early months of 1915.

•The problem was the lack of direction in the munitions industry. It was time for government intervention!

•This led to the Munitions of War Act which resulted in direct government control of the munitions industry.

•Trade unions agreed to comply with the Act for the duration of the war – strikes were prohibited; skilled jobs could be broken down (or diluted); workers could not refuse overtime or leave their job for another.

•In return, wages were protected and pay rises could be offered. Profits were also fixed for the duration of the war.

•As men from reserved occupations were called to arms, women were employed as replacements.

British civilians at war - early wars

• some went to war zones as they were needed: doctors, journalists, engineers, traders, gunsmiths etc.

• a select few men could have their wives travel with them - expected to undertake cooking and washing duties

• ‘unofficial’ camp followers: often wives (with children) who felt they were better off travelling with their husband - had to pay own way or get by as best as possible

British civilians at war - yeomanry and reservists

• threat of Napoleonic invasion led to formation of militia units across GB

• militia part-time and ineligible for foreign service, yet served useful duties and a base for army recruitment

• Cavalry militia units (fencibles), disbanded in 1802 and Yeomanry units

• some yeomanry units financed privately by wealthy businessmen keen to protect their interests

• Reservists became a more structured and organised home defence for Britain - after Militia Act of 1852

• Cardwell and Childer reforms: drew reservists closer to the Army until Haldane made them integral

literacy and class levelling

• up to twentieth century, civilians in britain experienced war from a distance and only elite of society could read the Times

• significant advancements in comms and improvements to the literacy of the people brought war closer to the people

• jingoistic war reporting: greater patriotism, explaining immense sacrifices of the FWW

• warfare over time contributed to social mobility and class levelling - merit central to promotion (Cardwell reforms)

• leaders in French wars aristocratic backgrounds - Pitt and Wellington

• leaders in the FWW middle class - DLG and Haig

public support for the War

• began with a mood of patriotic patriotism

• 1914: anti-gov groups such as Suffragettes and Irish Republicans ended militant campaigning and supported the war

• anti-war meetings and some refused to fight on moral grounds

• Conscientious Objectors: refused conscription into military service were assessed by tribunals, most given non-combatant work, e.g. medical/agricultural, although some sent to Army or Jail

Defence of the Realm Act

• governed all lives in Britain during the FWW

• added to as war progressed and controlled what they were allowed to do

• restrictions on information and became an offence to discuss military matters in public, with newspapers heavily controlled

• newspapers that were anti-war ran the risk of closure

• articles, photos, telegrams and letters censored

• Intoxicating Liquor Act, Aug 1914: limited opening hours of pubs and watered down beer, consumption halving by 1918. Convictions for drunkenness reduced from 3388 in 1914 to 449 per week in 1918

National Government

• May 1915: Asquith’s gov in crisis as he was blamed for Gallipoli disaster and shell shortage

• Asquith presented with ultimatum from Lloyd George and Bonar Law

• Coalition formed on 25 May, meaning that:

  • half of Liberal ministers replaced by conservatices

  • churchill became first lord of the Admiralty

  • Lloyd George Minister of Munitions

  • Henderson joined the Cabinet

Lloyd George’s efficiency drive:

• 5.3m shells delivered from July to December 1915

• machine gun output rose from 287 (1914) to 33,507 (1918)

• heavy artillery production increased dramatically

• raised finance for Stokes Mortars

• supported production of Tanks

army significantly lacked new tech in 1914

• each battalion only had 2 machine guns

• entire army had only 80 motor vehicles

• all guns and supplies transported by horses

• army lacked field telephones and wireless equipment

• only 30,000 shells produced/month

role of women in FWW

• 200k in civil service

• 500k in clerical work for private firms

• 117k in transport industry

• 7.3m women worked by 1918

• encouraged to enlist and experienced frontline for first time due to raids

traditional navy recruitment

• men who joined got 2 months salary in advance - had to buy own hammock, clothes and equipment

• volunteer sailors protected any creditors if debt <£20

• men seized by press gang and offered a choice:

  • volunteer to receive benefits

  • remain pressed man and get nothing

• certain types of employment protected against impressment but protection papers must be carried at all times

• times of crisis: protections invalid as hot press enacted

• convicted petty criminals offered navy as alternative to prison

• impressment last used in 1815 - impressed many merchant sailors: eligible men of seafaring habits 18-55yrs old.

yeomanry

• Napoleonic invasion threat led to formation of militias

• parti-time and ineligible for foreign service, served useful duties and base for army recruitment

• Cavalry militia units (fencibles) disbanded in 1802 and yeomanry

• some yeomanry units financed privately by wealthy businessmen keen to protect their interests

• reservists more structured home defence

• regiments resorted to ugly methods of recruitment

• thugs called crimps trawled streets and ale houses for victims to recruit

• recruiting sergeant: quota to find recruits and bonus for every recruit

• Cardwell, 1860s: payments for recruiting no longer

• many joined to avoid the gaol

• stoppages - 80%, take home pay lower

Crimean war recruitment

• wasn’t always voluntary - BA continued to seek new recruits in public houses, coaxing men to enlist

• cash incentives offered to volunteers

Cardwell reforms and recruitment

• recruitment difficult due to industrial revolution - earn more in factories than army

• purchase of commissions abolished

• banned flogging and branding, as well as bounty money for new recruits

• pension after 21yrs - 6yrs abroad and 6yrs in reserves

• army enlistment act and regulation of forces act

• no rush to join in peacetime

• Childer reforms (1881): paired battalions together to provide stability

Boer war voluntary army

• great enthusiasm with sudden rush of volunteers

• response of gov’s call for men post-Black Week meant additional drafts of volunteers sanctioned

• 2 independent organisations - City Imperial Volunteers and Imperial Yeomanry created

• many who volunteered for CIV and Imperial yeomanry from middle-class backgrounds

• >77k extra working class recruits due to the war

• many more turned away (<60%) due to failed medical fitness tests - serious national concern on social conditions and decline of Britain as a race and imperial force

recruitment during the FWW

• 1. Haldane’s regulars of the BEF

• 2. Haldane’s Territorial replaced BEF after 1st Battle of Ypres

• 3. Kitchener’s New Army: volunteer recruits to support territorials

• 4. Conscription created Britain’s fourth army for Battle of the Somme

recruitment during the FWW (2)

• White feather: anyone of age would be pressured to join army or wear white feather by society

• Military services act, January 1916: strongly supported by 403 MPS. Introduced conscription for unmarried men 18-41yrs old, with exceptions for miners, clergy, sole earners, lack of fitness or COs

• Conscientious Objectors: 0.33% of armed forces, >80% exempted and 90% refused exemption accepted national service in a different way

• Military Services Act, May 1916: applied to married men

• 0.75m initially conscripted, 2.5m by end of war

• reserves couldn’t fulfill demands

• Pal’s battaions: friends could join together with friends or colleagues

• Rawlinson, director of Recruiting: men more willing to enlist if serving with comrades. First tried in Derby and later London and Hull.