Download Why did men sign up to go to war?

BRITISH
RECRUITMENT
WWI
‘C’mon boys, let’s join up…’
• The British Expeditionary Force had
well under a million men before war
was declared on 4 August 1914.
• There is no national service in Britain.
• 500, 000 men signed up in August
alone………
WHY???
The Recruitment Campaign
• 7 August, Lord Kitchener begins the
campaign – men aged 19 to 30
• 33,000 men PER DAY sign up (13 times
the number of pupils at WHS every day)
• By the end of August the age was
increased to 35
• By 1915, 2 million men had volunteered
How was this achieved?
• Initial enthusiasm for war
(remember ‘MAIN’)
‘The romance of it, the mystery and uncertainty of it, the glowing
enthusiasm and lofty idealism of it’ Private Thomas Bickerson
• Propaganda
• Pressure from society
• Order of the White Feather
PROPAGANDA!!!!
• What does this word mean?
The organised spreading of beliefs
• What forms do you think it
could take in 1914?
Posters, newspapers, music,
pamphlets
‘Let’s get organised….’
• The British War Propaganda Bureau
(WPB) set up in August 1914
• It was set up by David Lloyd George
(Chancellor of the Exchequer)
• JOB: officials meet in secret to
discuss how to promote British
interests during the war
The next few screens show
different posters aimed at
increasing the army.
Can you spot the methods
they used to encourage men to
enlist???
(think about the ‘N’)
So, what did you spot??
• What kind of images were used to show
men in the armed forces?
• What language was used?
• Is there anything relating to revenge?
• Look again at this poster. What does it
mean?
So, what do we know?
• The British Army in 1914 was small
• There was a recruitment campaign as
well as propaganda
• Enthusiasm
• Pressure from society
• Millions volunteered
MANY OF THESE MEN WOULD
NEVER COME HOME
There were no images
like this in the
propaganda.
This is a young, dead
soldier photographed
by Geoffrey Malins.
He has never been
identified.
Millions died like this
all over Europe.