Britain in the First World War Essay -- Papers

Britain in the First World War Introduction Recruitment and conscription had become a big issue at the beginning and propaganda was used to change the attitudes of the public. After the First World War, life in Britain had changed dramatically. Britain owed nearly six billion pounds to the Americans. Air raids back on the British homeland had killed over one thousand people and left millions homeless. In total nearly one million British people had died during the war. Women had come to do the jobs of men, and governments had taken new measures to ensure we had won this new kind of war. The League of Nations had been intended to bring peace back to Europe and the world but only brought more bitterness. Recruitment Before conscription, men would be encouraged by their families to enlist and fight for the country. Propaganda was used to stir up the ideas and emotions of what kizer whilhelm had in mind for Europe and to bring out countrymen's patriotic duties. When Lord Kitchener as put in charge of Britain's fight against the Germans he realized that more men would be needed. The BEF (British Expeditionary Force) only had one hundred thousand men and so the recruitment drive had begun. Women were encouraged to persuade men to enlist, and at the height of the recruitment drive half a million had enlisted. Men that didn't enlist were seen as cowards and given white feathers to wear in public. Many feared that the war would be over before they got to the front. All countries involved had greeted the war with enthusiasm hoping to fight for 'King and country'. Conscription Conscription was introduced... ...re that this could never happen again. America on the other hand wanted to keep Germany from being punished too much incase any thing like this happen again. Britain was in the middle of all this. They understood were both nations were coming from. They agreed on the punishment and forced Germany to sign the treaty of Versailles. The British blockade had starved the Germans into surrendering. The German public had nicknamed the government the 'November Criminals'. The League of Nations had been created by woodrow Wilson but when he backed out, the league was left with no real power. The permanent members were still recovering after war. The league had more defeats then victories and rarely brought peace to rising conflicts. The American public had felt they should never have gotten involved with European affairs.