Why British Men Enlisted in the British Army in 1914

555 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Why did the first world war break out

Why British Men Enlisted in the British Army in 1914 When Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, Europe erupted. The Austro-Hungarian Empire invaded Serbia; Russia sends troops to its borders with Austria and Hungary. Germany declares war on Russia and France and marches into Belgium and Britain declares war with Germany and her allies. Although Britain already had a well-trained professional army, it was far too small to be able to stand a chance against the huge German army that was more than three times its size. As a result of this Lord Kitchener immediately went on a recruiting campaign calling on all men aged between 19 and 30 to enlist in the British Army. There was a huge response, during August and September 1914 736,000 Britons volunteered for the army. In this essay, I will explore the reasons why the response was so successful at the start of the war. The majority of men went out to fight out of a sense of patriotism, honour and duty. They loved their King and country to the extent that they felt it was worth dying for. They thought it was a matter of honour and duty to fight for the British Empire if a foreign force threatened it. Propaganda helped enforce the British portrayal the Germans as evil and sadistic. Every single atrocity that the Germans committed was reported at home. When an American passenger ship was sunk by German u-boats many people were shocked, their idea of war was something that only involved soldiers not civilians or traders. This inspired people to volunteer in the hope of finding a way of getting revenge. Things that happened in industrial cities like Scarborough, where German hot ... ... middle of paper ... ...If he does not think that you and your country are worth fighting for - do you think he is WORTHY of you?.' The glamour of a uniform and travelling to different countries also attracted a number of men. Men who had never travelled past the nearest town or city were after the chance of an adventure. And especially since every one expected the war to be over by Christmas it felt like a holiday for some. Patriotism, honour, duty as well as pride in ones town or city played a considerable part in explaining why men volunteered. Propaganda pushed men to enlist as a way of getting revenge for all the deaths in places like Scarborough committed by the Germans. Women too played a vital role in moving men to volunteer, particularly the Order of the White Feather which disgraced men in public by labelling them s cowards.

Show More
Related

  • ThestuAnalysis of For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War by James M. McPherson

    1162 Words  | 3 Pages

    Overall McPherson’s reasons for the soldiers motivations were clear and concise, easy to follow and understand allowing for easy interpretation of the book. McPherson also includes multiple quotes from various letters and diary entries to support his statements which gives his statements credibility. The reasons for motivation presented in the book were convincing and were supported by numerous quotes.

    Read More

  • Civil War Diary Of Cyrus F. Boyd

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Boyd talks about how everyone was very eager to volunteer to join the military to have fun and to make some money and it seemed to be very easy because the war was expected to be very short. Things started to look a bit different even when, the volunteers got to the first destination to be sworn into duty. They started to wonder why they were being sworn in to service for 3 years when they all thought the war was going to be very short. Boyd and the rest of them figured that the government must know something more than everyone else knows. Even during the beginning of the service the conditions for the service did not look as good as they had expected, and the officer had seen that the volunteers started having second guesses about doing it so they put them into more comfortable quarters to keep them from going home. During the war most of the time the conditions were horrible. There were many problems with the soldiers during the war. Many died from being wounded, being shot, and the worst of all was the disease. The conditions were so horrible that many men couldn't get enough sleep and even when they did get sleep they were sleeping in the rain or in the snow.

    Read More

  • The American Experience: The Civilian Conservation Corps

    1602 Words  | 4 Pages

    The men were able to provide relief for their families as well as themselves. When the men would go off to camp, that would allow the parents to just provide for the other children and also still be stress free while their son was at camp because they knew that the CCC was a safe camp and they would be well taken care of there. The enrollees felt better after joining CCC because they had well-prepared meals that some did not have at home, and care that they never had before. The CCC camp caused public debate.

    Read More

  • Compare Civil War To The Modern Day

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    out of a sense of duty or retribution. Others may have enlisted to defend themselves and their

    Read More

  • The Believe that Conscientious Objectors were Nothing but Cowards

    1839 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the First World War, Britain introduced conscription for the first time to massively increase the input of power of their army had and forced men aged 16-19 to serve in the army. However, a group of roughly 16,800 men refused to serve. These groups of people were called Conscientious Objectors; sometimes called COs or Conchies; and many were very religious and believed that thou shall not kill as it is a sin in the Bible. This was a main point that most Conscientious Objectors did not take any part during the First World War as they believed it would result in pointless bloodshed. The Government’s and general public’s view on Conscientious Objectors was that Conscientious Objectors were unpatriotic cowards and the Government used propaganda to manipulate the general public’s view on Conscientious Objectors by showing that they would not aid the Britain and were weak. As a result they were treated harshly. The Government made being a Conscientious Objector very hard and difficult as they would enforce tribunals which consisted of ex- military officials who were biased as they were for the First World War. Therefore, these people gave huge prison sentences to Conscientious Objectors as a scare tactic to reduce the number of Conscientious Objectors. Historians use interpretations to show the message behind each source to see it’s reliable or useful. Also this is done to see if the source itself is a primary or secondary interpretation which shows if the source’s view and meaning is from the author of sources (primary interpretation) or giving a generalised views on people who were there at the time (secondary interpretation).

    Read More

  • Essay On The Relationship Between Shame And Courage In The Things They Carried

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although the soldiers were united and served for the same goal, each of the men had a different motivation. For O’Brien, his motivation to join the war was the shame of running away. Almost all of the characters were afraid of being ashamed, and that served as a drive for them to do acts of heroism and similarly acts of stupidity. For example, in the story “On the Rainy River”, shame drove O’Brien to do an act of heroism as a fear of being ashamed. O’Brien wrote “For more than twenty years I 've had to live with it, feeling the shame, trying to

    Read More

  • The Vietnam War Draft

    1650 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the majority of the war, men were guided into civilian and military positions through a policy that the Selective Service Director Lewis B. Hershey called "channeling." The draft system used induction as a threat to "channel" people into more desirable pursuits that were in the interests of the nation. For instance, an engineer earned a deferment from the war because he was needed at home while a person who did not have a deferment could be inducted into the army. For every solider in combat, there were many other positions that needed to be filled...

    Read More

  • Reasons for People's Objections to World War I

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    the ages of 18 and 41 were all forced to join the war. This Service

    Read More

  • New York City Draft Riots

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Conscription Act delivered the final straw in the long list of discrepancies, the catalyst that turned that small forest fire into a raging inferno of hate and fear. The white working class (mostly Irish immigrants) were infuriated, they couldn’t understand how they, white, hard-working voters were being punished. The government was forcing them to fight a war they didn’t support and the only way they could avoid it was to pay 300 dollars (a years wages for most), yet they would pay African Americans 1,000 dollars for volunteering. The new federal draft conditions also expanded to include a wider age range of men it would take. “The conscription law targeted men between the ages of 20 and 35, and all unmarried men up to age 45.” Adding to the already high tensions of laborers, since the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation they ...

    Read More

  • Band of Brothers Analysis and Summary

    1683 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are few companies in the 101st Airborne that achieved the status the men of Easy Company would gain during their career in World War II. From the making of formation of the company at Camp Toccoa, in Georgia, the men of Easy Company were destined to impact the course of the war. They became legends in American military history with their acts of bravery and heroics they showed in the face of the German army. From Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, their fame grew with each great mission they accomplished. The generations that would follow respected the uniform they wore, and the company’s comradeship grew deeper than a normal soldier’s companionship would in a war with his fellow- man. Throughout the book, Stephen Ambrose, pointed out the men of Easy Company were given the toughest missions in the war clearly because they were the élite, the best of the best to say. But it would go deeper making these men into brothers, a band of brothers.

    Read More

  • Ordinary Men

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...icemen. Secondly, after the first murder, the Battalion no longer had the chance to leave. They were forced to shoot from there on out. Even still, members were still hurt by what they were doing. I believe, if members walked out after the war and could shoot someone without their feelings being hurt, they would be a killer.

    Read More

  • Why The USA Joined World War I?

    446 Words  | 1 Pages

    I was the representative of the United States during the debate on the Treaty of Versailles. The United States had entered the war in 1917 because of the German Submarine Warfare and the Zimmerman Telegram. Overall we had spent $22’625’583’000 on the war, mobilized 4’335’000 men in total, and the Allied Powers, including the US, had won the war overall. Our plans for money were to have the Central Powers pay for roughly 11 million in reparations and expenses, and the Allied Powers to pay 5 million in total in reparations for trade from the US. We were also accepting raw materials and had allowed a time extension for the countries in ca of financial issues. The US felt as if we did not have to change the boundaries because we are not part of Europe and we do not have the right to do so. We had also been planning on giving the Allied Powers 16-18% of our remaining military troops, and 0.7% to Central Powers for monitoring.

    Read More

  • Should Child Soldiers Be Allowed In The Military Research Paper

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    Those who are forcibly recruited are forced to fight and they get taken away from their families. Those who joined willingly probably didn’t join because they want to, but because they wanted to escape hunger and poverty. When they are forced to join, they have to follow orders, and in some cases if you don’t do what you’re told to do, you get killed. They get recruited because they can easily be intimidated, and since most lack mental maturity, they tend to be manipulated easily. Others

    Read More

  • Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    Band of Brothers is a fascinating book that captures moments lived by soldiers during World War II. It specifically relates to the History of a small unit of paratroopers known as Easy Company, 506 Regiment, 101st Airborne. It is a story that follows the company from its inception to the capture of Hitler’s nest. It begins with the training of these soldiers at Camp Toccoa, Georgia. The 140 members of easy company who were young men from different social levels were physically and mentally trained. This particular company had an extremely harsh training, but many believe it is because of this training that they were considered as one of the best rifle companies in the army.

    Read More

  • Reasons For Entering WWI

    438 Words  | 1 Pages

    The United States objectives before the war were continued and added to during the war. A world safe for democracy, protecting trade and their economic interests were just some of the countless objectives stated by the U.S before the war. Other objectives such as Wilson’s fourteen points and the League of Nations were incorporated during the war. Entering World War I, the united States held many objectives some were soon achieved, others failed which caused the U.S to be viewed as a failure.

    Read More

More about Why British Men Enlisted in the British Army in 1914

Open Document