1. How were civilians affected by World War 1?
Aim: To revise key details about the British Home Front during the First World War

2. Total War What was the Total War?
A war where the countries drafts all the people and collects all resources that they can.
When did this war take place?
Around 1916
Where did it take place?
Europe
Why did the Total War occur?
The war turned into a Total War because the countries expected the war to be short so they weren’t prepared for long term war, when their supplies ran out, total war was their only option.
What was the significance of the war?
WWI turned into a Total War which affected the home front and government a lot.
It affected women too because with the absence of men they were expected to take over more jobs and help out with the war effort.
They received the rights to new jobs, to vote, and the right to apartments.

3. WWI on the Home Front
WWI was a Total War – required populations on the home front to mobilize their resources completely toward the war effort; civilian population centers also became targets of the war effort – not since the US Civil War & the Napoleonic Wars had the world seen such complete mobilization for war
Mass conscription was carried out by all nations – most European nations had armies of 1-2 million – eventually over 70 million would be drafted worldwide – many women would volunteer services as nurses at home & the front
Entire economies were geared toward war production – led to rationing of all sorts of essentials as raw materials & agricultural products were utilized to feed the war machine – led to increased centralization & gov’t control of economies
WWI saw an increase in restrictions of civil liberties – the press was censored as was speech & mail; due process of law was suspended for those suspected of treason; German books were burned, speaking German was banned & lynchings of German-Brits were interned in Britain and its colonies
Women played an important role in the war effort – taking up jobs as men were sent to the home front – over 35% of the workforce was women in many European nations during the war

4. War on the Home Front
Winning new type of war required use of all society’s resources
Total war, governments took stronger control of citizens’ lives
New controls changes nations’ industries, economies
Factories produced military equipment, citizens conserved food, other goods
Government Actions
Sought to control public opinion
Censored newspaper reports about fighting to keep from discouraging public
Created propaganda, information to influence opinions, encourage volunteers
Posters, pamphlets, articles about enemy’s brutal actions
Government Control

5. DORA Newspapers and radio broadcasts were censored
The government could control what people heard about the war
This made sure the public continued to support the war effort by only hearing good things

6. Propaganda What is this?
These were ideas spread around to influence public opinions or to go against a cause. It is a method that the government used to create enthusiasm for the war also.
When did this occur?
August 1914
Where did this take place?
In Europe
Who used propaganda?
The European government
What is the significance of using propaganda?
They used it because before the wars it stirred up national hatreds.

7. WW I Propaganda - The Poster War
Propaganda - the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person.
A deliberate attempt to influence individuals by leading one to behave “as though his response were his own decision.”
In war, it’s used as an instrument for maintaining unity, good will and a common purpose:
Maintaining and boosting the morale of soldiers.
Unifying society at home in support of the war effort.

8. Propaganda & WWI
WWI was one of the 1st wars in which a massive propaganda campaign was unleashed – usually to gain support for the war and/or demonize the enemy
Germany faced an onslaught of negative propaganda – stemming from their illegal invasion of Belgium (and treatment of civilians) – “savages” “barbarians” and “Huns” were often-used phrases
Propaganda was used to sell war bonds, persuade volunteers/recruits and to demonize the enemy (justify the war effort)
Germany (and Adolf Hitler) would learn the lessons of “winning the propaganda war” at home and utilize it effectively in WWII
The propaganda that “Germany started WWI” would be critical in the post-war agreements & shaping of the post-war world

9. Propaganda was used to stimulate or revive national morale and damage the enemy
Propaganda was used in the church, in classrooms, in the cinema, in music halls, in postcards, in cartoons, in porcelain figures, in jigsaw puzzles, children’s toys, and even in Christmas decorations
Example: Christmas scene that had a trench scene with a tank

10. The following posters are divided into three parts:
Propaganda symbols
The use of the soldier on the battlefront as a universal propaganda image.
The home-front, especially the evolution in the portrayal of women.

11. Propaganda Symbols
Identify and vilify the enemy.
Glorify the Allies
Portrayal of Women as Victims.

12. Britain 1917
Artist: David Wilson

13. USA
1917

14. One last effort & we will get them.
Artist: Unknown
France 1917

15. USA
1918

16. Sottoscrivete al Prestito
Subscribe for the Loan
Artist: Giovanni Capranesi
Italy 1917

17. Canada
1918

18. Liberation Loan France 1918

19. The use of the soldier on the battlefront
Defender of Civilization
Heroes
One who always does his duty despite hardships.

20. They Shall Not Pass
France
1918

21. We Will Get Them
France 1916

22. Zeichnet 7. Kriegsanleihe - Wiener Kommerzialbank
Translation: Subscribe for the 7th War Loan
Alfred Offner Germany

23. Canada
1917

24. Offering the Army
and Navy
Germany 1916

25. For The Supreme
Effort
France 1915

26. USA
1917

27. THE HOME-FRONT Evolution in the portrayal of women.
Shifted from one of women as victims to a more positive image:
As care givers.
Factory workers in jobs formerly held by men.

28. USA
1918

29. USA
1918

30. USA 1918

31. The Frenchwoman in War-Time.
Artist: G. Capon - France 1917

32. Censorship
British journalists were expelled from France in August 1914
Official Press Bureau allowed only six war correspondents
Persuaded writers, artists, and intellectuals to publish materials in support of the war: Rudyard Kipling, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, and HG Wells

33. Propaganda and Censorship
News was tightly controlled-censorship
Reports aimed to:
Maintain morale
Encourage civilians to support the war effort
Create hatred and suspicion of the enemy
Newspapers, radio broadcasts, films and even board games were used

34. The Home Front and Censorship
Not told about high death toll
Romanticized the battlefields
“soldiers have died a beautiful death, in noble battle, we shall rediscover poetry…epic and chivalrous”

35. Censorship Censorship
“Newspapers described troops as itching to go over the top.”
“Government reported to the press that life in the trenches promoted good health and clear air”

36. Propaganda and Censorship
The film, The Battle of the Somme, was filmed in 1916
The Battle was a disaster for the British Army
Failed objectives
Enormous causalities
What can the film tell an historian about the use of propaganda in WW1?

37. BATTLE OF THE SOMME MOVIE
For the first time the home front in Britain was exposed to the horrors of modern war with the release of the propaganda film, The Battle of the Somme which used actual footage from the first days of the battle.
The film spanned five reels and lasted 63 minutes .
It was first screened on 10 August, 1916, while the battle was still raging.
On 21 August the film began showing simultaneously in 34 London cinemas.

38. Battle of the Somme Video Clips:

39. Battle of the Somme Film
Created by Malins and McDowell- who were sent to the British Fourth Army to do some general filming.
Ended up turning into a documentary of the Somme offensive.
On July 1, Malins filmed the famous scene of the explosion of a large British mine under the German Hawthorn Redoubt.

40. Battle of the Somme Film
The film caused awareness- most notably from some faked scenes of men falling dead and wounded.
Led to the establishment of the War Office Cinema Committee in November 1916.
Eventually war films were replaced with newsreels.

41. SOMME MOVIE CONT…
The film was screened for British soldiers at rest in France where it provided new recruits with some idea of what they were about to face.
Soldier's main complaint was failure of film to capture sounds of battle. However, as a silent film, the titles could be remarkably forthright, describing images of injury and death.
The film was shown to British public as a morale booster and was favorably received.
British public's response to film was enormous with an estimated 20 million tickets being sold in two months. On this basis, The Battle of the Somme remains one of the most successful British films ever.

42. Effects of the Battle of the Somme
The film, The Battle of the Somme, is seen by historians as a propaganda triumph
People at home felt they could see how their efforts were helping the troops
Although it showed some casualties, it also showed advancing troops, helping morale

43. Propaganda and Censorship
The film, Britain’s Effort, was created in 1917
What was its purpose?

44. Propaganda and Censorship
It is hard to measure how effective propaganda was
BUT
Support for the war was reasonably constant
Only really changed with the enormous causalities at the Battle of the Somme in 1916
People read lots of newspapers, and watched the films, so they were being exposed to it

45. Effects of Propaganda
The Parliamentary Recruiting Committee (PRC) eventually printed almost 6 million posters and over 14 million leaflets at a total cost of £24,000.
For every PRC leaflet produced in , at least ten had been produced by the three main political parties during the 1910 election campaigns.
Propaganda was certainly not the most significant factor in Germany’s defeat.

46. The Brown Family’s Four War Christmas
What is happening in each frame?
Explain why these things are happening, based on what you know about life on the Home Front

49. Women and the War Effort

50. Key points
Before the war, the most common
employment for a woman was as a
domestic servant.
However, women
were also employed in what were
seen to be suitable occupations e.g.
teaching, nursing, office work.

51. Key points
When war broke out in August 1914,
thousands of women were sacked
from jobs in dressmaking, millinery
and jewellery making.They needed
work – and they wanted to help the
war effort.

52. Key points
Suffragettes stopped all militant
action in order to support the war
effort.

53. Obstacles They Still Faced
In 1914, Dr. Elsie Inglis offered to raise an ambulance unit to help the wounded soldiers. She was told by the Ministry of War…”My good lady, go home and sit still.”
But despite this view, women played a vital role in winning the war.

54. Key points
At first, there was much trade union
opposition and the employment of
women had not increased
significantly before the summer of
1915.
In July 1915, a ‘Right to
Work’ ,march was organised by a
leading suffragette, Christabel
Pankhurst.

55. Key points
The introduction of conscription in
1916 led to an increase in the
number of women employed in all
sectors of the economy.

56. “War Girls” by Jessie Pope
There’s the girl who clips your ticket for the train,
And the girl who speeds the lift from floor to floor,
There’s the girl who does a milk-round in the rain,
And the girl who calls for orders at your door.
Strong, sensible, and fit,
They’re out to show their grit,
And tackle jobs with energy and knack.
No longer caged and penned up.
They’re going to keep their end up
Till the khaki soldier boys come marking back.

57. “War Girls” continued There’s the motor girl who drives a heavy van,
There’s the butcher girl who brings your joint of meat,
There’s the girl who cries ‘All fares, please!’ like a man,
And the girl who whistles taxis up the street.
Beneath each uniform
Beats a heart that’s soft and warm,
Though of a canny mother-wit they show no lack;
But a solemn statement that is,
They’ve no time for love and kisses
Till the khaki boys come marching back.

58. Women in War War on the Home Front
Millions of men at battle
Work on home front done by women
Some worked in factories, producing war supplies
Others served as nurses to wounded
Contributions of women
Transformed public views of women
Helped women win right to vote

59. Women on the Home Front Women took war factory jobs
Received lower wages than males
Food shortages made running a household difficult

60. Women and Jobs
Women were asked to take over jobs that had not been available to them before
Women were employed in jobs that had once been considered beyond their capacity.
Jobs included:
Chimney Sweeps
Truck Drivers
Farm laborers
Factory workers

61. Key points
Many women were paid good wages,
especially in munitions factories, but
in most cases they were paid lower
rates than men.
Improved wages did permit greater
independence for some women.

62. Key points
Women became more visible in the
world of work. They were seen to be
doing important jobs.

63. Women and Work “There’s the girl who clips your ticket for the train,
And the girl who speeds the lift from floor to floor,
There’s the girl who calls for orders at your door.
Strong, sensible, and fit.
They’re out to show their frit.
And tackle jobs with energy and knack.
No longer caged and penned up, They’re going to keep their end up
Till the khaki soldier boys come marching back.”
The place of women in the workforce was far from secure
Both men and women expected that many of the new jobs were only temporary
This was evident in the British poem “War Girls” written in 1916

64. Women and Work
At the end of the war, governments would quickly remove women from the jobs they had encouraged them to take earlier
The work benefits for women from World War One were short-lived
By 1919, there would be 650,000 unemployed women in Great Britain
Wages for women who were still employed were also then lowered
In some countries, the role women played in wartime economies had a positive impact on the women’s movement
The most obvious effects was the right to vote given to women in Germany, Austria, and the USA immediately after the war
In Britain, women over the age of 30 were given the right to vote and be elected to Parliament in 1918
Many upper and middle class women gained new freedoms as their young women took jobs, got their own apartments, and became independent

65. Upper and Middle Class Women
Women’s Police Service
Women’s Patrols Committee of the Nation Union of Women Workers
Women’s Emergency Corp
Women’s Volunteer Rescue
Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service
Territorial Force Nursing Service
Voluntary Aid Detachment (VADs)---74,000 women
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY)

66. Motor Ambulance Drivers in France 1917
Poster from WWI calling on women to do their patriotic duty by fulfilling their 'role' in the home and industry.

67. Women's Police Volunteers compare notes with a police constable.
© Imperial War Museum Q31088

68. Motor Ambulance Drivers in France 1917

69. A Woman Ambulance Driver

72. Red Cross Nurses

73. Women in the Army Auxiliary

76. Women’s Land Army (WLA)
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corp (WAAC) was for working and lower middle class women
Formed in March 1917
41,000 women volunteered
Women’s Land Army (WLA)
Opened to all classes
16,000 women
Paid less than unskilled male agricultural workers
Overall by end of the war, 260,000 women were farming and producing food for the soldiers and home front.

77. Working in the Fields

78. WLA Handbook reminded its members:
“that they were doing a man’s work, and so you’re dressed rather like a man, but remember just because you wear smocks and breeches, you should take care to behave like a British girl who expects chivalry and respect from everyone she meets.”
The Times in July 1917 described the WLA women as:
“the land women, bronzed, freckled, and splendidly healthy.”

80. Munitions Workers

81. 947,000 women were employed in munitions work
Women in Munitions
947,000 women were employed in munitions work
300 lost their lives to TNT poisoning and from explosions in the factories

82. Munitionettes:
Primarily for lower middle class and working class
Women in worked in the munition factories
Shift work and very long hours
Horrible working conditions: badly ventilated, poorly lit, and overrun by rats
One women working in a munitions factory in Lanchashire walked three miles to and from work, worked 12 hour shifts, and shared a room with five other women
Whereas in 1914 there were 212,000 women working in the munitions industry, by the end of the war it had increased to 950,000.
Christopher Addison, who succeeded David Lloyd George as Minister of Munitions, estimated in June, 1917, that about 80 per cent of all weapons and shells were being produced by women.

83. In World War I Britain, about 1 million mostly lower-class women worked in munitions jobs.
They were called “munitionettes” or “Tommy’s sister.”
Unlike nurses, the munitions workers could not profess pacifism since their work directly contributed to the fighting.
In fact, in 1918, Scottish women working at a shell factory raised money and bought a warplane for the air force.
However, the munitionettes’ main motivation was financial, contrary to the popular belief that it was patriotic.
The women found the wages “at first livable and later lucrative.”
Compared with domestic work, war work “offered escape from jobs of badly paid drudgery.”
However, although they earned more than they would have doing women’s work, the women received nowhere near the fortunes they had been led to expect when deciding to take war work.139

84. Hazards:
TNT poisoning
The chemicals attack the red corpuscles in the blood and the tissues of organs like the liver
Their skin became jaundiced due to the toxin and their skins turned yellow
They became known as “Canaries”
Health Effects: loss of memory, sight disorders, convulsions, delirium, and death
109 women died from this

85. Nottingham July 1918---35 dead East London in Jan 1917---69 dead
Hazards Continued:
The ‘dope’ varnish applied to aircraft canvas caused many women to collapse unconscious.
An explosion at the National Filling Factory near Leeds killed 35 women in Dec 1916.
Other explosions:
Nottingham July dead
East London in Jan dead

87. Edward Skinner, For King and Country (1916)

88. “Women At Munition Making” by Mary Gabrielle Collins
Gaining nourishment for the thoughts to be,
Are bruised against the law,
‘Kill, kill.’
They must take part in defacing and destroying the natural body
Which, certainly during this dispensation
Is the shrine of the spirit.
O God!
Throughout the ages we have seen,
Again and again
Men by thee created
Cancelling each other.
And we have marvelled at the seeming annihilation
Of Thy work.
But this goes further,
Taints the fountain head,
Mounts like a poison to the Creator’s very heart.
Must It anew be sacrificed on earth?
Their hands should minister unto the flame of life,
Their fingers guide
The rosy teat, swelling with milk,
To the eager mouth of the suckling babe
Or smooth with tenderness
Softly and soothingly,
The heated brow of the ailing child.
Or stray among the curls
Of the boy or girl, thrilling to mother love.
But now,
Their hands, their fingers
Are coarsened in munition factories.
Their thoughts, which should fly
Like bees among the sweetest mind flowers,

89. The women working in factories began to play football during lunch-breaks.
Teams were formed and on Christmas Day in 1916, a game took place between Ulverston Munitions Girls and another group of local women.
The munitionettes won 11-5.
Soon afterwards, a game between munitions factories in Swansea and Newport.
The Hackney Marshes National Projectile Factory formed a football team and played against other factories in London.

90. Blyth Spartans Munition Girls - Munitionette Cup Winners 1918

91. Vaughan Ladies in 1918

92. Women and girls working at a Scottish sugar refinery.
© Imperial War Museum Q28345

94. “Munition Wages” by Madeline Ida Bedford
We’re all here today, mate,
Tomorrow---perhaps dead,
If Fate tumbles on us
And blows up our shed.
Afraid! Are yer kidding?
With money to spend!
Years back I wore tatters,
Now---silk stockings, mi friend!
I’ve bracelets and jewellery.
Rings envied by friends;
A sergeant to swank with,
And something to lend.
I drive out in taxis,
Do theatres in style.
And this is my verdict---
It is jolly worth while.
Earning high wages? Yus,
Five quid a week,
A woman, too, mind you,
I calls it dim sweet.
Ye’are asking some questions---
But bless yer, here goes:
I spends the whole racket
On good times and clothes.
Me saving? Elijah!
Yer do think I’m mad.
I’m acting the lady,
But----I ain’t living bad.
I’m having life’s good times.
See ‘ere, it’s like this:
The ‘oof come o’ danger,
A touch-and-go bizz.

95. “Munition Wages” continued
Worth while for tomorrow
If I’m blown to the sky,
I’ll have repaid mi wages
In death----and pass by.
What is the message of this poem?
What does it tell us about the dangers of the work women did during World War One?

98. French Women Factory Workers

99. Trade unionism proved to be the second legacy of the war.
Working conditions: unionism and pay
Trade unionism proved to be the second legacy of the war.
Female workers had been less unionised than their male counterparts.
This was because they tended to do part-time work and to work in smaller firms (which tended to be less unionised).
Also, existing unions were often hostile to female workers. World War One forced unions to deal with the issue of women's work.
The scale of women's employment could no longer be denied and rising levels of women left unmarried or widowed by the war forced the hands of the established unions.

100. In addition, feminist pressure on established unions and the formation of separate women's unions threatened to destabilise men-only unions.
The increase in female trade union membership from only 357,000 in 1914 to over a million by 1918 represented an increase in the number of unionised women of 160 percent.
This compares with an increase in the union membership of men of only 44 percent.

101. However, the war did not inflate women's wages.
Employers circumvented wartime equal pay regulations by employing several women to replace one man, or by dividing skilled tasks into several less skilled stages.
In these ways, women could be employed at a lower wage and not said to be 'replacing' a man directly.
By 1931, a working woman's weekly wage had returned to the pre-war situation of being half the male rate in more industries.

102. Germany:
In World War I, when the expected quick victory turned to protracted war, German women entered industrial jobs (about 700,000 in munitions industries by the end of the war),
and served as civilian employees in military jobs in rear areas (medical, clerical, and manual labor; women trained for jobs in the signal corps late in the war but never deployed).
German women won the vote after World War I, and some kept their jobs in industry.28

103. German Women Factory Workers

105. The wartime employment of women became a staple subject for humour.
© Imperial War Museum

106. For Recruitment

107. Women played an important role in persuading men to join the army.
In August 1914, Admiral Charles Fitzgerald founded the Order of the White Feather.
This organisation encouraged women to give out white feathers to young men who had not joined the army.

108. The British Army began publishing posters urging men to become soldiers.
Some of these posters were aimed at women.
One poster said: "Is your Best Boy wearing khaki? If not, don't you think he should be?"
Another poster read: "If you cannot persuade him to answer his country's call and protect you now, discharge him as unfit." The Mothers' Union also published a poster.
It urged its members to tell their sons: "My boy, I don't want you to go, but if I were you I should go."
The poster added: "On his return, hearts would beat high with thankfulness and pride."

109. Baroness Emma Orczy founded the Active Service League, an organisation that urged women to sign the following pledge: "At this hour of England's grave peril and desperate need I do hereby pledge myself most solemnly in the name of my King and Country to persuade every man I know to offer his services to the country, and I also pledge myself never to be seen in public with any man who, being in every way fit and free for service, has refused to respond to his country's call."

110. Financing the War

111. Russia:
During World War I, some Russian women took part in combat even during the Czarist period.
These women, motivated by a combination of patriotism and a desire to escape a drab existence, mostly joined up dressed as men.
A few, however, served openly as women. “The [Czarist] government had no consistent policy on female combatants.”
Russia’s first woman aviator was turned down as a military pilot, and settled for driving and nursing.
Another pilot was assigned to active duty, however.32

112. The most famous women soldiers were the “Battalion of Death.”
Its leader, Maria Botchkareva, a 25-year-old peasant girl (with a history of abuse by men), began as an individual soldier in the Russian army.
She managed (with the support of an amused local commander) to get permission from the Czar to enlist as a regular soldier.
After fighting off the frequent sexual advances and ridicule of her male comrades, she eventually won their respect – especially after serving with them in battle.
Botchkareva’s autobiography describes several horrendous battle scenes in which most of her fellow soldiers were killed running towards German machine-gun positions, and one in which she bayoneted a German soldier to death.
After two different failed attacks, she spent many hours crawling under German fire to drag her wounded comrades back to safety, evidently saving hundreds of lives in the course of her service at the front
. She was seriously wounded several times but always returned to her unit at the front after recuperating.
Clearly a strong bond of comradery existed between her and the male soldiers of her unit.33

113. Russian Women Soldiers

114. The battalion was formed in extraordinary circumstances, in response to a breakdown of morale and discipline in the Russian army after three horrible years of war and the fall of the Czarist government.
By her own account, Botchkareva conceived of the battalion as a way to shame the men into fighting (since nothing else was getting them to fight).
She argued that “numbers were immaterial, that what was important was to shame the men and that a few women at one place could serve as an example to the entire front….[T]he purpose of the plan would be to shame the men in the trenches by having the women go over the top first.” The battalion was thus exceptional and was essentially a propaganda tool.
As such it was heavily publicized: “Before I had time to realize it I was already in a photographer’s studio…. The following day this picture topped big posters pasted all over the city.”
Bryant wrote in 1918: “No other feature of the great war ever caught the public fancy like the Death Battalion, composed of Russian women. I heard so much about them before I left America….”35

115. The battalion began with about 2,000 women volunteers and was given equipment, a headquarters, and several dozen male officers as instructors. Botchkareva did not emphasize fighting strength but discipline (the purpose of the women soldiers was sacrificial).
Physical standards for enlistment were lower than for men.
She told the women, “We are physically weak, but if we be strong morally and spiritually we will accomplish more than a large force.”
She was preoccupied with upholding the moral standards and upright behavior of her “girls.”
Mostly, she emphasized that the soldiers in her battalion would have to follow traditional military discipline, not elect committees to rule as the rest of the army was doing.
“I did not organize this Battalion to be like the rest of the army. We were to serve as an example, and not merely to add a few babas [women] to the ineffective millions of soldiers now swarming over Russia.”
When most of the women rebelled against her harsh rule, Botchkareva stubbornly rejected pleas from Kerensky and others – including direct orders from military superiors – to allow formation of a committee.
Instead she reorganized the remaining 300 women who stayed loyal to her, and brought them to the front, fighting off repeated attacks by Bolsheviks along the way.
The battalion had new uniforms, a full array of war equipment, and 18 men to serve them (two instructors, eight cooks, six drivers, and two shoemakers).36

116. Other women’s battalions were formed in several other cities – apparently less than 1,000 women in all – but they suffered from a variety of problems, ranging from poor discipline to a lack of shoes and uniforms.
These other units never saw combat.
There was not another offensive before the Bolsheviks took power in October and sent most of the women soldiers home, telling them “to put on female attire.”39
The Battalion of Death, then, never tested an all-female unit’s effectiveness in combat.
Nonetheless, on one day in 1917, 300 women did go over the top side by side with 400 male comrades, advanced, and overran German trenches.
The women apparently were able to keep functioning in the heat of battle, and were able to adhere to military discipline.
These women were, of course, an elite sample of the most war-capable women in all of Russia.
Nonetheless, they did it – advanced under fire, retreated under fire, and helped provide that crucial element of leadership by which other nearby units were spurred into action, overcoming the inertia of fatigue and committee rule.
The Battalion of Death did this not as scattered individual women but as a coherent military unit of 300 women – instructed by Botchkareva that “they were no longer women, but soldiers.”40

117. Spies
“Mata Hari”
Real Name: Margareetha Geertruide Zelle
German Spy!

118. After the War
1 Women were expected to give way to men returning from the forces and return to pre-war ‘women’s work’.
2 The assumption that ‘a woman’s place is in the home’ returned.
3 The percentage of women at work returned to pre-war levels.
4 More women than before worked in offices.

119. After the War 5 Shorter skirts and hair became fashionable.
6 Women went out with men without a chaperone.
7 Women smoked and wore make-up in public for the first time.
8 In 1919: being female or married was no longer allowed to disqualify someone from holding a job in the professions or civil service.

120. Internment of Enemy Aliens
On October 22, 1914, in response to press campaigns calling for the round up of enemies at large on the home front, the British Cabinet ordered the arrest of un-naturalized male Germans, Austrians, and Hungarians between the ages of 17 and 45.
Internment camps were set up all over the mainland and on the Isle of Man.
But this was not enough, and after the sinking of the Lusitania, the press called for more.
Propagandists like Horatio Bottomley lashed out at the local Germans.
The press campaigns incited riots and looting of German shops and property in Britain.

121. Horatio Bottomley wrote:
“I call for a vendetta---a vendetta against every German in Britain---whether naturalized or not…You cannot naturalize an unnatural abortion, a hellish freak. But you can exterminate him.
We have been very patient---patient with the Government, patient with the enemy…thousands and thousands of German savages are roaming at large in our midst---and all the time our brave and honourable soldiers are being asphyxiated in the trenches; our wounded are tortured; prisoners are being starved and insulted; unfortified towns are being bombarded; peaceful civilians---old men, women, and children---are being murdered; trawlers and merchant vessels are being sunk; and now comes the crowning infamy of the Lusitania…
I should welcome the formation of a National Council of Righteous Retribution---a National Vendetta, pledged to exterminate every German-born man (God, forgive the term!) in Britain---and to deport every German-born woman and child…
As regards, naturalized Germans they should be registered, made to report themselves every day, and compelled to wear a distinctive badge.”
In John Bull on May 15, 1915

122. The Alien Presence
Many precautions were taken against aliens---resident foreigners even though they posed little threat to national security
There were 35,000 Germans in Britain---the third largest immigrant group after the Irish and the Jews
The German immigrants became the object of public suspicion and attack due to the imperial struggles in South Africa and the more recent naval arms race and spies scare

123. “The Half-Man” by William Watson
Sparing not age, sparing not youth,
They tore their way with wolfish tooth
Through human homes, through human hopes:
Not men, not men, but lycanthropes!
Thus do not the fabled monsters rear
Their heads anew; thus reappear
Old Shapes that free us and appal;
And the Half-Man is worst of all.

124. Internment
Distinguished men with German connections were hounded by the press---even Lord Haldane, simply because he had been partly educated in Germany.
He had been Minister for War until 1912, re-modelled the army and founded the Territorials.
Yet he was victimized by the press until a formation of a coalition government in May 1915, when he was removed from office.

125. The Alien Presence
The spy scare continued until 1915 with many people caught up in wild rumors and false accusations
The Daily Mail advised its readers that if a waiter serving them appeared German, but claimed Swiss, they should demand to see his passport
Because of the fear of spies using carrier pigeons, the DORA required owners to have a permit for homing pigeons
In reality, some 22 known German spies were rounded up in 1914, and 11 were executed

126. The Alien Presence
However, the public increasingly demanded the internment of aliens
This led to 30,000 interned mostly on the Isle of Man under the Alien Restrictions Act of August 1914
Fueled by many stories of German atrocities in Belgium and elsewhere, actual or supposed Germans were subjected to harassment
There were at least 7 deaths in the East End riots in May 1915 following the torpedoing of the Lusitania
Even dachshunds, the Germanically named dogs, were stoned on the streets sometimes

127. The Alien Presence
Air raid by the zeppelins also increased anti-German feelings
They even went after people with German surnames who had lived in the area for generations and had Cockney accents
There were large scale demonstrations against enemy aliens in a number of cities in 1918
And a petition was signed with 1.2 million signatures
Orchestras began to avoid German composers
The German measles became known as the Belgian Flush

128. The Isle of Man
The Isle of Man was used by the British Government for the internment of enemy aliens during both World War One and World War Two and there is still a great deal of interest, primarily from family historians who had relatives or friends detained in the camps.
During there were two large camps on the Island at Douglas and Knockaloe near Peel.
The first was a requisitioned holiday camp whilst the second was purpose built using prefabricated huts and even had its own railway link.
Large numbers of internees were held for up to five years until the camps finally closed in 1919.

130. The Alien Presence---Jews
Jews also came under physical attack in East London in 1917 in the belief that they were dodging conscription