Department of British StudiesFaculty of world Studies

University of TehranProfessor: Vaez-Zade

The Impacts of the First and the Second World Wars On Political & Social Affairs

By: Maryam Shariat, Pante’a Zangane& Azam Hashemi

First World War (The Great War)

1914-1918

Allied Powers : British Empire, France , The USA, Russia, Italy & Japan

Britain’s Prime Minister: Asquith (Liberal)

Central Powers: Germany, Austria- Hungry, Ottoman Empire & Bulgaria

Result: Allied victory

Second World War1939-1945

Allied Powers :

British Empire, France, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, China, Canada & South Africa

Axis Powers:

Germany, Japan, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Italy

Result: Allied Victory

In short term: widening of government powers through: Defense of the Realm Act (DORA) of 1914 to impose censorship

and to nationalize industries considered vital to the war effort.

Growing government interference in the lives of the British people through a series of smaller measures designed to condition the population to being at war (e.g.: reduced opening hours of public houses, increased tax on alcohol, introduction of a minimum wage in munitions factories, strikes banned, summer time introduced to save fuel; and introduction of food rationing)

Conscription: introduced for all men under 41 in 1916.

In long term, however; the major split between Asquith and Lloyd George from 1915 onwards. An experiment in coalition Government (in contrast with Party

Government)

THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR ON BRITAIN:

Asquith: a peacetime Prime Minister, (his main concerns in 1914: to prevent any split in his Liberal administration.)

The Shell Crisis of 1915: (a shortage of artillery shells on the front lines of World War I that led to a political crisis in Britain)

Lloyd George appointed first as the head of Ministry of Munitions in 1916

Lloyd George’s recommendations: the introduction of conscription & that the political and military leadership of the war should be more closely integrated.

the fall of the Asquith government and his replacement by Lloyd George in 1916 as the head of a coalition government.

Lloyd George’ competence: boldness, a capacity to take swift decisions with minimal consultation and a capacity for charismatic and inspirational leadership.

Britain’s victory by November 1918. ‘coupon’ agreement in 1918 between the Conservatives and a large part of the Liberal

Party.

Coalition Government

Asquith : The Liberal Prim

Minister

Fall of Lloyd George in 1922: Lloyd George The Head of the Coalition Government

Factors that Contributed to the demise of the Coalition government:

inappropriate economic measures (e.g. the post-war boom was suffocated by unnecessarily severe policy of deflation)

Alleged corruption :sale of political honours in return for contributions to a political fund under his control

the lack of a party base.

His mishandling of the Chanak crisis in the Ottoman Empire and withdrawal of the Conservatives’ support.

In a difficult position on the outbreak of war, not even close to achieving a breakthrough.

Strongly against the war and for the restoration of peace.

Strongly motivated by patriotic sentiments into the Coalition Government by Arthur Henderson

Likely to be split, and permanently damaged by the war. But the reverse happened.

The war had a leveling effect on society. It provided an indication that the reduction of class differences could be accomplished. The 1918 Representation of the People Act greatly swelled the ranks of Labour voters since it enfranchised men from the lower levels of the working class.

Labour Party Position(led by: James Ramsay MacDonald)

James Ramsay MacDonald

Leader of the Labour Party

the overall political effects of the First

World War

Britain underwent a radical political change in its relationship with Ireland.

Asquith’s Liberal Government had introduced the third Home Rule Bill in 1912, with the full support of the 84 Irish Nationalist MPs, which the war put and to.

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACT

750,000 men, or about 9 per cent of men under 45 loss and the shortage of houses estimated at some 800,000.

the staple industries—iron and steel, coal and shipbuilding—experienced a resurgence.

the loss of two-thirds of the British market in South America which had been won by the United States during the upheaval of the war.

the establishment of the Ministry of Health immediately after the war,

the secession of Ireland :a thirty year old constraint on the Conservatives was suddenly removed.

many anti-Conservative votes were transferred from the Liberals to Labour without building up Labour sufficiently to become a real rival to the Conservatives.

Conservatives: the party of continuity (deep roots in the past & strong prospects for the future)

Underlying principle: Moderation (movement towards the centre of British politics, a successful strategy)

Stanley Baldwin the major asset that the Conservatives had (Churchill felt that he was ‘the greatest party manager the Conservatives ever had’)

Luck: immense boost through the troubles of others. Finding the consensus was what Baldwin, above all, aimed to

do and he did it with remarkable success.

WHY DID THE CONSERVATIVES DOMINATETHE INTER-WAR PERIOD?

(led by: Stanley Baldwin 1923-1937)

During the Second World War, a Ministry of Information ,charged with the task of maintaining morale.

The Ministry of information (Stephen Taylor) believed that the factors determining morale could be divided into the ‘material 'and the ‘mental’.

Therefore the Government and its allies in the

media made to promote the ‘mental factors’.

Persuading the people

Four main activities : the censoring of the supply and transmission of news and information. the setting of guidelines for the output content of the BBC and the film industry, the monitoring of civilian morale, the production and commissioning of propaganda.

The news media took their cue from Goverment (Churchill).

The official tendency was towards glossing over bad news, but unusual care was taken by all the media.

Controlling the news

For the propagandist it was axiomatic that an essential precondition of high civilian morale was the certainty of victory.

Churchill made sure that the true significance of the victory was made explicit. He demonstrated the confidence in victory that he was asking others to have by himself remaining in London during the Blitz. His popularity ratings remained high, even when satisfaction with the Government’s performance fell; but he was also himself a factor of reassurance.

Reassurance

The message of reassurance came in the form of pamphlets, press advertisements, posters and postcards.

Press emphasizing the strength of the Commonwealth bond and the Ministry described the navies of the Empire as ‘the most powerful sea force in the world.

The theme of reassurance is prominent in the films during the crisis period, The commercial film makers, also echoed the reassuring message of the official films.

The BBC contributed to active reassurance through the medium of its features and talks.

The BBC kept its audience abreast of the ever-increasing involvement of the USA in the war.

And use a pathways of landscape, history, culture and national character, focus on the people who made up the British, also they provide music to releasing and enhancing patriotic feeling.

The BBC

When it comes to assessing the effect of attempts to reassure the public and to stimulate its patriotic feelings and behavior, Churchill’s speeches stand out as playing a unique role.

AND: Like their counterparts in films and radio,

those working in the print media discovered, if they did not already know, that there was an inbuilt resistance in the British public to being told what they should think and how they should behave.