RECRUITMENT

‘I shall need one million men.’

Lord Kitchener

When World War I broke out men were desperate to enlist in the army. They had a number of reasons for this;

It was widely believed that it would be a short war. The men and their families thought they would be ‘home by Christmas’.

Most men had never been abroad before the thought of travelling to France or Belgium was very exciting.

Source A was written by Alfred Blake, and is taken from his personal memoirs.

‘I had a dead end job in a dead end town. Here was a chance to see the world and boys like me hadn’t the money to travel then’

Some young men saw it as a huge adventure. Men in uniform were kissed in the streets by girls allowed free onto buses and shown respect by other men. It was also a chance to quit a boring or difficult job even escape family troubles.

Source B is from E. Raymond, Tell England published in 1922

“Eighteen by jove!” said the Colonel. “You’ve timed your lives wonderfully my boys. Nowadays you boys are the richest thing England has got.”

The government ran a huge propaganda campaign to encourage men to enlist. The campaign was organised by Lord Kitchener, and the men who enlisted were known as ‘Kitchener’s army’. They were told they were fighting to defend ‘King and Country’ and that it was their duty.

During the first few months of the War the government also published pamphlets such as the ‘Report on Alleged German Outrages’ that seemed to give official proof that the German army had tortured Belgian civilians. Stories of babies being bayoneted, their heads used as footballs, and nurses and nuns being raped were often told as truth. Most Scots believed the stories of atrocities and joined up to punish the Germans

.

Women were encouraged to persuade their men to enlist, and propaganda posters that were produced were aimed at them. The message in the posters was clear, if your man is not prepared to look after his country when it needs him, he’ll let you down too. Get a braver boyfriend!

An organisation call the Order of the White Feather was set up which encouraged women to give out white feathers to young men who had not joined the army.

Source C is from Margaret Smith whose father was given a white feather on his way to work.

“That night he came home and cried his heart out. My father was no coward, but had been reluctant to leave his family. He was thirty-four and my mother, who had two young children, had been suffering a serious illness. Soon after this incident my father joined the army.”

As a result men signed up in their thousands. Boys even told lies about their age to make sure they got in. They were supposed to be 19 but some 16 year olds enlisted.

Many did not want to be left out of this big adventure and signed up with their pals. These were known as ‘pals battalions’ in some area whole streets of men volunteered together so the could serve with their friends. One example of this was Heart of Midlothian football team who also joined as a unit in the 16th Royal Scots. Seven first team players died during the war and they are remembered in a memorial which can be seen in Haymarket Edinburgh. 23 other players were injured. As a result of these ‘pals battalions’ whole villages, towns and groups of workmates were wiped out, particularly during big battles like the Battle of the Somme.

In Scotland thousands of young and not so young men volunteered to fight for their country as soon as war was declared. There were more Scots volunteers in proportion to the size of the population than any other area of Great Britain.

Lord Kitchener

I feel the Scotsmen have only to know that their country urgently needs their service for them to offer with the same splendid patriotism as they have always shown in the past… Their services were never more needed that they are today and that I rely confidently on a splendid response to the national appeal.

Kitchener was not disappointed; within two days of the war starting 6,000 men had enlisted in Glasgow alone. By September Kitchener had his 100,000 men but more kept volunteering and by October 500,000 men in the UK had joined up. Kitchener’s campaign had been a huge success.

Put today’s date and the heading Recruitment
Using the information above answer the following questions.
1. What do the words enlist and propaganda mean?
2. Explain fully 5 reasons why men might enlist in the army.
3. What were ‘pals battalions’
4. Why did these battalions have a devastating effect on local communities?
5. The following 3 posters are examples of propaganda used by the government during the war. The purpose of each poster is to encourage men to enlist, but each poster uses a different method to do this.
For each poster describe what, or who you see in the picture. Next say why this poster might persuade men to join the army. The following words might help you. guilty, proud, brave, revenge, heroic, patriotic.
Poster A Poster B Poster C

Source Question
Source A is about the recruitment campaign to the armed forces in 1914.
At first the outbreak of war was exciting for many Scots. The opportunity to go on an adventure with your pals in a kilted uniform was too good to miss. There were more Scots volunteers in proportion to the size of the population that any other area of the UK. War hysteria also played a part. The War propaganda Bureau told stories of Belgian babies being bayoneted and nurses and nuns being raped by German soldiers.
How fully does Source A explain why so many Scots volunteered for the armed forces in 1914? (6 Marks)

Remember that in this type of question the source will not contain all the reasons and it is up to you to bring in other reasons why the Scots volunteered that have not been mentioned in the source.