Q. How successfully were ex-servicemenreincorporated into British society after 1918?

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Philip McDermott

Q. How successfully were ex-servicemen reincorporated into British society after 1918?

When analysing an essay question of this magnitude, where a Nations motives and actions are to be scrutinized, we have to be extremely careful and meticulous with the evidence provided before we come to any conclusions.

I believe it is fair to say that the British servicemen returning from the continent in 1918 held high expectations for a triumphant and welcoming return to the ‘Promised land’.  Throughout the war and in the immediate aftermath, the government had proclaimed that the returning servicemen would be treated like ‘heroes’. It was these men who had put their lives on the line in order to safeguard our nations future, and it was these men that were to be rewarded for their dedication and courage that prevailed throughout 4 years of war.

The picture that the government of the time painted never actually came to fruition.

As mass amounts of men returned from the front their peers within society greeted them with enthusiasm and zeal, but the powers that be failed miserably to live up to the promises and assurances that they had give throughout the Great War.

The utopian vision of a ‘fit land of heroes’ never prospered. Lloyd George had stated on many occasions that he would endeavour to create ‘homes fit for heroes’, where retuning war veterans would be able to live out the rest of their lives in peace and tranquillity.

With the benefit of hindsight it becomes quite apparent that these false promises were in fact primarily used to sustain the soldiers morale throughout the war effort. The government obviously believed that if the soldiers were under the impression that they would be able to reap the rewards for there heroism once they returned to Britain then they would continue to endure the adversities of war.

As I begin to examine just how successfully ex-servicemen were reincorporated into British society after 1918, I primarily believe that we have to put the whole socio-economic changes into context.

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During the 4 years of the Great War women’s role within society had begun to change forever. With the vast majority of able-bodied men participating in the war effort on the continent, women were incorporated into the workforce to plug this gaping gap.

Furthermore with the post war economic boom and the emergence of the tertiary sector within the economy, men were returning to a very different place than the 1 they left.

All of these wholesale changes have to be taken into account when we are looking to judge just how successfully ex-servicemen were reincorporated into an ...

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