Why Did British Men Enlist in the British Army in 1914?
Why Did British Men Enlist in the British Army in 1914? British men enlisted in the army in 1914 for a number of reasons. These reasons varied from Patriotism to enlisting in order to prevent intimidation from groups such as the white feather group. Many men actually believed it was their duty as citizens of this country to go and fight. A lot of them wanted to destroy the Germans as British propaganda had painted ruthless pictures of them in their minds. Robert Graves wrote, "... In the second place; I was outraged to read of the Germans' cynical violation of Belgian neutrality." However, not all men fought out of principle and so called responsibility. The low pay of the army encouraged unemployed men to sign up. For many unemployed men, the money influenced many to enlist. Most people in Britain believed the war would be over by Christmas and after joining the army, thought they would be able to rejoin their families in time for the festive cheer. So, a large number of men decided to join the army for a bit of an adventure for a few months, wearing the country's colours. For instance, Robert Graves said, "I had just finished at Charterhouse and gone up to Harlech, when England declared war on Germany. A day or two later I decided to enlist. In the first place, though the papers predicted only a very short war - over by Christmas at the outside - I hoped that it
Who suffers most in 'The Withered Arm'?
Thomas Hardy's, 'The Withered Arm', was set in 1812; the story includes three main characters, Rhoda Brook, Gertrude and Farmer Lodge. In the story the two female characters suffer more then their counter part Farmer Lodge. I will examine who suffers most and why. Rhoda Brook was a milkmaid on Farmer Lodges farm, many years ago they experienced an unsuccessful relationship, Farmer lodges new young wife Gertrude was unaware of their past. Rhoda Brook has experienced a lot of suffering and hardship throughout the story. In spite of having a son with Rhoda, Farmer Lodge paid no sympathy towards her or the nurturing of their son, 'He ha'n't spoke to Rhoda Brook for years.' This left Rhoda poor and an outcast in the society as she was a single mother with an illegitimate child. With no help from Farmer Lodge she raised her son while struggling financially and living in poor conditions, '...built of mud-walls... surface of which had been washed by many rains...' One of the reasons for which Farmer Lodge had left Rhoda was because she had aged, which made her less attractive from her early life. '...dark eyes...once been handsome, seem handsome anew.' In those years men based all aspects of a relationship on the appearance of a woman; here Farmer Lodge leaves Rhoda because of the change in her appearance and some time later moves on to Gertrude, his young wife. This creates
What was life like in the trenches?
History Assessment Before the war began it was long anticipated. Friction between the main powers in Europe had been building. When the war finally came about any feelings against the war disappeared and many people saw England as being the saviour of Europe fighting the evil Germany. Men rushed to the recruitment offices in frenzy to share a little bit of patriotism. If only they had for seen the brutal reality of trench warfare, and the mass loss of life that it caused. What was life like in the trenches? Life and conditions in the trenches Trench warfare is simply the fighting in trenches. The things that the soldiers had to do and the way they lived and fought was horrible it seems. When the word "war" is said one tends to think of death. Death by artillery, bombs etc. But in fact particularly in the case of the 1st World War many soldiers died from the life and conditions they faced in the trenches. These 2 factors go hand in hand. The conditions in the trenches created the life soldiers in the trenches lived. Most of the soldiers were split into groups. A battalion of their county- 1000 men, then into a company of 240 men down to a platoon which had 60 men in it or a section which was just 14 men. The soldiers had routine jobs that they had to do such as filling the sand bags, latrines and getting supplies. The soldiers standard of life was partly
The Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials: A Witch Hunt Then and Now The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 reveal the fears people have of the unknown. In Salem Massachusetts persecution prevailed from intolerance and lack of understanding, just as it does today in many towns across this great nation. While exploring the web sites of National Geographic, The University of Virginia, and PBS, I found information from the past that links to the present. "Witch Hunts", as they were called in 1692, still exist today. The term "Witch Hunt" is not used as forcefully. Today a Witch Hunt can be disguised as slander, rumors, defamation of character, abuse, or even Christian love. The premise is still the same. Fear of the unknown, differentiating ideas or ideals, even a person's status or their point of view. These fears can lead to the persecution and intolerance that we see in the Witch Hunts and Trials of 1692 and today. In using dictionary.com to comparing the word Witch Hunt with words such as slander, and defamation I found the definitions to be very close and convey the same ideas and results. Witch Hunt - an intensive effort to discover and expose disloyalty, subversion, dishonesty, or the like usually based on slight, doubtful or irrelevant evidence. n. An investigation carried out ostensibly to uncover subversive activities but actually used to harass and undermine those with differing
The Truman Show
Describe a character or individual in the text that you either admired OR disliked. Explain how verbal and / or visual features in the text were used to make you admire or dislike the character or individual. The Truman Show is a comedy-drama directed by Peter Weir and casted by Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank. In the movie, Truman discovers that he has been filmed and watched by millions of people on a television show around world since he was born. Truman has developed in a positive way throughout the movie and he is a significant character in The Truman Show. Truman is a funny and spontaneous person because he is unaware that he is being watched and captured by thousands of hidden cameras around the city. On the contrary, Christof, the producer in The Truman Show movie sets everything up especially for him and tries his best to keep Truman in his utopia, Seahaven. It is a perfect world where Truman traps in and his whole life has been manipulated by someone else. In the beginning, Truman always says "In case I don't see ya: good afternoon, good evening and good night." without doubt that he is being filmed and says it because that is who and how he is. Throughout the movie, Truman slowly develops his own awareness about his life. He starts to predict things such as "I predict in just a moment you will see a lady on a red bike followed by a man with flowers and a Volkswagen
The war on the Western Front
Nick Taylor 2nd October 01 Coursework Assignment: The war on the Western Front . Source A and B both have advantages and disadvantages. Source A discusses many valid and different points to B and B always shows valid and different points. Artillery is shown in photograph B to destroy the enemies' defences, so the attacker can advance and take the enemies fortification or trench, but the picture looks suspicious because there is a British soldier is standing over the remains of a German machine gun post and that would be unlikely in September 1916 and probably propaganda for current battle The Somme which ended in a stalemate and the trench also looks suspicious because a lot of German trenches were concrete and very advanced, but this particular trench is wooden and primitive. Source A explains what British soldiers were told and then explains the harsh reality that Artillery was not as affective as people were led to believe and this led to a slaughter. Many shared this view of Historian Craig Mair such as Private Coppard (survivor of the Somme) " Any Tommy could have told them that shell fire lifts wire up and drops it... in a worse tangle than before". Source A therefore is more effective than he is led to believe because after 63 years the evidence can be gathered to give less blinkered viewpoint from variety of people
The war on the western front.
The war on the western front. . Source A was written by Craig Mair in 1982 for a textbook in a British School, the source was written 63 years after the First World War which makes it a secondary source. The Source describes clearly the events of the battle of the Somme. In the source there are mainly facts which are read as from my own knowledge I know the British army was told all the Germans would be dead and were unaware they had build deep bunkers below, thousands were killed. The Source was written for a British textbook so it seems unlikely the source will be inaccurate and there is little evidence indicating the source is biased. Craig Mair was not an eye-witness and must have collected information from others therefore his source must have been put together with different people's views on things. Most historians have there own opinion on accounts so that may have influenced his source. However the source does describe the effects of artillery and is reliable in the account the information in the source is correct. Source B is a photograph taken in September 1916 near the remains of a German machine gun post near Guillemont. As the photograph was taken during the war it's a primary source. Although the source is a photograph we must not automatically assume the source is reliable. This source could have been staged as we don't know what is around the area
The Western Front.
Introduction After the Battle of Marne in September 1914, the German army was forced to retreat. They had failed their objective to pressurise France into an early surrender. Rather than give up the territory that they already held the Germans dug trenches to protect themselves from the weapons of the advancing Allies. The Allies couldn't break the German trench lines and so followed the German example. The trench lines soon spread from the North Sea to Switzerland, this was known as the Western Front. Trenches Arriving At Etaples Base Camp: British soldiers intended for the Western Front usually landed at the French ports of Le Havre and Boulogne. The men were then transported to the main base camp just outside the French town of Etaples. As many as 100,000 soldiers at a time were housed at the camp. The soldiers were trained here, instead of in Britain in case they were needed quickly. Soldiers were trained on how to use all the equipment and taught tactics and movements. In the sand dunes at Etaples was the notorious Bull Ring training camp. Here attempts were made to prepare men for life in the trenches. The new soldiers also received lectures on how to deal with problems such as lice, trench foot and poison gas. Private Frank Bass write this is his diary about Etaples (September 1916): 16th September: Parade at 9 a.m. and march to Boulogne Station. We start for
Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night William Shakespeare was baptised on the 26th April 1564, and as it was the tradition for children to be taken to the church for this only a few days after birth, April 23rd has been traditionally held as his actual birthday. It also fits relatively nicely for English person to be born on St. George's Day as this represents England. He was born in Stratford upon Avon. In 1601, near the middle of Shakespeare's career, it is assumed he wrote the play Twelfth Night. Generally critics measured it to be one of Shakespeare's greatest comedies alongside with plays for instance as you like it, much ado about nothing, and a midsummer nights dream. Twelfth Night is mainly about five things, the first four are illusion, deception, disguises, madness and the fifth is the astonishing actions that love will cause us to do. This humorous play was also well acknowledged as one of his 'transvestite' comedies, as the play has a female protagonist. The females who are firstly played by men have to disguise themselves as a woman then from that woman once again disguise themselves into a man (features female protagonist who for one reason or another have to disguise themselves as men). Shakespeare had an alternative title for his play but this was the only play that had this. The play is called Twelfth Night or what you will. Critics are shared into two halves when discussing what
Twelfth Night.
Twelfth Night .... is about all kinds of Main and sub plots ---... and sadness, laughter and cruelty. It has essentially two plots: a main plot, typical of a romantic comedy in the Renaissance; and a subplot, which is essentially comic. The main plot -- the story of Orsino and Viola and Olivia and Sebastian -- features lost siblings united and lovers joined in marriage; it throws in some mistaken identities and women disguised as boys, which were also typical of a romantic play during this time (Shakespeare used the motif several times in other plays). It has a happy ending, with all four lovers marrying their own true love (and a person of the correct sex), and all of them poised to live happily ever after. The play is set on Twelfth Night, a holiday which derives from the medieval practice of celebrating Christmas for the entire period between Christmas Eve and Epiphany, January 6. Everything was deliberately turned upside down; activities that were generally regarded as bad taste were encouraged during that short period. In this spirit, Shakespeare introduces a jester, Feste, who is often called "the Fool." Feste is not foolish at all, but around him revolves some of the most significant issues of this extremely complex play. Feste is the character who sets the stage for the Twelfth Night festivities. Olivia is supposed to be in mourning for her dead
