Before the First World War, Britain remained the centre of the world economy and one of the largest creditor countries in the world, providing shipping and insurance services to the rest of the world (Black, 2000). As for the political aspects, according to Black (2000), the parliamentary system was a Conservative-Liberal system before the First World War. However, the management of the government was almost local and self-regulating. There was just small scale of government control, and there was no national police force and no compulsory military service and also basically no insurances for working class (Pugh, 1999).
In the past, according to Queen Victoria (1837-1901), the position of women should be at home, and she opposed giving women political rights, the British women should not have an independent personality in legal and ethical aspects (Asa, 1984). Before 1914, British women did not get enough chances to work, and their pay was very low, even most of them occupied in family chores (Marwick, 2006).
- Analysis of Negative and Positive Impacts
3.1 Negative Impacts of Word War I on British Society
3.1.1 The Damaged Economy and the Unemployment
The First World War weakened the economy of Britain and caused a large number of unemployed after the war. The war marks the beginning of the decline of
British economy, the great cost of the war caused Britain to spend all of its credits and became a main debtor country to the United States (Black, 2000). As a result of the war, the world's financial center transferred from Britain to the United States, from London to New York (Stevenson, 1990). One of the outcomes of the damaged British economy is that it brought out a great deal of unemployment after the First World War. The British men who joined the army during the war returned to their daily life, but the damaged industrial production no longer required them, so they became the majority of the unemployed (Robb, 2002). Many British workers can not properly participate in social production, which would certainly affect social stability and sustainable economic development in Britain. It can not be denied that World War I might influence seriously on the advance of social production and British economy.
3.1.2 The Decline in male population and Single Women
During the First World War, tens of thousand of British men were killed in the front line, so that the population of the male after the war was extremely declined.
The result of this fact is the imbalance between men and women (Robb, 2002). Therefore, the number of single women was completely increased after the First World War. According to Pugh (2000), only one of every 10 single women had the opportunity to get married, and many British women after the First World War did not own marriage and children until they were dead. Thus, World War I affected the whole life of one generation. It could be considered that the imbalance between men and women caused by the war may break the rules of social development for a period of time.
3.1.3 Psychological Impact of the War on the Population
Though the First World War just continued four years, it left great sadness to
British people for a long time, even till today. Almost 908，000 soldiers were dead in the battlefield, three hundred thousand of British children never saw their fathers again; 160,000 wives received the shocked telegram informing them that their husbands had been killed (Marwick, 2006). Fear, grief and sorrow are the most important emotions of the war for the British people.
3.2 Positive Impacts of Word War I on British Society
3.2.1 Increased Patriotism during the War
The First World War encouraged the patriotism of British people, especially the working class. Before the First World War, compared to the major military power of France and Germany, the British army was relatively small. According to Pope (1991), at the outbreak of war in August 1914, the British army had a regularly organized strength of less than a quarter of a million men ,also because of the large number of injured soldiers in the first series of battles in France, the British government called for a much larger army. As a result, over a million men participated in the army as volunteers by Christmas 1914 (Robbins, 1994). By the end of the war in 1918, 5.2 million men had served in the army, over half of them as volunteers (Pope, 1991). Most of the British soldiers in the wartime came from the working class (Robbins, 1994). However, one of the most essential reasons for their joining the army seems to be the workers’ basic loyalty to “King and country”, they considered it was their duty to support their nation in the First World War (Bourne, 1989). Owing to the contribution of the British men, British army eventually won in the First World War.
3.2.2 Impact on Improving the Consciousness of the Working Class
The experiences of the working class during the war improved their values and
consciousness of the class, the socialist movements fighting for rights became expanded after the First World War. Before World War I, the working class in Britain had a hard working-life, even stayed in unemployment with a poor economic condition, there is no guarantee of their lives, and thus, the fights between the working class and upper class had started up (Porter, 1994). However, in the wartime, the fights were replaced by a feeling of duty to defend the country, they had chosen to be soldiers, but only when they are needed by the country. The workingmen in uniform never saw themselves as permanent soldiers. As soon as the war was over, the government had to limit the number of military forces because of the financial pressure: the over 3.5 million soldiers of Britain had been reduced to about 800,000 in 1919 and to 370,000 in 1920 (Robbins, 1994). The men went back to their everyday working life, and they were disappointed to find that heroes’ honor and rights they had been promised was simply politicians’ talk (Porter, 1994). This led to the rise and expansion of the socialist movement, such as thousands of strikes from 1918 to 1921 (Pugh, 1999).The strikes were a result of the awareness among the working class that their own huge contribution to the war had not been matched by those in upper class (Pugh, 1999). Thus, the class consciousness of many British workers was promoted.
3.2.3 Impact on Political Culture
The First World War created a more democratic political atmosphere for British society and it was to promote social development. Firstly, the political situation was indeed modified. Working class people were fully employed by the army during the war, and their status, once was much lower than the upper class, was greatly rising (Black, 2000). Relatively, the status of the upper class was reduced through beak out of the war (Black, 2000). As a result, there was effectively three-party system in 1920s, and finally the Liberals were replaced by the Labour
party (Marwick, 2000). Therefore, as one of major impacts of the First World War, the rise of the Labour party could be an important step in the process of British democracy. Secondly, trade unions, which aimed to protect the right of workers, and connected with the Labour party showed stronger power during the war (Oakland, 2006). Furthermore, the British government after World War I had to rely on the cooperation with the trade unions to recover the economy, with the pressure of the trade unions, the provision of accommodations for the working class by the government was promoted through the impact of the war (Stevenson, 1990). In addition, with the demand from the rising working class, the Unemployment Insurance Act was established in 1920 (Pope, 1991). According to Oakland (2006), in 1918, all adult male over 21 and certain limited women over 30 were given the voting right. It can be concluded that the First World War brought out a more democratic political culture for Britain, and it could be a very essential part of the improvement of social development.
3.2.4 Impact on Improving the Status of British Women
The First World War also improved the status of British women, and it could be considered to be one of the most important stages of British women’s movement. Before 1914, Britain women did not get enough chances to work, and their pay was very low, even most of them occupied in family chores (Marwick, 2006). During the war, many male workers were sent to the battleground, and the social production needed to recruit the women (Black, 2000). Large numbers of British women were involved into most areas of work, filled places left by men (Black, 2000). The range of work of British women is not only traditional areas such as service, textiles, but also extended to the area of industrial production, agriculture, finance, transportation, and even government departments (Woollacott, 1994). In addition, they took part in economic activities, it can be said that women are the
main force of economic development during the war (Pugh, 2000). Moreover, British women showed a strong patriotic feeling during the war, a lot of women participated in the war as nurses supporting for the war, and they played a significant role in the victory of the First World War (Wilson, 1988). To a certain extent, the war changed the traditional prejudices against British women (Marwick, 2006). After the war, women began to take part in social activities more widely. Politically, the demands by British women for the right to vote could no longer be denied. According to Oakland (2006), In 1918, an act was passed by the government that all adult male over 21 and certain limited women over 30 obtain the voting right, and in 1928 all men and women (with some exceptions) aged over 21 could vote. As a result of World War I, the status of British women could be improved.
- Conclusion
In conclusion, the impacts of the “Great War” on the British society were various and huge. This report has divided the effects into two sections which are the negative and positive impacts of the First World War upon British society. The negative impacts include: The First World War weakened the economy of Britain and caused a large number of unemployed after the war; the war led to the decline in male population and large numbers of single women; the war also left long-time psychological shadow and sadness on the population of Britain. The positive impacts contain: The German threat gave rise to a flood of patriotism in the British working class, which led hundreds of thousands to the military forces; the wartime experience and the attitude of the upper classes after the war resulted in an increasing working-class consciousness; the war created a more democratic political atmosphere for British society and it was to promote social development.; the war also improved the status of British women, and it could be considered to be one of the most important stages of British women’s movement.
Although the First World War caused varieties of serious effects on Britain, and it indeed reduced national strength and economic power of Britain and undermined the stability of British society for a period of time, with regard to social reform itself and democratic process of British society, the first world war promoted the rise in the working class and women's status and the advance of democratic reform in British society, and impacts of the war is relatively positive.
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