The casualties of those involved in the fighting, especially the trench strugglefare on the Western Front, were very high, including o'er 770,000 killed in action, over 500,000 of which were borne by men under 30 and a disproportionate share of which, according to Winter, was borne by the officers and the inside classes. Relatively few civilian casualties were suffered, mostly as a result of U-boat sinkings of passenger ships and occasional Zeppelin raids, simply the general population did suffer from food and housing shortages. very(prenominal) few British families were left unscathed by the spill of life at the front, one and only(a) of the long term cause of which on British politics may have been a reluctance to contemplate (in the 1930s) foreign policies which might lead to a renewal of carnage on such a scale.
Britain had earlier not contemplated a long war. The demands it placed on bound manpower once conscription was introduced in 1915-1916 enhanced the bargain power of laboring men and women, especially the latter
Taylor, A. English History 1914-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965.
The war pointed up weaknesses in the British social system. According to Winter, "even on the basis of cursory medical examination, over one zillion British men were deemed to be unfit for frontline duty in the last year of the Great contend." Barnett says that in 1938 only one in five English boys received an education historical the age of 14.
British casualties in introduction contend II were less than in 1914-1918. Army casualties were much lower, 144,000 killed in action, save naval, merchant marine, air and civilian casualties (due to bombing) were much higher. World War II was a longer and much more of a total war, requiring complete mobilization of the civilian population and broad civilian sacrifices.
It was also a war for survival against an suddenly merciless foe, which required the government to spend a immense effort on war propaganda and on defining its war aims for public consumption.
The truth is probably that the Second World War accelerated some developments in British society which were level-headed like greater concern over social justice, notwithstanding did not prevent its leaders from failing to address the 'British disease,' the vector decomposition in the competitiveness of British industry which was already well-advanced by 1939 and had been evident during the Depression.
Politically, Britain underwent at least temporarily a quiet revolution of sorts in 1945. At the end of the First World War, a deep economic slump had led to the eliminate from power of Lloyd George's Liberal/Coalition government. Conservatives or Conservative led coalitions governed most of the interwar period and undid or slowed the pace of many of the social reforms introduced during the war. The Second World War seemed to have more of a leveling or democratizing effect. The Labour Party won a resounding victory at the polls in 1945 and did especially well among the large conscripted British Army. It proceeded to i
Order your essay at Orderessay and get a 100% original and high-quality custom paper within the required time frame.
No comments:
Post a Comment