Nation, empire and the Birmingham Working class, 1899-1914

Blanch, Michael Dennis (1975). Nation, empire and the Birmingham Working class, 1899-1914. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

On 4h August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany for invading the territorial integrity of Belgium. Despite the absence of any conscription, thousands of young men, mostly working class, flooded the recruiting offices. In Birmingham alone, in the first month, nearly 22% of the available male population had volunteered for war.. This research seeks an explanation, looking in detail at the attitudes of Birmingham working class people to both nation and empire, and the propaganda which attempted to form and change opinions in the period between the Boer War and the Great War.

The influence of nationalistic and imperialistic values was to be seen in children's education, in both the method and content of the teaching process, in the training of teachers and in the external regulation of schools by government and local authorities. This was a time, too, of the birth of quasi-military youth movements, including Baden Powell’s Boy Scouts, the Church Lads’ Brigade and the Boys’ Brigade together with affiliated support of churches.

The Unionist Party headed by a leading Imperialist, Joseph Chamberlain, exercised a monopoly over political power and political information in Birmingham. Its propaganda was deeply rooted in nationalistic myth but strands of such ideas were to be found in the propaganda of most of the parties. Support at both local and national elections appears to have been strongest in the more destitute areas of the city. The nationalist mindset helped to retard the growth of popular radicalism in Birmingham at least down to 1910, after which (and led by skilled workers) the challenge of radical politics in the municipal elections and labour confrontation in the factories grew fiercer.

The influence of militarist ideas amongst the different strata of working class society was studied through an analysis of Regular Army recruitment in peacetime, and then in wartime (World War One, and for comparison the Boer War), Territorial Force, Special Reserve and Militia recruitment and membership of the National Service League and youth organisations. Recruiting to the regular army, especially amongst unskilled workers, surged during nationalistic events in peacetime. Those same unskilled workers were initially the largest group recruited in wartime. Supported and funded by the employers and efforts of the part-time military and youth movements, they later elicited considerable involvement of semiskilled and skilled workers, different strata being attracted to different military units.

The propaganda of nationalism and imperialism 1899-1914 was extremely ubiquitous, in schools, newspapers and advertisement hoardings, Music Halls , politics and the military and quasi military organisations, and steadily became anti-German. Working class people became sensitised to this and showed a level on inchoate nationalism, seen in the Music Halls for instance, a volatile and moment-by moment expression of identity and status, All this was tapped, with hugely unexpected success, from 5 August 1914.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

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