k thx end cant be assed to coppy it to a floppy oOWorld War 1
When the war started in 1914 huge casualties were reported to have happened Eg. In just one day’s fighting over 100,00 men were killed. Britain soon realised that their professional army would not be enough to keep the British front going. Britain started an ad campaign so that they could quickly train and recruit men. During The first year this plan of action went well – mainly because there where lots of men who wanted to join up to support there country. Another good tactic the government used was to implement a “Pals Battalion” This meant that they would keep you with your friends. This worked well up until the point when troops had to start returning. Often whole streets would have no or few survivors, and those that did return brought stories og how the war in the trnches was unbearable. In an attempt to draw attention away from these stories, the government invented a kind of “league” where towns and streets could compete against each other for the amount of ground gained and enemies killed. Once again Britain was desperate for soldiers. They put up the same ad campaign but got a lot less volunteers. This may have been because of the stories about the war or the sight of some of the soldier’s wounds. Britain decided that they needed soldiers and that they needed them immediately. They went about conscripting and press-ganging. Young men that where seen walking around not wearing uniform were jeered at because they weren’t out there fighting. The men that didn’t go to battle were usually Christian and they believed very strongly in the 10 commandments, in particular the 6th one, which is “though shalt not kill.” The name given to these men was conscientious objectors. The way the government dealt with this was to give them 3 options
1. To go and fight at the front
2. Take on an extra job that wasn’t paid
3. To go to jail
Some of the Christians that were sent to jail got beaten up. Sometimes the Government forced the men to go to the front without a gun or the 6 weeks training. They usually did the dirty work such as picking up body parts and digging graves. The other soldiers treated these men like dirt. The only way you could be excused from going to the front line was if you where critically ill or had a job of government Importance for example a coal miner was important because the mail fuel at the time was coal.
