Analysis of the Movement from Voluntary Recruitment to Conscription

Analysis of the Movement from Voluntary Recruitment to Conscription

The war began with a large and unprecedented wave of enthusiasm. At

the start of August 1914 Parliament had issued a call for an extra

500,000 soldiers and the response was overwhelming. By the end of

September over 750,000 men had enlisted; by January 1915, a million.

The enthusiasm to join and fight was genuine, showing an 'almost

mystical patriotism'. The British army was seen as a professional

army, even though it was small, as it was made up of volunteers who

were all highly trained.

The army had increased to 350,000 soldiers by the end of August, which

was still quite small compared to most European standards. The size

of the army had then grown bigger by 450,000 volunteers by the end of

September. The government had planned the amount of the soldiers that

they wanted, but the amount that volunteered was far off the number of

soldiers that were wanted. Although there were hundreds of thousands

of volunteers, the government did not find voluntary recruitment as

successful as they would have liked it to be. The government wanted

around four million soldiers by the end of the year but there was only

a quarter of that.

Britain began with voluntary recruitment because the government

believed that volunteers made better soldiers because their morale,

confidence and determination would be better. At the beginning of the

war, most people believed that the war would be over by Christmas

meaning that there would be no need for large amounts of soldiers.

Britain’s naval supremacy made politicians think we could win the war

through naval blockades, ...

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...coming to its end, the minimum age of exemption

was raised to 23. This was the Military Service Act II.

Conscripts were absolutely vital to the war efforts because without

them there would have been a much harder war for the Allies as it

could have affected the actual outcome of the war. The Allies could

have struggled without the men provided through conscription in

Britain; it could have cost them the war if it was not introduced.

Conscription in Britain not only helped the war, it also marked the

lowering of the remaining barriers of prejudice to the full-scale

employment of women. Although it was seen as ‘un-British’; bringing

conscription managed to change the attitudes of the general public as

it actually showed them how it would help, as it provided more power

for the Allies so they could defeat the enemy.