The Drums of War

(1901-25)

Soldiers digging trenches during the First World War (1914–18).

1. The Edwardian Age

When Queen Victoria died, the royal house took the Germanic surname of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Victoria’s son Edward reigned until 1910 as Edward VII.

His greatest achievement was in foreign policy.

The Entente Cordiale signed with France in 1904.

Edward II.

The Drums of War

1. The Edwardian Age

1. Children from poor families

1906: Free school meals.

1908: The Children’s Charter gave children some legal protection. It restricted the sale of alcohol and cigarettes.

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The Liberals won the general elections in 1906.

They introduced reforms to help three groups of people:

1907: Free school medical inspections.

The Drums of War

1. The Edwardian Age

2. Old people

1908: The Old-Age

Pensions Act, which

introduced pensions

for people over 70.

1911: The National Insurance Act, which gave people the right to free medical treatment and unemployment pay (the dole).

3. Workers

The Drums of War

1. The Edwardian Age

• 1910–14: A series of strikes was called because of high prices and low wages. They were remarkable for the number of men involved and for the violence which often accompanied them.

Soldiers parade to intimidate workers, Liverpool 1911.

The Drums of War

2. The Suffragettes

• At the beginning of the 20^th century only men were allowed to vote.
• A few educated ladies had been arguing in favour of voting rights for women since the 1860s.
• In 1903 Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel founded the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union).
• The Suffragettes, as they were called, protested that women should be able to vote.

WSPU leaders Annie Kenney (left) and Christabel Pankhurst.

The Drums of War

2. The Suffragettes

The WSPU began to break the law to gain publicity and support.

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They began a campaign of

vandalism:

• they chained themselves to

railings outside Downing

Street and Buckingham

Palace;

• they made arson attacks �on post boxes, churches �and railway stations.

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A drawing from the WSPU newspaper in 1909

The Drums of War

2. The Suffragettes

• The Government dealt with

the protests harshly and sent

many Suffragettes to prison.

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• In prison some women �went on hunger strike �to draw attention �to their campaign. Prison

authorities began

force-feeding them.

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A drawing from the WSPU newspaper in 1909

The Drums of War

3. World War I: general information

• Britain declared war on Germany on 4^th August 1914.
• The war ended on 11^th November 1918.
• Almost 8,000,000 people died.
• Almost 22,000 were wounded.
• The war was known as ‘the war to end all wars’.

The Drums of War

3. World War I: outbreak of the war

Archduke Ferdinand on the day of assassination.

The domino effect

• First Austria declared war on Serbia.

• Then Russia declared war on Austria.

• Next Germany joined with Austria.

• Finally France and Britain declared war on Austria and Germany.

The Drums of War

3. World War I: conducting the war

• The Germans attacked France

through Belgium.

• The French counter-attacked

but were pushed back.

• The Russian’s rapid

mobilisation surprised the

Germans, who were forced to

move some troops to the

Eastern front.

• Stagnation and trench warfare in the West.

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The Drums of War

3. World War I: trench warfare

Technology superior to tactics

Machine guns vs a human charge

New technology = poison gas, airplanes

Very high death rates

Battle of the Somme = 600,000 Allies and 500,000 Germans died for 125 miles of land

Battle of Verdun = 700,000 killed on both sides with no gain in territory

The Drums of War

3. World War I: wider involvement

Americans initially supplied both the Allies and the Central Powers

Soldiers from the British Empire from Canada, Australia and New Zealand volunteered.

A blockade brought the sinking of US ships

Germans killed 1,000 Americans

Americans entered the war on the side of the Allies in April 1917

War at sea initiated US involvement

The Drums of War

3. World War I �

The Drums of War

3. World War I: the end of war

Versailles Peace Treaty signed by British Prime Minister Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau of France, American President Woodrow Wilson and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy.

Woodrow Wilson League of Nations, an organisation in which the representatives of the world’s nations would try to discuss and settle their differences without resorting to war.

Allied leaders at Versailles.

The Drums of War