WW1: Society, Politics and Poetry - On Demand E-learning from Oxford Royale Academy

“Never such innocence again,” wrote one poet, describing Britain before the Great War. In this tutorial we will examine the politics and culture of pre-war Britain, asking to what extent this was already a society in transition. We will also discuss the international context which led Britain into conflict.

When war broke out, many men, upper-class and working-class alike, viewed the prospect as a grand adventure and an opportunity to prove themselves. In this tutorial we will discuss reactions to the outbreak of World War I, considering how they illuminate Edwardian ideologies of masculinity. We will consider the impact of the public school ethos, Imperialism as expressed in popular books and magazines, and the ‘white feather’ campaign which sought to pressure men to enlist.

What was life really like for the men in the trenches? This tutorial will focus on the ways in which wartime experience was different from that of previous wars, discussing the impact of the mechanisation of conflict, the use of poison gas, and the brutality of trench warfare. It will also briefly outline the military history of World War I, highlighting major battles and campaigns.

It has been argued that World War I was a peculiarly ‘literary’ war, inspiring authors such as Robert Graves, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. In this tutorial we will discuss the war literature of the period, considering how it was shaped by wartime experience, how it reflected contemporary views of the Great War, and how it in turn has affected the way that both historians and ordinary citizens have remembered the conflict over the past century.