The Drums of War
(1901-25)
Performer - Culture & Literature
Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella,
Margaret Layton © 2013
Soldiers digging
trenches during the
First World War
(1914–18).
The Drums of War
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.
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The Drums of War
1. The Edwardian Age
The Liberals won the general elections in 1906.
They introduced reforms to help three groups of people:
1906: Free school meals.
1.
Children from
poor families
1907: Free school medical
inspections.
1908: The Children’s Charter
gave children some legal
protection. It restricted the sale
of alcohol and cigarettes.
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The Drums of War
1. The Edwardian Age
2. Old people
3. Workers
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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).
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.
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Soldiers parade to intimidate workers, Liverpool 1911.
The Drums of War
2. The Suffragettes
• At the beginning of the 20th
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.
Performer – Culture & Literature
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.
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.
• 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 4th August 1914.
• The war ended on 11th
November 1918.
• Almost 8,000,000 people died.
• Almost 22,000 were wounded.
• The war was known as ‘the
war to end all wars’.
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The Drums of War
3. World War I: outbreak of the war
The domino effect
• First Austria declared war
on Serbia.
• Then Russia declared war
on Austria.
• Next Germany joined with
Austria.
Archduke Ferdinand on the day of assassination.
• Finally France and Britain
declared war on Austria
and Germany.
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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
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Battle of Verdun =
700,000 killed on both
sides with no gain in
territory
The Drums of War
3. World War I: wider involvement
Soldiers from the British Empire from Canada, Australia
and New Zealand volunteered.
War at sea initiated US involvement
Americans initially supplied both the Allies and the Central Powers
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
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The Drums of War
3. World War I
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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.
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The Drums of War
3. World War I: in English painting
The most individual and
expressive of the artists who
recorded the battlefields of
World War I
Paul Nash
His first-hand experience gave
his work immediacy and brutal
honesty. It took a message
from the trenches to
the firesides back at home.
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THE MENIN ROAD, 1919, oil on canvas, Imperial War Museum, London..