Events take us by surprise
I have been reading about the life of David Lloyd George and also of prime Minister Herbert Asquith and members of the government to which Lloyd George belonged. I have read extracts from the diary of Margot Asquith wife of the Prime Minister as war broke out.
When the First World war or Great war as it became known then, was declared on August 4th 1914 the announcement came as a great surprise to many people. Until then the attention of the public and press had been centred on Ireland and the question of granting home rule to that country. The idea of joining all of Ireland as an independent state was strongly contested by many people in Ulster and the militant sections began arming to fight against it . The Irish nationalists then prepared to fight their corner. The expectation was that civil war would break out. As a result of the war the issue was put on the back burner by the government not to be resolved for several years and not really resolved then.
The issue of women's suffrage was another topic causing great debate. The suffragettes were becoming increasingly violent resorting to window smashing, assault of politicians and even arson. However Asquith was firmly set against granting women the vote, The outbreak of war caused a temporary halt to the women's campaign as a truce was declared by them for the duration of hostilities. They too had to wait years to get their wish to be able to vote.
There were strong cultural links with Germany particularly amongst the upper classes and a reluctance to see them as the enemy. However when Germany sent its troops into Belgium in order to attack France there was a movement in public opinion and the majority believed that Britain was right to come to the aid of Belgium and go to war with Germany.
When the archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian on the 28th June 1914 few had any idea that a European war would result. People carried on their lives and the wealthy prepared to leave for their summer holidays in
A month later reservists were being called up and preparations made for battle. A few months after that young soldiers were in France and marching to the front.
I have a better idea now of the helplessness of the ordinary person in the face of events which bring about great change and loss of life. We should have taken heed of events in China and the growing pandemic which was unleashed on the world. Somehow we took little notice until it was among us and then drastic measures had to be taken to try to halt its spread. A few months ago we were happily going about in the world taking part in whatever activities we wanted be it eating out , visiting the cinema, shopping in city centres or watching live sport. We didn't envisage all these things being taken from us. Perhaps it's just as well.
The future.
Will we be sitting outdoors and socially distanced ?
An interesting analysis and comparison between two global events. I think the main difference between 1914 and 2020 is communication. The British people were so shocked by the start of WW1, because the press had not reported on the tensions in Europe. Also the press were only fed certain bits of information and had a bit more of a moral code.
ReplyDeleteToday, the British people are exposed to too much information and it is difficult to differentiate what is true and what is false. The press have their own agenda and are not to be trusted. The situation in China and then Italy with Covid-19 should have been a wake up call to the UK Government and people. They have been pretty naive to think that the UK would not suffer. If anything, being an island, we were in a better position than most to close our borders. Unfortunately, it has taken over 30,000 deaths before Johnson decided to close our airports down - except for France (!).
So even though we have better communications, intelligence and we live in a digital age, our reaction towards a global crisis has not changed that much since 1914. We are still in denial, shock and are metaphorically 'sticking our heads in the sand '. Plus we have poor leadership, mixed messages and a top down approach that has impeded our recovery.
Dawn Matthews