This study is an evaluation of female heroism as it was both represented and experienced in First World War France. In order to investigate representative ideas about women’s heroic wartime roles and acts, the first half of the thesis explores the ways in which different aspects of female heroism were presented in dominant, often patriarchal wartime discourses. The second half of the thesis provides the material for comparison, with an analysis of first-hand accounts by two women who were both presented as heroic in the First World War, but whose roles and social backgrounds differed considerably. As such, the two halves of the thesis enter into a ‘dialogue’ which ultimately helps us to garner a clear and nuanced understanding of the complex ways in which female heroism was defined and represented during and after the First World War. A study of heroism in First World War France has value because the concept of wartime courage and bravery was bound up with the notion of national fortitude and civic duty in a country which suffered under invasion and occupation. As such, a study of the characteristics of female heroism also relates to broader questions of French national identity in wartime. Equally, it relates to the ways in which gender discourses functioned and evolved under such circumstances. Finally, this study sheds light on the ways in which individual women engaged with these broader discourses in their own self-presentations.

This thesis re-examines London Jewry’s experience of The First World War and demonstrates the unprecedented impact of the conflict on the development of the community. The thesis examines the impact of the war on Jewish nationalism in the British context. It demonstrates how active service during the war instilled a Jewish patriotism, fed by the experiences of antisemitism in the British Army, the Balfour Declaration and service in Palestine. The reality and rhetoric of British antisemitism are examined in the context of highly visible events such as the Bethnal Green disturbances of September 1917 and the minutiae of Jew and Gentile relations in the trenches and on the Home Front. This involves a wider discussion on how British society interacted with its minority groups in the conditions of total war, with the London Jewish community the primary case study for this discussion. The war provided a business boom for Jewish tailors, relaxation of naturalisation laws and for many established Jews a vindication of their status as Britons through service and sacrifice on the front line. Conversely it saw a sharp increase in antagonism towards Jews on the Home Front and a crisis over Russian Jewish conscription that threatened to permanently undermine the position of the community in British society. The war deepened divisions between the established and immigrant halves of London’s Jewish community and accelerated the latter’s integration into British society. This thesis re-examines the First World War as an important event in the historiography of British Jewry in its own right rather than as a dramatic interruption in its progress.

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This thesis discusses the previously unstudied treatment of German civilian internees and prisoners of war taken from the German colonies by British and Dominion authorities during the First World War. Through this study the links between the First World War in the extra-European theatre and the conflict in Europe will be examined. Five key issues are posited for investigation. These are: the centralised internment policy of the British Empire, the effect of the takeover of German colonies on the cultural identity of the British dominions, the effect wartime captivity had on German settlers, what extra-European internment tells us about twentieth century mobility and warfare, and the integration of the extra-European theatre of the war into the overall Global War narrative. The establishment of a global camp system run from the British imperial metropole involved the coordination of the military, the Admiralty, Dominion governments, and the Colonial and Foreign Offices. The general principles of international law were followed but often overridden through the use of reprisals, and the notion of trying Germans for ‘war crimes’ had an impact far into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The First World War and the internment of German civilians and military prisoners in the extra-European theatre undermined the notion of a common European civilising mission in the colonial world. It upset the established colonial racial hierarchies, and through ‘enemy alien' legislation helped establish European hierarchies of race as defined by nationality, disrupting the pre-war world order of cultural globalisation. Through the analysis of German colonial settlers and soldiers in British internment, this thesis demonstrates that the First World War was not just a conflict between the European Great powers but that it also involved a world-wide remaking of ideas, institutions and geopolitics.

This thesis sets the opposition to the First World War in Wales in the context of the country�s tradition of activism in favour of peace and against a background of initial enthusiasm in favour of the War. It provides a critical assessment of the academic interpretation of Wales�s attitudes towards War, assesses the development of opposition to the continuation of the War from Autumn 1914 onwards, and describes the range of anti-war activity and analyses the sources of political and religious opposition to the War. It provides an analysis of the composition of opposition to the War on religious grounds in Wales, and considers the significance of the Christian pacifist organisation, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, together with a review of the extent of the opposition to the War within Nonconformist denominations. The significance of key individuals such as Principal Thomas Rees and key Welsh publications such as Y Deyrnas are highlighted, and particular consideration is given to the role of millenarian sects within the anti-war movement. The politically based anti-war movement in Wales is examined primarily through an analysis of the activities of the Independent Labour Party and its impact in two of its local strongholds, in Briton Ferry and Merthyr Tydfil. It also considers the role of the National Council for Civil Liberties and the No- Conscription Fellowship and those involved in industrial agitation against conscription in south Wales, and the extent to which this featured as part of the anti-war movement. This thesis provides an analysis of the numbers of conscientious objectors in Wales, their grounds for objection, their geographical distribution and their political and religious allegiances. It considers how the State dealt with the challenge of conscientious objection and how successful the anti-war movement was in challenging military conscription and support for the war in Wales.

The Great War was an enormous global cataclysm affecting the lives of all inhabitants of the combatant countries and many others. The effects were not uniform, however, and, by assessing the experience of the people of Shetland, this thesis shows how a local history can enhance understanding of the nuances of an international event. The Shetlanders’ experience was similar in many ways to that of other communities, but had aspects that were unusual or even unique. Both local and national sources are used to investigate how the Shetland experience fitted into historiographical discourses on the war. These include: contrasting depictions of the pre-war era as a ‘Golden Age’ or a period of upheaval and conflict; the extent of militarism in pre-war British society; the putative reasons for volunteering for armed service and the controversy about conscription; reactions to the outbreak of war and attitudes towards the enemy and the Government’s handling of the war; the situation of women; and the extent of change and continuity at the re-adaptation to peace. In addition, the thesis explores two related and recurring themes. One of the profound influences on Shetland was its geographical location, which is related here to theories about local and regional history and concepts of ‘islandness’, ‘peripherality’ and ‘place’. Assertions of a Shetland communal consciousness and identity related to a distinctive local experience are also scrutinised. The disparate effects of the war are studied through the experience of different sections of the population. Despite their perceived remoteness, Shetlanders were aware of prewar international antagonisms, especially as their islands became important for Britain’s defence and war strategy and their patriotism came under suspicion. This resulted in recruitment, deployment and casualties for the local armed forces being atypical in the UK. Servicemen’s contemporary writing showed both conformity to prevalent themes and affirmations of local identity. Shetland provided a base for naval operations important to Britain’s victory; relationships between the Navy and Shetlanders were sometimes difficult and visiting servicemen perceived Shetland as remote and different. Examination of the economic consequences of the war and the reactions of Shetland society illustrates how the community’s identity was expressed in the war effort and strengthened, even when national interests were paramount. Finally, commemoration is recognised as both a national movement and an expression of local identity and pride in Shetland’s contribution to victory.

Learning is critical to battlefield success. \(Ceteris\) \(paribus\), victory becomes more likely when militaries adapt faster and more effectively than their opponents. This thesis examines the effectiveness of the British army’s process for learning and adaptation across six different operational theatres during the First World War. Using a series of case studies, it considers how the army shared knowledge, responded to change, and integrated newcomers. It finds that the army’s attitudes towards learning were more thoroughgoing than hitherto thought. With its pre-war ethos and increased fluidity in wartime, the army displayed organisational and cultural flexibility across all theatres, encouraging a culture of innovation through the promotion of informal learning and tactical diversity. In a broader sense, the thesis does three things. First, it moves beyond the standard Western Front narrative of learning in the First World War, offering a more rounded examination of the army’s experience. Secondly, it highlights the complexity of military learning, considering that which occurs institutionally, between formations, and between theatres. Finally, it reflects on the importance of an organisation’s ethos when faced with uncertainty. This thesis, therefore, offers a point of departure for future studies of traditionally bureaucratic institutions and their ability to learn and innovate.

This thesis examines how the newly-born Anglo-Italian alliance operated during World War I, and how it influenced each of Britain's and Italy's strategies. It argues that Britain was Italy's main partner in the conflict: Rome sought to make Britain the guarantor of the London treaty, which had brought Italy into the war on the side of the Allies, as well as its main naval and financial partner within the Entente. London, for its part, used its special partnership with Italy to reach three main objectives. The first was to have Rome increasingly involved in the Entente's global war, thus going beyond the national dimension of the 'fourth war of independence' against Austria-Hungary. Britain aimed in particular to complete the blockade of the Central Powers by securing the Mediterranean. This result was achieved slowly - Italy declared war on Turkey in autumn 1915 and on Germany in summer 1916 - and not without contradictions, such as Italy's persistently self-reliant trade policy. The second British goal was to keep Italy in the war when the Caporetto crisis hit: British financial, commercial and military support was crucial to restore Italian forces and morale, and allow Rome to pursue to fight. Finally, in a wider geo-political sense, Britain took advantage of its good relations with Italy to balance French influence in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. London acted as a mediator in the controversies between Rome, Petrograd and Paris, taking upon it the task of keeping the alliance together. Anglo-Italian relations worsened in 1918. Britain's leadership within the Entente declined and was gradually replaced by American leadership. President Wilson's 'politics of nationalities' produced a significant revision of the London pact: Italy felt betrayed by its main partner, Britain, and this caused a long-lasting resentment towards London which had far-reaching consequences in the post-war period.

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La course aux armements navals anglo-allemande fut un des facteurs clés dans le déclenchement de la Première Guerre mondiale. En particulier, les années comprises entre 1906 et 1912 ont vu une compétition intense entre les deux pays dans la construction de vaisseaux de ligne modernes - des croiseurs lourds blindés - après que le Dreadnought fut lancé par les Britanniques. Tant que l'Allemagne n'était pas prête à accepter la suprématie navale britannique et que la Grande-Bretagne ne voulait pas la céder, la compétition dura jusqu'à ce qu'une des deux parties cède par essoufflement économique. L'Allemagne a essayé de traduire son pouvoir économique en force militaire mais échoua à cause de son système de fiscalité moins efficace qu'en Grande-Bretagne. Le fait que le trésor britannique pouvait imposer et augmenter aussi bien des impôts directs qu'indirects tandis qu'en Allemagne seuls les états fédéraux pouvaient le faire, démontre que le système constitutionnel britannique était plus flexible que l'allemand, permettant au gouvernement de Londres de mobiliser plus de ressources financières pour contrer l'Allemagne dans les dépenses navales. / The Anglo-German naval race was one of the decisive factors in the outbreak of World War I. In particular, the years between 1906 and 1912 witnessed an intense head-to-head competition between the two powers in the building of modern capital ships, that is, battleships and large armoured cruisers, after Dreadnought had been launched by the British. So long as Germany was not prepared to accept British naval supremacy and Britain was not prepared to yield it, the competition was bound to go on until economic exhaustion compelled one side to give up. Germany tried to translate its wealth into military power, but the inefficient nature of its taxation system prevented it from doing so. The fact that Britain's Treasury had the power to both levy and increase direct and indirect taxes, while in Germany only state governments had it shows that Britain's more democratic constitutional system meant that London could react to Germany's naval challenge by punishment, mobilizing a greater share of financial resources for naval spending than Berlin.