Recruiting Britain's Army in WW1

During the First World War, close to 6 million men served in the British Army. Men from all of the British Isles and her Empire answered the mother country's call for men. Roughly half of those were volunteers, the remainder were conscripted. Below are a few links to introduce the key themes involved in the recruitment of Britain's army in WW1.

A short movie from the BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/wwone_movies/index_embed.shtml

An excellent overview from 1914-1918.net - http://www.1914-1918.net/recruitment.htm

Pals Battalions - http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwone/pals_01.shtml

The Derby Scheme - http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/derbyscheme.htm

The Military Service Acts - http://www.1914-1918.net/msa1916.html

WW1 Recruitment posters here

Some hints for those doing the January exam

1. Read and analyse the sources carefully, making brief notes by the side to save you time later on. Relate what you have read back to the question.

2. Plan your answers before you start writing.

3. The number of marks is proportional to the time you have (20 marks = 20 minutes)

4. Use the sources as the basis of your answer. This will help keep you focussed. Remeber to give examples from the sources to support your argument.

5. Use contextual knowledge - on Qb 24 of the 40 marks are awarded for your own knowledge! Use this information to put the sources into context.

6. Cross reference individual points, rather than the sources as a whole.

7. Develop inferences (what does the source suggest to you?) and support these with evidence.

8. Analyse the provenance (Nature, Origin, Purpose). Evaluate the significance of the source and its reliabilty, if appropriate.

9. Weight up the evidence, especially if is asks you for a judgement, eg How far...

10. Dont generalise the sources. Judge each source on its own merits, eg, not all private letters are reliable.