Conscription and Conscientious Objectors

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Conscription and Conscientious Objectors
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Aims

• The reasons why conscription was introduced.
• Why some men were exempt from conscription.
• The treatment of conscientious objectors during
  the war.

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Conscription

• Britain entered the war with a volunteer army of
  90,000 men. In the first year of the war over 2
  million men volunteered to join the army.
• By 1915 high casualty rates and a drop in
  volunteers led the government to introduce
  conscription in 1916.
• Conscription is when a government introduces
  compulsory military service.
• At first this new law applied to unmarried men
  between the ages of 18-41 but within six months
  it was extended to married men as well.

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Exemptions

• Some categories of men
• could apply to be exempt
• from this new law.
• Carried out a job vital to the war effort.
• Religious beliefs
• Moral grounds

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Conscientious Objectors

• Some men totally refused to be conscripted.
• They were called conscientious objectors or
  conchies because their conscience would not
  allow them to fight there were 16,000 in total.
• Some refused for religious reasons, political
  reasons and others argued that they were
  pacifists.
• They would have to face a special court called a
  Tribunal and convince the court of their beliefs.

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• People regarded conscientious objectors as
  cowards and even at the end of the war they were
  despised and often found it difficult to get a
  job.
• Most of them were prepared to accept
  non-combatant duties e.g. stretchers bearers,
  drivers etc.
• They often faced the same dangers as those
  fighting in the trenches.

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Absolutists

• Some conscientious objectors refused to help the
  war effort in any way.
• They were shown no sympathy by Military
  Tribunals.
• Around 6,261 were sent to prison or labour camps.
• Conditions were harsh inmates were beaten, kept
  in solitary confinement, thrown into wooden cages
  and pits in the ground.
• Some went on hunger strike to protest but they
  never won round public sympathy.

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Absolutists

• Around 1,500 absolutists were sent to the Western
  Front for active service.
• If they refused to obey orders they could be
  court-martialled.
• Field Punishment Number One involved the offender
  being attached to a fixed object for up to two
  hours a day for a period of up to three months.
• Men who suffered this punishment were sometimes
  put in a place within range of enemy fire.

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Group Task Conchie Cartoon

• Study the cartoon carefully and answer the
• questions which follow
• Who does the man in the chair represent? How do
  we know this?
• Describe what the man in the chair is doing.
• Who else do you see in the cartoon?
• What are they wearing?
• What does this cartoon tells us about peoples
  attitudes towards conscientious objectors?

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A cartoon produced by Frank Holland during the war
This Little Pig Stayed at Home