Total War

Britain – The Great War and British Society, 1914-39

In this course, Professor Matthew Cole (University of Birmingham) explores the impact of the First World War on British society between 1918-39. In the first module, we think about the ways in which the First World War was a 'total war', focusing in particular on the extent to which it impacted every aspect of life in Britain. In the second module, we think about the impact of the First World War on the British economy and society, before turning in the third module to consider the impact of the war on the British political system. Finally, in the fourth module, we think about the impact of the war on Britain's position in the world, and the extent to which Britain's unwillingness to prepare for the possibility of another European war allowed for the expansion of Nazi Germany and the outbreak of the Second World War.

Total War

In this module, we think about the ways in which the First World War was a 'total war', focusing in particular on: (i) the geographical spread of the First World War; (ii) the range of military strategies that were used in the war, e.g. strategic bombing, poison gas, etc.; (iii) the length of the war compared to previous wars, e.g. Second Boer War (1899-1902), Crimean War (1853-56), etc.; (iv) the extent to which the First World War impacted every aspect of life in Britain; (v) the extent to which that some of the social, cultural and economic changes that followed the war were already underway before the war started; and (vi) the extent to which the First World War still dominates public memory and culture today.