1. Soldiers digging trenches during the First World War (1914–18).
The Drums of War
( )
Performer - Culture & Literature
Marina Spiazzi, Marina Tavella,
Margaret Layton © 2013

2. 1. The Edwardian Age
When Queen Victoria died, the royal house took the Germanic surname of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Victoria’s son Edward reigned until 1910 as Edward VII.
His greatest achievement was in foreign policy.
The Entente Cordiale signed with France in 1904.
Edward II.
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3. 1. The Edwardian Age The Liberals won the general elections in 1906.
They introduced reforms to help three groups of people:
1906: Free school meals.
1907: Free school medical inspections.
Children from poor families
1908: The Children’s Charter gave children some legal protection. It restricted the sale of alcohol and cigarettes.
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4. 1. The Edwardian Age 1908: The Old-Age Pensions Act, which
introduced pensions
for people over 70.
2. Old people
1911: The National Insurance Act, which gave people the right to free medical treatment and unemployment pay (the dole).
3. Workers
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5. 1. The Edwardian Age
1910–14: A series of strikes was called because of high prices and low wages. They were remarkable for the number of men involved and for the violence which often accompanied them.
Soldiers parade to intimidate workers, Liverpool 1911.
Performer – Culture & Literature

6. 2. The Suffragettes
At the beginning of the 20th century only men were allowed to vote.
A few educated ladies had been arguing in favour of voting rights for women since the 1860s.
In 1903 Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel founded the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union).
The Suffragettes, as they were called, protested that women should be able to vote.
WSPU leaders Annie Kenney (left) and Christabel Pankhurst.
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7. 2. The Suffragettes
The WSPU began to break the law to gain publicity and support.
They began a campaign of
vandalism:
they chained themselves to
railings outside Downing
Street and Buckingham
Palace;
they made arson attacks on post boxes, churches and railway stations.
A drawing from the WSPU newspaper in 1909
Performer – Culture & Literature

8. 2. The Suffragettes The Government dealt with
the protests harshly and sent
many Suffragettes to prison.
In prison some women went on hunger strike to draw attention to their campaign. Prison
authorities began
force-feeding them.
A drawing from the WSPU newspaper in 1909
Performer – Culture & Literature

9. 3. World War I: general information
Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914.
The war ended on 11th November 1918.
Almost 8,000,000 people died.
Almost 22,000 were wounded.
The war was known as ‘the war to end all wars’.
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10. 3. World War I: outbreak of the war
The domino effect
First Austria declared war on Serbia.
Then Russia declared war on Austria.
Next Germany joined with Austria.
Archduke Ferdinand on the day of assassination.
Finally France and Britain declared war on Austria and Germany.
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11. 3. World War I: conducting the war
The Germans attacked France
through Belgium.
The French counter-attacked
but were pushed back.
The Russian’s rapid
mobilisation surprised the
Germans, who were forced to
move some troops to the
Eastern front.
Stagnation and trench warfare in the West.
Performer – Culture & Literature

12. 3. World War I: trench warfare
Technology superior to tactics
Machine guns vs a human charge
New technology = poison gas, airplanes
Very high death rates
Battle of the Somme = 600,000 Allies and 500,000 Germans died for 125 miles of land
Battle of Verdun = 700,000 killed on both sides with no gain in territory
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13. 3. World War I: wider involvement
Soldiers from the British Empire from Canada, Australia and New Zealand volunteered.
War at sea initiated US involvement
Americans initially supplied both the Allies and the Central Powers
A blockade brought the sinking of US ships
Germans killed 1,000 Americans
Americans entered the war on the side of the Allies in April 1917
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14. 3. World War I
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15. 3. World War I: the end of war
Versailles Peace Treaty signed by British Prime Minister Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau of France, American President Woodrow Wilson and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy.
Woodrow Wilson League of Nations, an organisation in which the representatives of the world’s nations would try to discuss and settle their differences without resorting to war.
Allied leaders at Versailles.
Performer – Culture & Literature

16. 3. World War I: in English painting
The most individual and
expressive of the artists who
recorded the battlefields of World War I
Paul Nash
His first-hand experience gave his work immediacy and brutal honesty. It took a message from the trenches to
the firesides back at home.
THE MENIN ROAD, 1919, oil on canvas, Imperial War Museum, London..
Performer – Culture & Literature