Robert Duncan
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781846318955
- eISBN:
- 9781781381021
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781846318955.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter aims to detail the gathering crescendo for some form of action to be taken on the drink issue. As the war progressed, its pressures had increasing repercussions on the home front. The ...
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This chapter aims to detail the gathering crescendo for some form of action to be taken on the drink issue. As the war progressed, its pressures had increasing repercussions on the home front. The expenditure of shells and arms on an unprecedented scale increased pressure on Britain’s industrial infrastructure. Adjusting to this demand for military hardware was a difficult task and the type of war being fought accentuated the problem. Britain’s factories, whilst simultaneously having to deal with a large amount of its experienced workforce joining the army, could not cope with demand. Blame had to be placed somewhere, so it is unsurprising that the industrial working class bore the brunt of accusations regarding degenerate behaviour. During this period Lloyd George and King George V spoke about how important the drink issue was to the war effort. In an important speech Lloyd George criticised workers’ drinking habits and his actions suggest that he wanted a ‘national conversation’ to occur on the issue. This was the period during which the ‘severity’ of the drink problem was finally realised by society.Less
This chapter aims to detail the gathering crescendo for some form of action to be taken on the drink issue. As the war progressed, its pressures had increasing repercussions on the home front. The expenditure of shells and arms on an unprecedented scale increased pressure on Britain’s industrial infrastructure. Adjusting to this demand for military hardware was a difficult task and the type of war being fought accentuated the problem. Britain’s factories, whilst simultaneously having to deal with a large amount of its experienced workforce joining the army, could not cope with demand. Blame had to be placed somewhere, so it is unsurprising that the industrial working class bore the brunt of accusations regarding degenerate behaviour. During this period Lloyd George and King George V spoke about how important the drink issue was to the war effort. In an important speech Lloyd George criticised workers’ drinking habits and his actions suggest that he wanted a ‘national conversation’ to occur on the issue. This was the period during which the ‘severity’ of the drink problem was finally realised by society.
