British Depth Study: Britain in Peace and War, 1900–1918 — OCR GCSE History B Schools History Project

The OCR GCSE History B Depth Study 'Britain in Peace and War, 1900–1918' assesses the profound political, social, and economic transformations that reshaped modern Britain. It examines the stark contrast between Edwardian wealth and poverty, the emergence of the welfare state under the Liberal government, and the ideological divide between constitutional Suffragists and militant Suffragettes.

The second half of the module investigates Britain's mobilization during the First World War as a total war conflict. Students examine the expansion of state intervention under the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA), the shift from voluntary recruitment to conscription, the experience of conscientious objectors, and the long-term impact of women's wartime contributions on post-war society and franchise reform.

• →Structural Poverty vs Moral Failing: Booth and Rowntree redefined poverty as a systemic economic reality rather than a personal character flaw, paving the way for state intervention.
• →Constitutional vs Militant Activism: The distinct methods, philosophies, and outcomes of Millicent Fawcett's NUWSS and Emmeline Pankhurst's WSPU.
• →Total War and State Control: The expansion of government authority under DORA (1914) over industry, media, licensing, and daily civilian life.
• →Manpower Mobilization: The transition from the volunteer Pals Battalions of 1914 to mandatory conscription through the Military Service Acts of 1916.

• Identify the extent of the British Empire circa 1900, covering approximately 25% of the globe.
• Recognise the core industries driving British wealth, notably coal mining, shipbuilding, and textiles.
• Describe the 'Two-Power Standard' as the measure of British naval supremacy.
• Explain how technological developments like railways and steam power facilitated urban and industrial growth.
• Recall the demographic shift towards cities, leading to overcrowded urban centres and public health challenges.
• Identify the upper class as a small elite whose wealth derived from landownership and major industry.
• Describe the middle class as a growing sector of professionals and white-collar workers living in suburban comfort.
• Recognise that employing at least one domestic servant was a defining feature of middle-class status.
• Explain the working-class experience of manual labour, low wages, and vulnerability to economic downturns.
• Recall the stark differences in housing, diet, and life expectancy between the classes.
• Identify York as the location of Rowntree's investigation.
• State that Rowntree found approximately thirty per cent of the population living in poverty.
• Define primary poverty as having insufficient income to meet basic survival needs.
• Define secondary poverty as having sufficient income that is diverted to other expenses.
• Recognise that Rowntree identified low wages and the life cycle of poverty as key causes, rather than moral failings.
• Explain the Conservative Party's weaknesses prior to 1906, including the unpopularity of the Boer War and divisions over tariff reform.
• Analyse the Liberal Party's strengths in uniting over free trade and implementing social reforms after 1906.
• Evaluate the Liberal Party's weaknesses, such as their handling of the suffragettes, industrial unrest, and the Irish Home Rule crisis.
• Describe the formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900 and its evolution into the Labour Party.
• Assess how trade union backing and the introduction of payment for MPs in 1911 facilitated the rise of the Labour Party.
• Identify specific Liberal reforms such as the 1908 Old Age Pensions Act or the 1911 National Insurance Act.
• Explain the purpose of the 1909 People's Budget to fund social reforms and naval expansion through taxing the wealthy.
• Describe the constitutional crisis caused by the House of Lords rejecting the People's Budget.
• Detail the terms of the Parliament Act of 1911, specifically the removal of the Lords' veto over money bills.
• Identify the economic causes of the Great Unrest, such as falling real wages and rising inflation.
• Describe the influence of syndicalism and the push for direct action among trade unionists.
• Provide examples of major strikes between 1910 and 1914, such as the miners' or railway workers' strikes.
• Explain the government's response to the strikes, including the use of military force at Tonypandy.
• Identify domestic service as the most common employment for working-class women in 1900.
• Recognise that women did not have the right to vote in national parliamentary elections at the start of the twentieth century.
• Describe the societal expectation of separate spheres, where women were confined to the domestic sphere.
• Explain the legal limitations on women, including unequal divorce laws and property rights.
• Distinguish between the peaceful, constitutional methods of the NUWSS and the militant tactics of the WSPU.
• Identify key leaders of the suffrage movement, such as Millicent Fawcett for the NUWSS and Emmeline Pankhurst for the WSPU.
• Explain the reasons for opposition to women's suffrage, including the belief in separate spheres and the fear that militancy proved women were emotionally unstable.
• Describe government responses to Suffragette militancy, including imprisonment, force-feeding, and the 1913 Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Act.
• Identify the failure of the Conciliation Bills (1910-1912) as a catalyst for increased WSPU militancy.
• Explain how the government's use of force-feeding generated public sympathy for the suffragettes and condemnation of the authorities.
• Describe the introduction of the 1913 Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill-Health) Act, known as the Cat and Mouse Act, as a government strategy to avoid suffragette martyrdom.
• Analyse the NUWSS shift in strategy, establishing the Election Fighting Fund in 1912 to ally with the Labour Party in response to Liberal government inaction.
• Identify the widespread jingoism and popular support for the Empire at the start of the twentieth century, evidenced by the 1900 Khaki Election.
• Explain how Emily Hobhouse's reports on concentration camps during the Boer War generated moral outrage and anti-imperialist criticism.
• Describe the impact of the Boer War recruitment crisis on the debate over 'national efficiency' and the physical deterioration of the working class.
• Analyse how the costs and moral controversies of the Boer War contributed to a political shift towards domestic social reform.
• Identify the imperialist view that the Raj provided essential infrastructure and governance to India.
• Recognise Lord Curzon's partition of Bengal as an example of imperial administration that provoked debate in Britain.
• Identify the socialist and radical liberal critique that the Raj economically exploited India and caused poverty.
• Explain how British critics supported the early Indian nationalist movement and demanded greater Indian representation.
• Identify the Irish Nationalist support for the Third Home Rule Bill as a means to achieve self-government.
• Explain the Ulster Unionist opposition, driven by fears of religious discrimination and economic decline.
• Recognise the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Irish Volunteers as evidence of militarised attitudes.
• Describe the division in British politics, with Liberals supporting Home Rule and Conservatives backing Unionist resistance.
• Identify the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) as the legislation passed in August 1914 that gave the government wide-ranging powers over the British public.
• Explain that early recruitment relied on voluntary enlistment, heavily supported by government propaganda posters and recruitment drives.
• Describe how the failure of voluntary recruitment to meet the demand for troops led to the introduction of conscription in 1916.
• Recognise that DORA allowed the government to control information through censorship of the press and the production of official propaganda.
• Give examples of DORA regulations designed to maximise the war effort, such as the introduction of British Summer Time and the restriction of pub opening hours.
• Identify that over one million men volunteered for the British Army in the early months of the First World War, driven by patriotism and social pressure.
• Explain that Pals' battalions were formed by groups of men from the same locality or workplace who volunteered and served together.
• Describe conscientious objectors as men who refused to undertake military service following the introduction of conscription in 1916, often for religious or moral reasons.
• Recognise that conscientious objectors had to appear before military tribunals to justify their stance, with many being assigned to non-combatant roles.
• Detail the harsh treatment faced by absolutists who refused any form of war work, including imprisonment and social ostracism.
• Identify specific voluntary roles undertaken by women, such as nursing in Voluntary Aid Detachments.
• Recognise the shift in female employment into heavy industry, transport, and munitions manufacturing.
• Explain the strategic decision by suffrage organisations to suspend campaigning in favour of supporting the war effort.
• Connect women's wartime contributions to the political development of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.

• 💡When evaluating Britain's power, always link industrial output to the captive markets provided by the Empire.
• 💡Use specific examples of industries, such as shipbuilding in Glasgow or cotton in Lancashire, to illustrate economic strength.
• 💡Remember that urbanisation brought both technological progress, like trams, and severe social issues, such as slum housing.
• 💡Use the employment of domestic servants as a key indicator to distinguish the middle class from the working class.
• 💡Contrast the suburban villas of the middle class with the overcrowded terraced housing or slums of the working class.
• 💡When discussing the upper class, mention their disproportionate political influence in Parliament alongside their wealth.
• 💡Ensure you can clearly distinguish between primary and secondary poverty when evaluating Rowntree's findings.
• 💡Link Rowntree's conclusions directly to the shift in government attitudes that led to the Liberal reforms of 1906 to 1914.
• 💡Remember the specific statistic: about 28 per cent of York’s total population lived in poverty, while the surveyed working-class poverty rate was higher.
• 💡When evaluating the established parties, ensure you balance their strengths, such as the Liberals' social reforms, against their weaknesses, like the Conservatives' split over trade.
• 💡Use specific evidence, such as the Lib-Lab Pact of 1903, to explain how the Labour Party initially secured parliamentary seats.
• 💡Connect the rise of the Labour Party to broader social changes, including the growing political consciousness of the working class and trade union militancy.
• 💡Link the financial demands of the Liberal reforms directly to the necessity of the People's Budget.
• 💡When discussing the clash with the Lords, emphasise the breaking of the convention that the Lords did not interfere with money bills.
• 💡Use specific dates and terms, such as 'super-tax' and 'veto', to demonstrate precise historical knowledge.
• 💡Use the term 'syndicalism' to explain the ideological shift towards direct action and general strikes.
• 💡Cite specific examples of strikes, such as the 1912 national miners' strike, to support your points about the scale of the unrest.
• 💡Discuss the tension between the government's desire to maintain order and the workers' demands for better living standards.
• 💡Use specific examples of female employment, such as domestic service, to illustrate economic inequality.
• 💡Contrast the experiences of middle-class and working-class women to demonstrate a nuanced understanding of Edwardian society.
• 💡Link the social and legal restrictions placed on women directly to the motivations behind the suffrage campaigns.
• 💡Clearly define the different tactics used by the NUWSS and the WSPU when evaluating the effectiveness of the suffrage campaigns.
• 💡Mention specific examples of militant action, such as the Derby incident of 1913, to support points about the WSPU.
• 💡Consider the arguments of the opposition to provide a balanced view of the political climate surrounding the suffrage debate.
• 💡Focus on the interaction between the two sides, showing how a specific government action directly caused a change in campaign tactics.
• 💡Use precise dates between 1910 and 1914 to sequence the escalation of militancy and government countermeasures.
• 💡Remember to include the NUWSS in your answer, as their strategic shift towards the Labour Party was also a direct response to government policy.
• 💡Contrast the initial enthusiasm for the Boer War with the later disillusionment to demonstrate differing attitudes.
• 💡Link the concept of 'national efficiency' directly to the health of Boer War recruits to show how imperial concerns influenced domestic policy.
• 💡Use the term 'jingoism' to describe the aggressive, patriotic support for the Empire that characterised the early 1900s.
• 💡Use specific examples of British critics, such as Keir Hardie, to demonstrate knowledge of anti-imperialist attitudes.
• 💡Contrast the economic arguments of imperialists, who claimed they brought wealth, with those of critics, who argued the Raj caused poverty.
• 💡Ensure all historical evidence used in your answers falls strictly within the 1900 to 1914 timeframe.
• 💡Clearly distinguish between the aims of John Redmond's Nationalists and Edward Carson's Unionists.
• 💡Mention the Ulster Covenant of 1912 to demonstrate the intensity of Unionist opposition.
• 💡Link the differing attitudes in Ireland to the corresponding split between the Liberal and Conservative parties in Westminster.
• 💡When discussing government policy, explicitly link the introduction of conscription to the changing demands of the war, specifically the high casualty rates and the need for a mass army.
• 💡Use specific examples of DORA regulations, such as censorship or pub opening hours, to demonstrate how the government intervened in everyday civilian life.
• 💡Analyse how propaganda evolved from focusing on early recruitment to sustaining the war effort on the home front as the conflict became a total war.
• 💡Contrast the initial enthusiasm of volunteering and the formation of Pals' battalions with the later necessity of conscription and the emergence of conscientious objection.
• 💡Provide specific reasons why men became conscientious objectors, distinguishing between religious, moral, and political motivations.
• 💡Discuss the social impact of Pals' battalions, noting how heavy casualties in specific units devastated their home communities.
• 💡Revise specific acronyms for women's wartime organisations, such as VAD, FANY, and WLA, to use as precise evidence.
• 💡When evaluating the impact of war work on suffrage, acknowledge both the patriotic contribution and the pre-war pressure built by the campaign.
• 💡Distinguish clearly between the actions of the militant WSPU and the constitutional NUWSS during the 1914 to 1918 period.
• 💡Include precise statistical and legislative evidence, such as referencing the 1908 Children's Act, the 1911 National Insurance Act, or the 1914 Defence of the Realm Act, to hit higher mark bands.
• 💡Distinguish clearly between the WSPU (Suffragettes) and the NUWSS (Suffragists) in any question on the suffrage movement; conflating the two will cap your marks for factual knowledge.
• 💡When evaluating the impact of the First World War on women, explain both immediate gains (munitions employment, fashion changes, independence) and post-war limitations (restoration of pre-war trade union practices pushing women out of engineering).

• Error: Believing Britain's military strength was primarily its army. Correction: Britain's military dominance relied on the Royal Navy; the regular army was relatively small compared to European powers.
• Error: Assuming all British citizens shared in the nation's wealth. Correction: Despite national prosperity, wealth was highly unequal, with significant poverty in rapidly expanding cities.
• Error: Thinking the British Empire was declining in 1900. Correction: It was near its greatest extent, but its greatest territorial extent came after the First World War, around 1920.
• Error: Assuming the middle class in 1900 was similar in size and wealth to today. Correction: The middle class was smaller and distinctly separated from the working class by the employment of servants and non-manual labour.
• Error: Believing the working class had significant political power. Correction: In 1900, many working-class men and all women lacked the right to vote, leaving political power with the upper and upper-middle classes.
• Error: Thinking all working-class people worked in factories. Correction: Domestic service was the largest single employer, especially for working-class women.
• Confusing Rowntree's investigation with Booth's; Booth investigated London, whereas Rowntree investigated York.
• Believing Rowntree concluded poverty was caused by laziness; he actually proved it was largely due to low wages, old age, and large families.
• Misunderstanding the poverty line; it was not a generous measure but a strict calculation of the absolute minimum income required for basic physical efficiency.
• Assuming the Labour Party was immediately powerful upon its creation; it actually grew gradually, relying initially on an electoral pact with the Liberals.
• Overlooking the impact of the Taff Vale case; failing to recognise how this legal decision pushed trade unions to support independent Labour representation.
• Treating the Liberal Party's decline as inevitable before 1914; they remained a formidable electoral force despite facing significant crises.
• Mistake: Believing the Parliament Act of 1911 abolished the House of Lords. Correction: The Act only reduced their powers, removing their veto on money bills and limiting their veto on other bills to a two-year delay.
• Mistake: Confusing the People's Budget with the Parliament Act. Correction: The People's Budget (1909) was the financial plan that caused the crisis; the Parliament Act (1911) was the constitutional law passed to resolve the clash with the Lords.
• Mistake: Thinking the Liberal reforms provided a comprehensive welfare state. Correction: The reforms were limited in scope, such as pensions only applying to those over 70 with very low incomes.
• Mistake: Assuming the Labour Party led the militant strikes. Correction: The strikes were largely driven by trade unions and syndicalists who were frustrated with the Labour Party's moderate parliamentary approach.
• Mistake: Believing the strikes successfully overthrew the government. Correction: While highly disruptive, the strikes did not lead to a revolution, though they did force some government concessions like the Minimum Wage Act for miners.
• Mistake: Confusing the militant labour movement with the suffragette movement. Correction: Both were militant challenges to the government during the same period, but labour militancy focused on workers' rights and wages, not women's enfranchisement.
• Error: Believing no women worked outside the home in 1900. Correction: Recognise that many working-class women worked in domestic service, textiles, and sweated trades.
• Error: Assuming women had no voting rights at all. Correction: Understand that some women could vote in local municipal elections, but none could vote in national parliamentary elections.
• Error: Thinking all women experienced the same lifestyle. Correction: Distinguish between the leisure-focused lives of wealthy middle-class women and the harsh, labour-intensive lives of working-class women.
• Error: Confusing the Suffragists and the Suffragettes. Correction: Remember that Suffragists used peaceful methods, while Suffragettes used militant tactics.
• Error: Believing that all women supported the campaign for the vote. Correction: Acknowledge that many women actively opposed the vote and joined organisations like the Anti-Suffrage League.
• Error: Assuming the Suffragettes were the only group campaigning for the vote. Correction: Recognise that the Suffragists were a much larger organisation and continued their peaceful campaign alongside the militant WSPU.
• Claiming that the government gave women the vote before 1914; correct by stating that no women were enfranchised in parliamentary elections until 1918.
• Confusing the tactics of the NUWSS and the WSPU; correct by specifying that the WSPU adopted militancy in response to government delays, while the NUWSS remained constitutional.
• Stating that the Cat and Mouse Act was designed to kill suffragettes; correct by explaining it was specifically designed to prevent them from dying in prison and becoming martyrs.
• Assuming everyone in Britain opposed the Boer War; correct by highlighting the strong initial jingoism and the Conservative electoral victory in 1900.
• Claiming the Boer War was fought in Britain; correct by stating it was fought in South Africa, though it had profound political impacts on the British home front.
• Confusing 'national efficiency' with military tactics; correct by defining it as the concern over the poor physical health and living conditions of the British population, which threatened imperial defence.
• Error: Assuming all British people fully supported the Raj. Correction: Recognise that radical liberals and socialists actively criticised British rule and supported Indian rights.
• Error: Confusing the 1900 to 1914 period with later events like the Amritsar Massacre. Correction: Focus strictly on pre-First World War attitudes, such as debates over the partition of Bengal and economic exploitation.
• Error: Believing British critics wanted immediate, total independence for India. Correction: Understand that most pre-1914 critics advocated for reform and greater Indian representation rather than immediate separation.
• Error: Confusing Home Rule with complete Irish independence as a republic. Correction: Remember that Home Rule meant a devolved parliament in Dublin, keeping Ireland within the British Empire.
• Error: Assuming the crisis was resolved peacefully before 1914. Correction: Note that the crisis escalated to the brink of civil war and was only suspended due to the outbreak of the First World War.
• Error: Treating all of Ireland as having a single attitude towards the crisis. Correction: Clearly distinguish between the Nationalist majority in the south and the Unionist majority in Ulster.
• Assuming conscription was introduced at the start of the war in 1914. Correction: Conscription was not introduced until 1916, following the decline in voluntary recruitment.
• Confusing DORA with military conscription laws. Correction: DORA was passed in 1914 to control the home front and civilian life, whereas the Military Service Acts of 1916 dealt specifically with conscription.
• Believing that propaganda was only used to encourage recruitment. Correction: Propaganda was also used to maintain civilian morale, encourage rationing, and demonise the enemy throughout the war.
• Stating that all men were forced to join the army from the beginning of the war. Correction: Men volunteered in large numbers until conscription was introduced in 1916.
• Assuming that all conscientious objectors refused to participate in the war effort entirely. Correction: Many conscientious objectors accepted non-combatant roles, such as stretcher-bearers; only absolutists refused all war-related work.
• Believing that Pals' battalions were a feature of conscription. Correction: Pals' battalions were a specific initiative during the early voluntary recruitment phase to encourage men to enlist with their friends and colleagues.
• Error: Believing all women gained the vote in 1918 as a direct reward for war work. Correction: Understand that the 1918 Act only enfranchised women over 30 who met property qualifications, leaving many young female munitions workers without the vote.
• Error: Assuming women only worked in munitions factories during the war. Correction: Recognise that women also took on vital roles in agriculture, transport, administration, and frontline medical support.
• Error: Thinking the suffragettes continued their militant bombing and arson campaigns throughout the war. Correction: Note that the WSPU officially suspended militant activities in 1914 to focus entirely on the national war effort.
• Believing the 1918 Representation of the People Act granted equal voting rights to all men and women. In reality, it enfranchised all men over 21, but only women over 30 who met property qualifications.
• Assuming the Suffragettes were solely responsible for securing the vote, overlooking the decades of persistent regional diplomacy by the NUWSS and wartime industrial mobilization.
• Confusing the Liberal Reforms with the post-WWII welfare state, forgetting that Liberal measures were often means-tested, contributory, and excluded dependents.

1. 1Days 1-3: Revise Edwardian poverty (Booth and Rowntree) and create a detailed grid of the Liberal Reforms (Young, Old, Sick, Unemployed).
2. 2Days 4-6: Compare the NUWSS and WSPU campaigns, assessing their methods, leadership, and public/political reactions up to 1914.
3. 3Days 7-9: Study the Home Front during WWI, focusing on DORA, censorship, propaganda, rationing, and recruitment/conscription debates.
4. 4Days 10-12: Analyze the impact of total war on women's employment and evaluate the factors leading to the 1918 Representation of the People Act.
5. 5Days 13-14: Complete OCR past exam questions under timed conditions, focusing on source utility and 18-mark evaluative essays.

• 📋Question 1 / 2 (Short structured questions): Evaluating knowledge of key legislation, acts, or figures (e.g., explaining why DORA was introduced or identifying measures of the 1906 School Meals Act).
• 📋Source Utility / Evaluation questions: Assessing how useful two contemporary sources are for investigating an aspect of the Home Front or suffrage campaign, requiring interrogation of provenance, purpose, and historical context.
• 📋18-mark Essay questions: Evaluating broad historical arguments, such as whether war work was the main reason women received the vote in 1918, requiring a balanced, multi-causal judgment.