Boy Soldiers in the First World War

A. Plan of Investigation The purpose of this investigation is to prize how allowing under pass on passs to interlocking stirred Kitcheners legions during the First knowledge base state of war. To examine this, the investigation provide focus on the increase of soldiers in Britains army, and out of those, how numerous were under the required recruit custodyt days of 18. Also, the increase in casualties that occurred due to inexperienced, under mature soldiers will be assessed. Lastly, the kind issues that arose due to young boys being allowed on the Western Front will be examined.The investigation will be conducted using a alteration of sources, the main source being Boy Soldiers of the Great War by Richard Van Emden, which will be evaluated for its origins, purposes, values and limitations. B. Summary of proof change magnitude Enlistment Rates in Kitcheners Army ?During solemn of 1914, Britains Army had approximately 750,000 men ? professional Kitchener (Field-Marsh all) needed at least another 500,000 soldiers to fight in the war. In August 1914, victor Kitchener started an intense recruitment shake that used many propaganda posters saying things bid Your Country Needs You and A Call To Arms which encouraged many men and youths to enlist. ?By family line 1914, over 500,000 men had enlisted to Britains Army ? It is approximated that a hindquarters of those soldiers were under the required recruitment age of eighteen. ?These boys enlisted for many reasons to fulfill their own patriotism, to join friends who were also enlisting, or to even get away from their own parents. By the end of the war, more than a quarter of a million boy soldiers fought for Britain in World War One. Increased Casualties Due to Inexperienced Underage Soldiers ? legion(predicate) soldiers would become emotionally and physically unstable when facing the horrors of war, and experience face shock. ?Especially in nonaged boys who were not used to witnessing death, soldi ers would panic and act hysterically ? Many soldiers who suffered from shell shock would run from the trenches, and be executed for desertion or cowardice. ?Over 300British soldiers were court-martialed and executed by fellow British soldiers ? Young (and old) soldiers resorted to self-destruction in the trenches, due to shell shock, however the exact number of suicides is not known because it is too hard to track ? Training for all soldiers was a concise period of time before heading off to the earlier lines, and for soldiers under age eighteen, no amount of training could prepare them mentally of physically for trench warfare ? Because of their lack of training, young soldiers were usually not the outstrip soldiers and would be killed easilyIncrease of Social Concern ?Many boy soldiers join the army without telling their parents, so mothers and fathers were very worried, and wanted their sons to be direct back family unit ? Sir Arthur Markham (Liberal MP for Mansfield) was k nown for fighting throughout the date of World War One, to get the underage soldiers sent back home to their families ? Not only were the parents of the young boys concerned, but people in full general were hearing gruesome stories of war, and were crushed that boys as young as xiv were involved D. AnalysisDuring World War One, over 8 million barefaced soldiers fought for Britain, all of them at various ages and stages of their lives. During Lord Kitcheners recruitment hightail it in 1914 , thousands of soldiers enlisted for a variety of reasons. Out of these soldiers, more than 250,000 of them were under the age of eighteen . Boy soldiers that had been allowed to enlist affected Kitcheners Army because of increase recruitment rates, a rise in casualties due to inexperienced, underage soldiers, and a growing social concern about these young boys.By August 1914, Britains Army was in desperate need of more men to fight against the Germans . Throughout the same month, the field-m arshall at that time, Lord Kitchener, launched a forceful social movement to recruit soldiers by using propaganda posters with phrases like Your Country Needs You and A Call To Arms. This campaign was passing successful and by September of 1914 the recruitment rates of the army increased significantly. Not only had hundreds of thousands of men enlisted, but boys had been allowed to join as well.These young boys chose to lie about their age and enlist for a variety of reasons their own sense of patriotism, wanting to derive friends/family into war, pressure from their own cities and towns, and even wanting to get away from staring(a) parents . At this point of World War One, expanding Britains Army was the firsthand goal, not necessarily recruiting the right type of soldier. Although these underage men were right to Lord Kitcheners Army by augmenting the number of combatants, these boys were still extremely young, and had not fathomed the horrors of war.After soldiers had offic ially joined, all men and boys were subject to an exceedingly short period of time dedicated to training , after which they would immediately be sent to the front lines. For soldiers that were as young as 14 years old, no amount of training could prepare them physically or mentally for trench warfare. As a result of this, there was an increase in casualties within Kitcheners Army because boy soldiers were usually not the best fighters, and would be killed easily. Also, many youths were not used to witnessing death and would experience shell shock in the trenches .One young boy described his experiences in the trenches , saying, It was hell, compulsory hell. By not taking the time to verify a soldiers age, and not allowing for a more extensive training period, Lord Kitchener unknowingly sent these young soldiers to their deaths, deaths that could have a bun in the oven been prevented. We were doing things we knew nothing about. stated on sixteen-year-old. This hell earlier descri bed would cause soldiers to panic, act hysterically, run from the trenches, or even commit suicide.These unfortunate injuries and deaths demonstrated how Lord Kitchener seemed to favour cadence over quality, which, in a military sense, is a poor idea. These unnecessary casualties affected Kitcheners Army, not only in a numeric way, but it also produced a great social concern, which, in turn, affected the British Army. Seeing as the required recruitment age was eighteen, a majority of the boy soldiers joined Kitcheners Army without telling their parents, causation much worry amongst the families of these young boys. The British peoples affect on the government and the British Army changed and thought that by allowing nderage boys into the army, Families have been tricked, deceived, and lied to, in the most scandalous and un-English fashion. This worry then false into anger, and families started fighting to get their sons off of the Western Front and back home. This presented a serious issue to the British Army because, according to the preventive laws, allowing underage soldiers into the army was against the law, and they had not only numerous upset families writing them letters regarding their sons, but several politicians had started a campaign to constitute the young boys home.One of the most well known political leaders of this campaign was liberal MP Sir Arthur Markham who continually questioned Lord Kitchener and the Under Secretary of War what they were going to about these underage boys in the trenches, and insisted that no system of enlistment can be satisfactory which allows boys like that to be taken. By allowing these green boys to enter into World War One, Kitcheners Army lost tolerate from his own country, as the general public would not tolerate send innocent boys into such a harsh environment.