Conscription Reform

1162 Words5 Pages
Another positive consequence of the government’s actions, particularly of conscription policies, was the reform act. As more males were joining the British army, the number of the electorates was decreasing. In an effort to increase the number of electorates, the government had introduced the Representation Act in 1918 which enfranchised – gave rights to vote to all adult males over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30 who paid taxes and had houses. As a result, the number of people who were able to vote had increased by 8 million people. After several years all women were enfranchised. (Bronstein and Harris, in Flanders Fields 2012) In addition, the legislation that increased the powers of the government was the Defence…show more content…
First of all, the war financially devastated the nation and transformed it from the powerful empire into a debtor nation. Second impact of the war was the change in the role of the government in people’s lives. The government introduced many policies such as conscription which obliged all males to join the army, the Defence of the Real Act which restricted the lives of people in many spheres propaganda which aimed to change people’s minds towards the war and enemy and the reform act which allowed the greater number of people to vote. Thirdly, as many males were leaving their workplace to join the army, women started to fill in their places. So the status and role of women had changed and the difference between the men’s and women’s labour became less visible. Finally, the class structure of Britain had changed. Britain was and still is the class-conscious society, but the distinctions between classes became less. In addition, the ways of memorialising the dead in the war was changed. Soldiers became memorialised at the battlefields where they fell. So overall, the cumulative effect of the World War One on the British society was a great change in people’s
Open Document