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The Representation of Male and Female War Resisters of the First World War

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The Representation of Male and Female War Resisters of the First World War Representation and Resistance: The Representation of Male and Female War Resisters of the First World War Sabine Steffanie Grimshaw Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of PhD The University of Leeds School of Languages, Cultures and Societies August 2017 1 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement © 2017 The University of Leeds and Sabine Steffanie Grimshaw The right of Sabine Steffanie Grimshaw to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by Sabine Steffanie Grimshaw in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 2 Abstract This thesis explores press representations of male and female war resisters of the First World War during both the conflict and important points of its commemoration, with a specific focus on gender. My original contribution to knowledge is twofold. First, this thesis shows the significant ways that gendered representations of anti-war women and men responded to one another, creating a shifting depiction of the anti-war movement as a whole. The gendering of male and female resisters drew on, reinforced, and contested both pre-war and wartime conceptions of gender in a variety of ways and this thesis demonstrates how the construction of gender and resistance has implications for understanding the relationship between gender and war more broadly. The second original contribution to knowledge that this study makes is the connection between the depiction of masculinity and femininity during the conflict and the way that anti-war men and women have been included in commemorative narratives. Uncovering this connection underscores the importance of considering the role that gender plays in commemoration and the endurance of particular wartime gendered constructions in the interpretation of the war in the present day. Using a chronological approach, this study explores the key narratives of resistance in both pro-war and anti-war press publications. It demonstrates the central role that the press has played as a key conduit through which public narratives of resistance have been formed, reinforced, and contested. The analysis throughout this thesis highlights how the press has offered a space in which the public have contributed to the shaping of these narratives in ways that have been implicitly and explicitly gendered both during the war and its commemoration. Consequently, this study demonstrates how the press has facilitated and played a key role in the important relationship that resistance has to gender, war, and memory. 3 Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................... 7 Gender ......................................................................................................... 11 Public Narratives ......................................................................................... 18 Memory ....................................................................................................... 29 Background to the British First World War anti-war movement ................ 36 Chapter Outline ........................................................................................... 47 Chapter 1: 1914-1915 ..................................................................................... 49 Us and Them: Pro-Germanism and Patriotism ........................................... 51 Degeneration, Lunacy, and Hysteria ........................................................... 58 Teapots and Pioneers .................................................................................. 66 ‘As Mothers of Humanity’: Femininity, Peace and Motherhood ................ 81 Challenging Maternalism: Redefining Women’s Role in War Resistance ... 88 ‘You are now entering the Sanctuary of Conscience’: The Introduction of the Conscientious Objector ......................................................................... 92 Chapter 2: 1916 ............................................................................................. 102 Motivating Ideas ........................................................................................ 108 Religion .................................................................................................. 108 Liberty .................................................................................................... 120 The Act of Objecting .................................................................................. 133 Sacrifice and Duty .................................................................................. 133 Courage, Manhood and Masculinity ..................................................... 150 Soldiers and COs .................................................................................... 158 Women ...................................................................................................... 164 Mothers of Sons, Mothers of Conscientious Objectors ........................ 164 Chapter 3: 1917-1918 ................................................................................... 177 The Treatment of COs ............................................................................... 183 Victims and Martyrs .................................................................................. 200 COs and the Nation ................................................................................... 208 Citizenship and Objection.......................................................................... 211 Duty, Service, and Female Citizenship ...................................................... 218 Suffering Women ...................................................................................... 221 4 Chapter 4: Remembering Resistance ........................................................... 234 The Post-War Period and the 50th Anniversary ......................................... 240 The Centenary ........................................................................................... 257 Who should be remembered? .............................................................. 258 Legacies of Resistance: Linking the Past to the Present ....................... 267 Family .................................................................................................... 269 Courage ................................................................................................. 274 Sacrifice ................................................................................................. 282 The Limits of Remembrance: Anti-War Women ................................... 287 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 293 Gender ....................................................................................................... 294 Women .................................................................................................. 295 Men ....................................................................................................... 301 The Press ................................................................................................... 310 Resistance .................................................................................................. 314 Bibliography .................................................................................................. 319 5 Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors at the University of Leeds, Professor Ingrid Sharp and Dr. Jessica Meyer, for their continuous support of my research, and their patience, advice, and knowledge. Their guidance helped me throughout the process of researching and writing this thesis. I would also like to thank my supervisor at the Imperial War Museum, Matt Brosnan, who has offered helpful suggestions on drafts of this thesis and has given me an interesting insight into his own research and work at the IWM. I would also like to thank Professor Benjamin Ziemann at the University of Sheffield both for his insightful comments and questions on parts of this thesis, and for his continued advice and support more generally. My most heartfelt thank you goes to my family. The love, support, and encouragement from my parents and brothers has given me the motivation to persevere even during the most challenging times. To Ralph, who has been by my side throughout and helped me to keep going. To my niece Eva, who came along unexpectedly during the writing of this thesis and has given me so much joy, thank you. I hope that, like the women and men in this thesis, you will have the courage to follow your convictions in doing what you believe will make this world a better place. This work was supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (grant number AH/M004953/1). 6 Introduction As the mother of one dear boy lying in a grave in France, while his brother is daily risking his life on the Passchendaele Ridge, I deem myself rich indeed to have so much to give my country, but oh, I passionately protest against the ‘conscientious’ canker in our midst!1 Published in the Daily Mail in 1917, this letter evokes a number of the gendered layers of understanding that would come to influence the depiction of those who opposed the First World War in
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