Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Pre-war Liverpool and the Territorial Force
- Part I Territorial characteristics and the morale of the soldier
- 3 ‘Cuff and collar battalions’: social change and its impact on the unit
- 4 ‘Common ties at home and strong county pride’: the persistence and importance of county uniformity
- 5 The links with home: communication between the home front and the fighting front during the Great War
- Part II Command, discipline and the citizen soldier
- Part III Attitudes and experience: the war and its aftermath
- Bibliography
- Index
- Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare
3 - ‘Cuff and collar battalions’: social change and its impact on the unit
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of maps
- List of tables
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Pre-war Liverpool and the Territorial Force
- Part I Territorial characteristics and the morale of the soldier
- 3 ‘Cuff and collar battalions’: social change and its impact on the unit
- 4 ‘Common ties at home and strong county pride’: the persistence and importance of county uniformity
- 5 The links with home: communication between the home front and the fighting front during the Great War
- Part II Command, discipline and the citizen soldier
- Part III Attitudes and experience: the war and its aftermath
- Bibliography
- Index
- Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare
Summary
On the outbreak of war the men of Liverpool clung to their existing social identities and on joining the army exercised their pre-war civilian prejudices and affiliations. The high-status Battalions of the Liverpool Rifles and the Liverpool Scottish performed an important recruitment role by attracting middle-class volunteers to their ranks who had never previously considered joining as alien an institution as the army. In the first years of the war, the elite nature and social homogeneity of the Battalions were perhaps their most distinctive and important features. They were also their most vulnerable. As casualties mounted, and drafts replaced original volunteers, the middle-class composition of the Battalions inevitably diminished. To investigate the loss of such a key Territorial characteristic, we need to establish the extent and timing of social change in both battalions. We will then be in a position to assess the impact of social change on morale and unit traditions to show how soldiers drew on different forms of civilian organization at different times to survive in the trenches.
Middle-class sociability in 1914
The middle class in Liverpool considered themselves a distinct and superior entity in 1914. They defined themselves not only by the nature of their employment and their place of residence, but also by their leisure activities. By joining clubs and societies in accordance with their professions and social status, they helped to reinforce their social position in the city.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Citizen SoldiersThe Liverpool Territorials in the First World War, pp. 25 - 56Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005