The presentation will be live and online.
Almost immediately after the Armistice was signed in November 1918, many British soldiers went on strike to demand their swifter return to civilian life. In January 1919, over 50,000 soldiers were out on strike, a fact that was of great concern to the British civilian and military authorities, who miscalculated the risk posed by the disgruntled soldiers. Senior members of the government and the military were genuinely concerned that Bolshevism had ‘infected’ the army, or, at the very least, the army had been unionised.
This presentation by will discuss these strikes, examine soldiers’ motivation for striking, and show why the British authorities’ fears were misplaced. Essentially, these soldiers were civilians first and with no obvious enemy to fight they simply wanted to return home.
Members wishing to participate will need to register: details of how to register will be circulated via The Western Front Association's newsletter 'Trench Lines'. If you are not a subscriber to 'Trench Lines' please subscribe now.
To subscribe to Trench Lines, go to the home page of The Western Front Association web site and complete your details in the 'Newsletter sign up' box.
It is also possible to register by clicking this link: The British Soldier is no Bolshevik
The talk will be undertaken using the 'Zoom' software which is freely available. It may not be necessary to load the software to your PC / iPad etc: but we would recommend doing so if you wish to participate in this event.