The British Soldier is no Bolshevik: problems with demobilisation

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 discusses these strikes, examines soldiers’ motivation for striking, and shows 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.