3.1A Was the First World War worth winning?

A few weeks after the First World War ended, David Lloyd George made a speech in which he promised to make the country ‘fit for heroes to live in’. In the decade that followed, things improved for some - many women gained greater equality, for example - but others would have been left wondering whether the sacrifices of the First World War were worth it. These films show life in Britain during the 1920s and some of the changes that happened during that post-war era.

EXTRACT FROM THE EMANCIPATION OF WOMEN
12 MINS 51 SECS, SOUND, B/W, 1970

This extract from a 1970 documentary The Emancipation of Women details how the contribution made by women to the war effort resulted in a change to their status in society in the post-war era.

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TIME TO REMEMBER - THE TIME WHEN LITTLE HAPPENED
5 MINS 58 SECS, SOUND, B/W, 1959

Key Section - 04:00 to end.

Another extract - in this case from the television documentary series Time to Remember - illustrates what life was like after the end of the First World War. Politics, aviation, sport and the problems in Ireland are all touched on. But it is the scenes of people enjoying the outdoors - swimming at the seaside or boating on the Thames - that show how the general public relaxed now that the conflict was over. It was, as the title of the episode suggests, 'The Time When Little Happened'.

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TIME TO REMEMBER - SHORT SHARP SHOWER
8 MINS 7 SECS, SOUND, B/W, 1959

Key Section - 02:00 to end.

Unemployment was high in the post-war era, which led to protests and strikes within some industries over pay and conditions. This extract from Time to Remember documents the impact of the nine-day General Strike of 1926, the biggest of several strikes in the 1920s over pay and conditions.