First World War.com - A multimedia history of world war one























Pre-war peace rally in London, August 1914Vintage Video: Pre-war London Peace Rally, 1914
 Updated - Saturday, 29 November, 2003

With war suddenly emerging as a realistic proposition in Britain at the end of July 1914 public sentiment was by no means unanimous in favour of war with Germany.

Indeed, until Germany's 2 August 1914 ultimatum to Belgium in which she demanded free passage through the neutral country, many people favoured Britain's exclusion from the war.  Germany's attitude towards Belgium changed matters however, being viewed as an aggressive act in Britain, particularly given Britain's treaty obligations to defend Belgian neutrality.

Click here to view footage of the peace rally which took place in London in early August 1914 before news of Germany's approach to Belgium filtered through (Windows Media, 13 seconds, 164KB).

A "conchie" was slang used to refer to a conscientious objector.

Original Material © Michael Duffy 2000-09, SafeSurf Rated