Joining up in the Second World War

Joining Up connects the First and Second World Wars by examining how the cultural legacy of the First World War affected young men’s attitudes to service and subjective conceptions of wartime masculinity during the Second World War. It uses original and archival oral histories and the Mass Observati...

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Hoofdauteur: Morley, Joel
Formaat: Online
Taal:Engels
Gepubliceerd in: Manchester University Press 2025
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Online toegang:ONIX_20250818T135708_9781526157249_25
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author Morley, Joel
author_browse Morley, Joel
author_facet Morley, Joel
author_sort Morley, Joel
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Joining Up connects the First and Second World Wars by examining how the cultural legacy of the First World War affected young men’s attitudes to service and subjective conceptions of wartime masculinity during the Second World War. It uses original and archival oral histories and the Mass Observation Archive to explore how young men in inter-war Britain encountered and understood representations of the Great War in popular culture and day-to-day-life. By demonstrating the breadth of representations through which the cultural memory of the Great War was transmitted and the diversity of young men’s responses, Joining Up makes a significant intervention in the cultural history of the Great War, and interactions with Great War veterans are shown to be more important than previously acknowledged. Joining Up also adds new depth to understandings of Second World War enlistment and masculinity. It shows that British men had varied attitudes and explores why. Most were reluctant servicemen, but compliance with conscription was increased by a manpower system that gave men some agency over how they served. Understandings of the Great War informed men’s attitudes and service preferences, commonly discouraging service in the Army. Nevertheless, some enthusiastically anticipated service, especially if they hoped to join the RAF. Men’s subjective conceptions of wartime masculinity are shown to be diverse. Long-standing constructions of military masculinity were durable, and often reinforced by representations of the Great War, and men’s conceptions of wartime masculinity often diverged from the temperature masculinity that dominated public discourse.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1660152025-08-19T05:07:21Z Joining up in the Second World War Morley, Joel conscription First World War Great War literature masculinity Mass Observation memory military enlistment oral history Second World War veterans thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTD Oral history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1D Europe::1DD Western Europe::1DDU United Kingdom, Great Britain thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999::3MPB Early 20th century c 1900 to c 1950 thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history::NHWR Specific wars and campaigns::NHWR7 Second World War thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history::NHWR Specific wars and campaigns::NHWR5 First World War Joining Up connects the First and Second World Wars by examining how the cultural legacy of the First World War affected young men’s attitudes to service and subjective conceptions of wartime masculinity during the Second World War. It uses original and archival oral histories and the Mass Observation Archive to explore how young men in inter-war Britain encountered and understood representations of the Great War in popular culture and day-to-day-life. By demonstrating the breadth of representations through which the cultural memory of the Great War was transmitted and the diversity of young men’s responses, Joining Up makes a significant intervention in the cultural history of the Great War, and interactions with Great War veterans are shown to be more important than previously acknowledged. Joining Up also adds new depth to understandings of Second World War enlistment and masculinity. It shows that British men had varied attitudes and explores why. Most were reluctant servicemen, but compliance with conscription was increased by a manpower system that gave men some agency over how they served. Understandings of the Great War informed men’s attitudes and service preferences, commonly discouraging service in the Army. Nevertheless, some enthusiastically anticipated service, especially if they hoped to join the RAF. Men’s subjective conceptions of wartime masculinity are shown to be diverse. Long-standing constructions of military masculinity were durable, and often reinforced by representations of the Great War, and men’s conceptions of wartime masculinity often diverged from the temperature masculinity that dominated public discourse. 2025-08-19T05:07:20Z 2025-08-19T05:07:20Z 2025-08-18T12:00:19Z 2025 book ONIX_20250818T135708_9781526157249_25 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/105569 9781526157249 9781526157232 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/166015 eng Cultural History of Modern War open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/105569/1/9781526157249.pdf Manchester University Press Manchester University Press 10.7765/9781526157249 10.7765/9781526157249 bcb4ab08-c525-4e6c-88e5-a0cf0a175533 9781526157249 9781526157232 Manchester University Press 312 Manchester open access
spellingShingle conscription
First World War
Great War literature
masculinity
Mass Observation
memory
military enlistment
oral history
Second World War
veterans
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTD Oral history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1D Europe::1DD Western Europe::1DDU United Kingdom, Great Britain
thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999::3MPB Early 20th century c 1900 to c 1950
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history::NHWR Specific wars and campaigns::NHWR7 Second World War
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history::NHWR Specific wars and campaigns::NHWR5 First World War
Morley, Joel
Joining up in the Second World War
title Joining up in the Second World War
title_full Joining up in the Second World War
title_fullStr Joining up in the Second World War
title_full_unstemmed Joining up in the Second World War
title_short Joining up in the Second World War
title_sort joining up in the second world war
topic conscription
First World War
Great War literature
masculinity
Mass Observation
memory
military enlistment
oral history
Second World War
veterans
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTD Oral history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1D Europe::1DD Western Europe::1DDU United Kingdom, Great Britain
thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999::3MPB Early 20th century c 1900 to c 1950
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history::NHWR Specific wars and campaigns::NHWR7 Second World War
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history::NHWR Specific wars and campaigns::NHWR5 First World War
topic_facet conscription
First World War
Great War literature
masculinity
Mass Observation
memory
military enlistment
oral history
Second World War
veterans
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTD Oral history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1D Europe::1DD Western Europe::1DDU United Kingdom, Great Britain
thema EDItEUR::3 Time period qualifiers::3M c 1500 onwards to present day::3MP 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999::3MPB Early 20th century c 1900 to c 1950
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history::NHWR Specific wars and campaigns::NHWR7 Second World War
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHW Military history::NHWR Specific wars and campaigns::NHWR5 First World War
url ONIX_20250818T135708_9781526157249_25
work_keys_str_mv AT morleyjoel joiningupinthesecondworldwar