Half the battle: Civilian morale in Britain during the Second World War

How well did civilian morale stand up to the pressures of total war and what factors were important to it? In this important work, Robert Mackay offers a robust rejection of recent contentions that civilian morale fell a long way short of the favourable picture presented at the time and in hundreds...

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Hlavní autor: Mackay, Robert
Médium: Online
Jazyk:angličtina
Vydáno: Manchester University Press 2021
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On-line přístup:341341
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author Mackay, Robert
author_browse Mackay, Robert
author_facet Mackay, Robert
author_sort Mackay, Robert
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description How well did civilian morale stand up to the pressures of total war and what factors were important to it? In this important work, Robert Mackay offers a robust rejection of recent contentions that civilian morale fell a long way short of the favourable picture presented at the time and in hundreds of books and films ever since. Whilst acknowledging that some negative attitudes and behaviours existed - panic and defeatism, ration-cheating and black-marketeering, looting, absenteeism and strikes - the author argues that these involved a very small minority of the population. In fact, most people behaved well, and this should be the real measure of civilian morale, rather than the failings of the few who behaved badly. This book shows that before the War the official prognosis was pessimistic but that measures to bolster morale were taken nevertheless, in particular with regard to protection against air raids. An examination of a range of indicative factors concludes that morale fluctuated but was in the main good, right until the end of the War. In explaining this phenomenon, due credit is accorded to government policies for the maintenance of morale, but special emphasis is given to the 'invisible' chain of patriotic feeling that held the nation together during its time of trial. This book will give students of the Second World War new insights into how and why ordinary people coped with the intolerable.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-317582025-07-30T10:20:48Z Half the battle: Civilian morale in Britain during the Second World War Mackay, Robert britain war civilian BBC London Mass-Observation Propaganda The Blitz thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history How well did civilian morale stand up to the pressures of total war and what factors were important to it? In this important work, Robert Mackay offers a robust rejection of recent contentions that civilian morale fell a long way short of the favourable picture presented at the time and in hundreds of books and films ever since. Whilst acknowledging that some negative attitudes and behaviours existed - panic and defeatism, ration-cheating and black-marketeering, looting, absenteeism and strikes - the author argues that these involved a very small minority of the population. In fact, most people behaved well, and this should be the real measure of civilian morale, rather than the failings of the few who behaved badly. This book shows that before the War the official prognosis was pessimistic but that measures to bolster morale were taken nevertheless, in particular with regard to protection against air raids. An examination of a range of indicative factors concludes that morale fluctuated but was in the main good, right until the end of the War. In explaining this phenomenon, due credit is accorded to government policies for the maintenance of morale, but special emphasis is given to the 'invisible' chain of patriotic feeling that held the nation together during its time of trial. This book will give students of the Second World War new insights into how and why ordinary people coped with the intolerable. 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2010-06-01 00:00:00 2020-04-01T15:32:09Z 2003 book 341341 OCN: 57555449 994596261 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/35048 9780719058936 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/31758 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg n/a n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/35048/1/341341.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/35048/1/341341.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/35048/1/341341.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/35048/1/341341.pdf Manchester University Press 10.7228/manchester/9780719058936.001.0001 10.7228/manchester/9780719058936.001.0001 bcb4ab08-c525-4e6c-88e5-a0cf0a175533 9780719058936 open access
spellingShingle britain
war
civilian
BBC
London
Mass-Observation
Propaganda
The Blitz
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
Mackay, Robert
Half the battle: Civilian morale in Britain during the Second World War
title Half the battle: Civilian morale in Britain during the Second World War
title_full Half the battle: Civilian morale in Britain during the Second World War
title_fullStr Half the battle: Civilian morale in Britain during the Second World War
title_full_unstemmed Half the battle: Civilian morale in Britain during the Second World War
title_short Half the battle: Civilian morale in Britain during the Second World War
title_sort half the battle civilian morale in britain during the second world war
topic britain
war
civilian
BBC
London
Mass-Observation
Propaganda
The Blitz
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
topic_facet britain
war
civilian
BBC
London
Mass-Observation
Propaganda
The Blitz
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
url 341341
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