The outbreak of war produced a huge wave of patriotic support for the government in 1914.Men rushed to avoid missing out on all the 'fun'. By the end of 1914 a million people had volunteered for the front lines. This was mainly caused by British government propaganda which assured the people of Britain of a speedy and relatively painless war, however by the start of 1915 these ideas soon began to change.In 1916 the Military Service Act brought in conscription for all men aged from 18 -41. Numbers volunteering had been declining as bodies came home, and conscription gave the government the power to call up the most able of men. they could also refuse admittance to important workers like miners. However some men still refused to fight as their conscience would not allow them to kill another man. These conscientious objectors (conchies) had to persuade tribunals their ideas were genuine however they became under increasing pressure to join up. During the war 6,000 conchies were imprisoned for their views. 71 died as a result of ill treatment in prison. The government believed it was vital to keep conchies to a low for the good of the war.
On the front line soldiers attitudes began to change as the promises of early easy victories, the promise of exploration, the promise of excitement, the promise of fun gave way to a horrific trench warfare and long fatal campaigns. By 1916 few soldiers saw the war as being full of glory and a heroic mission but another job that had to be finished, with a slim chance of surviving. Of the 5 million soldiers who signed up in all of the war, 750,000 were killed and 2 million wounded. Few soldiers still believed the Governments propaganda of 1914 by the end of 1918. Their disillusions and horror was often displayed in poetry.
