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Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900
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Soldiers as Workers - Class, employment, conflict and the nineteenth-century military (Paperback)
Loot Price: R1,084
Discovery Miles 10 840
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Soldiers as Workers - Class, employment, conflict and the nineteenth-century military (Paperback)
Series: Studies in Labour History, 6
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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The book outlines how class is single most important factor in
understanding the British army in the period of industrialisation.
It challenges the 'ruffians officered by gentlemen' theory of most
military histories and demonstrates how service in the ranks was
not confined to 'the scum of the earth' but included a cross
section of 'respectable' working class men. Common soldiers
represent a huge unstudied occupational group. They worked as
artisans, servants and dealers, displaying pre-enlistment working
class attitudes and evidencing low level class conflict in numerous
ways. Soldiers continued as members of the working class after
discharge, with military service forming one phase of their careers
and overall life experience. After training, most common soldiers
had time on their hands and were allowed to work at a wide variety
of jobs, analysed here for the first time. Many serving soldiers
continued to work as regimental tradesmen, or skilled artificers.
Others worked as officers' servants or were allowed to run small
businesses, providing goods and services to their comrades. Some,
especially the Non Commissioned Officers who actually ran the army,
forged extraordinary careers which surpassed any opportunities in
civilian life. All the soldiers studied retained much of their
working class way of life. This was evidenced in a contract culture
similar to that of the civilian trade unions. Within disciplined
boundaries, army life resulted in all sorts of low level class
conflict. The book explores these by covering drinking, desertion,
feigned illness, self harm, strikes and go-slows. It further
describes mutinies, back chat, looting, fraternisation, foreign
service, suicide and even the shooting of unpopular officers.
General
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