Alan Penn traces the development of military drill, and of physical drill and exercises, for pupils in elementary schools from 1870-1914. Militarism was inseparable from imperialism in Britain no less than in the case of its European rivals. Its proponents saw schools as an ideal means by which the nation's youth might be given an early introduction to military drill, handling weapons, and even to firing them.

Alan Penn traces the development of military drill, and of physical drill and exercises, for pupils in elementary schools from 1870-1914. Militarism was inseparable from imperialism in Britain no less than in the case of its European rivals. Its proponents saw schools as an ideal means by which the nation's youth might be given an early introduction to military drill, handling weapons, and even to firing them.