BBC Teach - Kitchener, recruitment and patriotism in WW1 - History - Britain's Great War

Worksheet to support the Paxman BBC Great War video extract

Jeremy Paxman introduces Lord Kitchener’s iconic patriotic recruitment campaign and tells us about the Pals regiments, which were formed of men from one local area or of the same profession.

Lord Kitchener was Britain’s most famous living soldier in 1914, and newly appointed Minister of War. He launched a poster campaign on a huge scale, to persuade men to volunteer to fight.

We see what the posters looked like, and hear about the different ways they encouraged men to sign up, inciting duty, fear of invasion and guilt. We see contemporary footage of public recruiting events, and hear how a patriotic mood swept the nation, causing men to enlist at unprecedented speed and scale.

Search - BBC Teach - Class Clips - History GCSE / National 5: Why did thousands of men enlist at the start of WW1?