Consensus and dissent in wartime Leeds, 1914-1918

This thesis explores the effect of the First World War on the home front in Leeds, using a chronological approach to uncover the influence of internal and external factors created by the conflict as it progressed. Leeds was a very important war industry city, therefore it is surprising that there has never been a major research project focused upon it previously. This thesis therefore fills the gap in the existing scholarship, and breaks new ground in researching a particular locality which was very much changed by the war. An analysis of the influence of the war through the multiple foci of recruitment, grief, class, gender, and, notably, industry, in the city unearths the minutiae of evidence which shows Leeds as a unique and special case. It concentrates on distinctions of war experiences that existed in one place, to build up a clear and revealing picture of war-time conditions and attitudes. In-depth analysis of newspapers, official papers and ego documents, including previously unseen letters home from Leeds soldiers, has introduced a deeper understanding of the war on a major conurbation. Its originality lies not solely in its analysis of the effect of the war on the city but in its fusion of the evidence presented by the main themes researched. It examines to what extent and in what ways the war changed the city, particularly regarding the attitudes of the people of Leeds towards it. Most people wanted to win the war, which was also the national picture, however the presence also of dissent nuances this interpretation, and there is a profusion of evidence to support this. Therefore a bi-polar model between consensus and dissent within the city, a refined picture which provides a balanced assessment of the city’s outlook on the war, has been revealed.