A Study Of Britain Conscientious Objectors,1916-1919

In order to solve the increasingly tense manpower problems in 1916, the British government gave up the traditional voluntary service system and implemented the compulsory conscription. The "conscience clause" to exempt conscientious objectors obligations of military service was written in the "Military Service Act" by Asquith government for the reason that the conscription bill would be passed in Parliament quickly and smoothly. Since the beginning of the implementation of "Military Service Act", a series of measures had been taken by the British government and the military concentrating on the problems such as how to grant certificates of exemption and how to deal with the conscientious objectors. However, due to the lack of necessary research preparation by government departments, the conscientious objectors’refusal to cooperate, the general hostility of the entire society to the conscientious objectors and other reasons, the issue on the conscientious objectors had not been properly addressed throughout the war. In the meantime, the government, the public and conscientious objectors were all hurt by this problem.Even though, in the long run, the British conscientious objectors issues in the World War I had contributed to the development of peace movement during the two World Wars, providing experience for the British government to better address the issue during the World War II and setting up an example for each government in the world to solve such problems.