Before World War I in Great Britain many men joined the military to perform their patriotic duty to save their country from an invasion by the “German hordes.” When, on 1 August 1914, the United Kingdom and Ireland declared war on German after their invasion of Belgium and France, most UK residents feared they would soon be subjected to an invasion by Germany. Despite the hysteria, some of Great Britain’s men did not wish to serve for a variety of reasons including a desire to see a diplomatic peace instead of war.
A newspaper, the Guardian, pushed for women to join the Order of the White Feather, founded on 30 August 1914 by Admiral Charles Fitzgerald, which encouraged women to give out white feathers to young men who had not joined the British army. Admiral Fitzgerald gave out white feathers to 30 women, giving instructions to hand them out to men who had cowardly not enlisted in the army. The idea of the white feather as a symbol for cowardice and disapproval comes from a popular novel written by the British author A.E.W. Mason in 1902, during the Boer War. In the story the main character decides to not follow his troop as they go to fight in Sudan, with reasonable justification. He receives three white feathers from fellow soldiers, and a fourth from his fiancé, who breaks up with him. Can you imagine, a young man in civilian clothes going about his daily routine and duties being handed a white feather by a well-dressed young woman simply because he was not in uniform? This happened all over Britain, often causing crowds to gather to ridicule the man, throw rotten vegetables at him, or even to beat him up. Other such conscientious objectors were arrested and thrown in jail where they were beaten by guards. Some of these men were as young as 15 or 16 years of age! Many men joined simply to avoid the public humiliation.
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