White feather: recruitment in Great Britain during the First world war

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the phenomenon of the White Feather Campaign as a means of internal mobilization in Great Britain during the First World War (1914–1918), a comprehensive analysis of which is relevant in the context of the historical experience of civic participation and recruitment, the study of the European cultural heritage of the Great War period.

The essence, features, genesis, mechanisms, and consequences of the White Feather Campaign in British society are studied. It is established that the symbolism of the white feather as a sign of cowardice goes back to cockfighting and was popularized by A. E. W. Mason's adventure novel The Four Feathers (1902). The initiator of the organized campaign in August 1914 was Vice Admiral C. Penrose-Fitzgerald, who founded the Order of the White Feather, which used women to publicly shame men in civilian clothes. Women handed white feathers to men, associating refusal of military service with failure to fulfill patriotic duty, motivating them to become volunteers.

This recruitment tactic was effective in the initial stages, encouraging some men to become recruits. At the same time, the campaign caused a public outcry. The white feather was received by minors, unfit for service due to health conditions, wounded veterans on leave, as well as workers in critical industries (civil servants, miners, factory workers).

To protect such men from public disgrace, the British government was forced to introduce special awards: the King and Country badges (for home front workers) and the Silver War Badge (for those discharged from service due to injury or illness).

The campaign became an example of the militarization of gender identities and the use of social pressure as a tool of state propaganda in the home front. Further research on the topic could be aimed at in-depth study of the historiography of the problem, rethinking the campaign as an important mechanism of stigmatization and analyzing the participation of feminist movements in the spread of the white feather.