Targeting Schools: Drill, Militarism And Imperialsim

Description:
Alan Penn traces the development of military drill, and of physical drill and exercises, for pupils in elementary schools from 1870-1914. Militarism was inseparable from imperialism in Britain no less than in the case of its European rivals. Its proponents saw schools as an ideal means by which the nation's youth might be given an early introduction to military drill, handling weapons, and even to firing them. Children of all ages and both sexes were taught military drill, and were prepared, often by army drill instructors, to participate in vast displays, carrying out complicated manoeuvres before the general public and sometimes royalty. His Majesty's Inspectors visited schools to ensure that Government requirements were being met, and their reports illustrate the ebb and flow of support for military drill, or rather the 'ordinary' drill that increasingly challenged it. The development of the controversy between military drill and the more benign physical exercises was prolonged, and had not been resolved by the time war broke out in 1914. Official records consulted include parliamentary debate (Hansard), reports of the Committee of council on Education and later, the reports of the Board of Education, His/Her Majesty's Inspector's reports, Commissions and Interdepartmental inquiries, Codes of Regulations, School Board and Local Education Authority records and school log books.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Drill in the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, 1870-1902: drill in elementary schools, 1870-75; drill and physical training - debate and decisions, 1875-99; the Society of Arts - its advocacy of military drill; the London School Board drill programme, and those of Leeds and Bradford; the Earl of Meath's campaign for drill and physical training; the Boer War, 1899-1902. Part 2 Drill and the curriculum - developments up to World War I: the model course of physical training and Interdepartmental Committee findings, 1902-04; 1905 - a significant year; rifle shooting experiments, 1906-08; the Board of Education stands firm.