Rethinking British Militarism before the First World War: The Case of An Englishman’s Home (1909)

Abstract

Abstract British pre-First World War culture has often been described as militaristic. An Englishman’s Home, Guy du Maurier’s 1909 play about a German invasion of Britain, forms part of this picture. Yet the message of the play was not clear-cut, and Edwardian society reacted as much with bemusement and criticism to the idea that Britain could be invaded as with militaristic fervour. This article investigates the reactions to du Maurier’s play, and sets it in the context of the wider invasion-scare and future-war genre, a popular element in late Victorian and Edwardian culture. The play was quickly linked with a recruitment drive for the newly organised Territorial Force, and its success has been interpreted as a sign of increased British uncertainty, militarism and xenophobia. However, the play was also mocked, its success as a recruitment vehicle was uncertain, and the audience interpreted the play in different and often contradictory ways. The article offers a reinterpretation and a critical assessment of the pre-war period, showing that Edwardian society was not as militaristic or fearful of invasion as has previously been argued. It presents a new interpretation of invasion-scare and future-war fiction, and a new analysis of the question of pre-war militarism in Britain.