Labour Affairs Magazine

British Government Guilt in the Great War

An on-line reprint of documents circulated recently in Ireland, and available as a PDF.
When Imperial Germany emerged as a global competitor to the British Empire, many in the ruling elite thought that a war to weaken it would be a good idea. The British public and even many leading politicians were misled on this.
The war was also fought in a brutal manner – starving ordinary Germans, which forced their actual surrender. 
This British-elite policy caused much of the later brutality of the 20th century.