The Great War, a Catalyst for Changing Class Structure in Britain, Research Paper

The Great War, a Catalyst for Changing Class Structure in Britain, 1914-1919 - Research Paper Example More so, finally, arms race is also another triggering factor of the Great War because Britain and Germany had the best navies during that period and so naval rivalry between the two countries played a significant role in the emergence of World War 1. In 1914, Britain reigned over a quarter of the world’s population, it was a very powerful country, stratified in a class system, and that individuals were determined by their class ranks. About fourteen million civilians participated in the war and so they played a leading role in changing the class structure of Britain of 1914.2 The First World War changed the social class structure in Britain in many ways, first, it reduced the number of servants employed, increased the number of salaried workers, and increased ownership of the country’s wealth.3 This paper explores how the Great War changed the class structure in Britain covering its effects on the upper, middle and lower classes as well as the role of women in the how and how this change their status in the society. Class is a social category where individuals are grouped together based on their status in the society. It refers to an individual’s position in the social hierarchy based on their accessibility to wealth and power and this implies that those who are wealthy and powerful are ranked high as compared to those who are poor and less powerful. Notably, the nature of the class system is usually known by the distribution of wealth in the country.4 The British life was strictly stratified into a class system; however, during the war the traditional class differences were softened.5 The aristocracy was the wealthiest and most powerful people in Britain during the war, and they had influence because of their wealth and power. The middle or working class who worked hard to earn a living doing jobs like farmers and traders followed them. The British middle class valued education and generally, they work as managers, civil servants, or