Aftershocks: Politics and Trauma in Britain, 1918–1931 PDF
Preview Aftershocks: Politics and Trauma in Britain, 1918–1931
Aftershocks Politics and Trauma in Britain, 1918–1931 Susan Kingsley Kent Aftershocks AlsoBySusanKingsleyKent SEXANDSUFFRAGEINBRITAIN,1860–1914 MAKINGPEACE:THERECONSTRUCTIONOFGENDERININTERWARBRITAIN GENDERANDPOWERINBRITAIN,1640–1990 HISTORYOFWESTERNCIVILIZATIONSINCE1500:ANECOLOGICALAPPROACH Aftershocks Politics and Trauma in Britain, 1918–1931 Susan Kingsley Kent ProfessorofHistory,UniversityofColorado,Boulder,USA ©SusanKingsleyKent2009 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-1-4039-9333-5 Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, SaffronHouse,6-10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorhasassertedherrighttobeidentified astheauthorofthisworkinaccordancewiththeCopyright, DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Firstpublished2009by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN 978-1-349-54393-9 ISBN 978-0-230-58200-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230582002 Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe countryoforigin. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Kent,SusanKingsley1952May9– Aftershocks:politicsandtraumainBritain,1918–1931/Susan KingsleyKent. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. 1.GreatBritain—Socialconditions—20thcentury 2. Great Britain—Politicsandgovernment—1910–1936. 3. Warneuroses—Great Britain—History—20thcentury. 4. WorldWar,1914–1918—Psychological aspects—GreatBritain. 5. WorldWar,1914–1918—Social aspects—GreatBritain. I.Title. DA578.K462009 941.083—dc22 2008035148 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 To all of those whose lives Elisa touched and to Anne, who has touched mine so profoundly This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements viii Introduction 1 1 Britons’ShatteredPsyche 10 2 Jews,“Blacks,”andthePromisesofRadicalConservatism, 1919–1925 35 3 TheAmritsarMassacre,1919–1920 64 4 ReprisalsinIreland,1919–1921 91 5 TheGeneralStrikeof1926 122 6 FlappersandtheIgboWomen’sWarof1929(withMarc Matera) 149 Conclusion:Resolvingthe“NationalCrisis”of1929–1931 180 Notes 196 Bibliography 218 Index 226 vii Acknowledgements Ithastakenme15yearstowritethisbook.InthattimeIhaveincurred many,manydebts,andItakegreatpleasureinbeingablenowtothank everyone who helped me. Support from the Institute for Advanced Study,theNationalEndowmentfortheHumanities,andPhilDiStefano, Susan Avery, and Todd Gleeson at the University of Colorado gave me the time and space I needed to gather evidence, think, and write. At the Institute, I benefited from the intellectual and personal fellowship ofJoanScott,AvaBaron,LindaGregerson,StephenMullaney,andDan Sherman; the library staff there and at Princeton University provided mewithuntoldriches.JeanAllman,MistyBastian,JeffCox,JimCronin, SteveFeierman,JaneGallop,JaneGarrity,NickyGullace,HollyHanson, Janet Jacobs, Alison Jagger, Marc Matera, Marjorie McIntosh, Bob Moeller, Susan Pedersen, Lou Roberts, Sonya Rose, Diana Shull, Janet Watson, and Jay Winter offered opportunities, comments, criticisms, and suggestions that facilitated my research and writing. Thanks to youall. At Palgrave, Michael Strang, Ruth Ireland, and Geetha Naren gave much-appreciatedguidance,assistance,andsupport. My good friends and colleagues Fred Anderson, Virginia Anderson, CarolByerly,PhilDeloria,andMarthaHanna,andanunknownreader forapressthatoptednottopublishthisbookgavemeincrediblyhelp- ful advice as I went about conceptualizing my arguments. They asked me to think much more carefully about the relationship between the- ory and practice and the book is the stronger for their contributions. Iammostgratefultothem.JonLawrencewentthroughthemanuscript withakeeneyeforerrorsoffactandinterpretation;hisinputandassis- tance strengthened the book immeasurably. I owe him big time. And mydearfriendBonnieSmith,whohastalkedwithmeaboutthisbook since its inception, gave generously of her time, energies, knowledge, and heart to ensure that it was as good as I could make it. I am deeply indebtedtoher. viii Acknowledgements ix Thedeathofmyniece,ElisaKentMendelsohn,in1986inspiredmeto investigate the issues of trauma and loss I treat in this book—I needed to know how people in the past handled such a terrible tragedy. This bookisdedicatedtoherfamily,whofeelthepainandthejoyofherto thisveryday,andtoAnneDavidson,whohasbeenaconstantsourceof love,laughter,andsupport.
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