Athletics in time of peace are a good training for War
Category Archives: Debating Society
Does War inspire Art?
Should Arbitration take the place of War?
It is interesting to consider whether the pupils would have voted the same way on such a motion later in the War.
Should conscription be introduced?
Was India capable and deserving of self-government?
In the opinion of this House the bombardment of unfortified towns and the indiscriminate sowing of mines is unjustifiable
Another closely fought motion on a topical subject. It would be interesting to know whether the pupils involved felt the same as the war progressed and aerial bombardment became a greater threat to London.
This House approves of the conduct of the Government
It may be interesting to modern readers that Ireland dominates the debate on theGovernment’s conduct in the early stages of the First World War. The two main topics for discussion during the first half of 1914, Home Rule and Women’s suffrage, were not directly related to the conflict at all.
Dissenting voices were clearly heard in this debate and the motion was carried by a single vote.
Posted in Debating Society, Home Front
Tagged Home Rule, Ireland, Liberals, Lloyd George
Leave a comment
Was the Kaiser to blame?
The Debating Society remained active throughout the war. Detailed accounts of meetings were recorded in the Society’s ledger and published accounts featured in the School’s magazine, The Elizabethan.
The motions were often on topical subjects and it is not surprising that a number of motions in the Play Term focused on the War. The first debate of the year was concerned with who was responsible for the conflict.
It might be surprising to us today, but the Westminster pupils of 1914 were fairly sympathetic to the Kaiser, ultimately thinking that he was ‘more to be pitied than feared’.