A Very British Dictatorship: The Defence of the Realm Act in Britain, 1914-1920

ABSTRACT

When Britain entered the First World War on 5 August 1914, it had no established set of emergency powers comparable to the other belligerents. Nonetheless, within a matter of days, Parliament passed the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA), which allowed the British government to rule by decree and suspend vital elements of the unwritten constitution. Consequently, the supremacy of the Parliament and key aspects of the rule of law, both seen as cornerstones of the self-proclaimed ‘liberal’political culture in Britain, were de facto put on hold for the duration of the war. This article argues that the Defence of the Realm Act established what can only be described as a ‘commissary dictatorship’ yet one that was hidden in plain sight. While DORA presented the government with hitherto unprecedented powers, government ministers sought to avoid the impression of an overly oppressive use of them. The practice under the state of exception in Britain during the war was often shaped by the desire of government ministers to avoid the use of emergency powers and to use indirect and non-public channels of policymaking instead. Yet, as the article highlights, when necessary, the British state was capable of using DORA for the ruthless repression of dissent and industrial unrest. Overall, this piece posits that the state of exception under DORA had dictatorial features that were, however, kept in check by a sense of pragmatism and a willingness to compromise to avoid the escalation of conflicts on the homefront.

KEYWORDS:

• Defence of the Realm Act
• emergency powers
• First World War
• United Kingdom
• law

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Defence of the Realm Act, 1914, 4&5 Geo 5, c 29.

2. Ibid.

3. Schmitt, Die Diktatur, 1–41.

4. Millman, Managing Domestic Dissent.

5. Farnhey and Kordan, “The Predicament of Belonging.”

6. Bond, Law in War.

7. Townshend, “Martial Law.”

8. Emsley, “Repression, ‘Terror’, and the Rule of Law”; Schofield, “British Politicians and French Arms”; and Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class, 158–63.

9. Riot Act, 1714, 1 Geo. 1, St.2, c.5.

10. Poole, Peterloo.

11. Neville, “The Yorkshire Miners.”

12. Peak, Troops in Strikes, 19–27.

13. Townshend, “Military Force.”

14. Townshend, “Martial Law,” 168–9.

15. All version of the War Book can be found in The National Archives, Kew, London (henceforth TNA), CAB 15/1–15/5, Committee of Imperial Defence.

16. Johnson, Defence by Committee; and Mackintosh, “The Role of the Committee of Imperial Defence.”

17. TNA, CAB 11/142, 20–9, Martial Law in the Cape Colony, 8 June 1901; Sturridge, “Rebellion.”

18. TNA, CAB 16/31, 26, Martial Law in the United Kingdom: Opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown, 16 July 1913.

19. TNA, CAB 16/31, 8–22, Emergency Powers in War: Memoranda by the General Staff, 1 May 1914.

20. HC, Deb 25 August 1914, 66 vols., c. 26.

21. HL, Deb 27 August 1914, 17 vols., cc. 540–1.

22. HC, Deb 26 August 1914, 66 vols., cc. 87–9.

23. Ibid.

24. Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Act, 1914, 4 &5 Geo. 5, c. 63.

25. Sanders and Taylor, British Propaganda, 7.

26. HL, Deb 27 November 1914, 18 vols., cc. 204–24.

27. Ibid.

28. Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act, 1915, 4 & 5, Geo. 5., c. 8.

29. Munitions of War Act, 1915, 5 & 6, Geo. 5, c. 54.

30. Adams, Arms and the Wizard.

31. Rubin, Law, War, and Labour.

32. Adams and Poirier, The Conscription Controversy in Great Britain; and Gregory, The Last Great War.

33. Keil, “The National Council for Civil Liberties.”

34. Defence Regulation 1, in Pulling, Defence of the Realm Manual, 39–40.

35. Ibid.

36. The records of this committee can be found in fragments in TNA, MUN4/2043 (April 1916–July 1916), TNA, BT 13/75 (1917), and TNA, NATS 1/310 (1917–1918).

37. Supplement to the London Gazette, 4 August 1914, 6059.

38. TNA, ADM1/8391/271, Army Order: Further Instructions Relative to the Defence of the Realm Acts 1914, 14 September 1914.

39. See note 33 above.

40. For examples in the ‘patriotic’ press, see ‘Make a note of the date: Peace crank congress in London’, Daily Express, 23 November 1915; ‘Mass Meeting of Peace Cranks. Insult to London’; Daily Express, 26 November 1915; ‘Gathering of the Peace Cranks: Why is it allowed?’, Daily Express, 27 November 1915. For an exhaustive collection of anti-pacifist articles predominantly from the Morning Post and Daily Express, see TNA, HO 45/10741/263275–10,744/263275.

41. Hull History Centre U DDC/1/4, Minutes UDC Executive Committee, Minutes Meeting 24 August 1915.

42. Bean, “Police Unrest.”

43. Defence Regulation 9A, in Pulling, Defence of the Realm Manual, 80.

44. Defence Regulation 9AA, in ibid.

45. Defence Regulation 14B, in ibid., 93–4.

46. Ibid.

47. Ibid.

48. Keil and Stibbe, “Ein Laboratorium.”

49. HC Deb 17 June 1915 72 vols., cc 851–852.

50. Manz and Panayi, Enemies of the Empire, 227–49.

51. Simpson, In the Highest Degree Odious, 16–17.

52. Murphy, Political Internment, 59–60.

53. Ibid., 80–107.

54. Ronnefeldt v Phillips (35, T.L.R. 46).

55. Bonner, Executive Measures, 55–6.

56. Rex v Halliday ex parte Zadig, UKHL 1917, 1.

57. Simpson, In the Highest Degree Odious, 25.

58. Ewing and Gearty, The Struggle for Civil Liberties, 85–6.

59. Vorspan, “Law and War,” 264.

60. Cline, E. D. Morel, 112–15; Millman, Managing Dissent, 179–84; and Sally Harris, Out of Control, 159.

61. Vellacott, Conscientious Objection, 223–40.

62. Ewing and Gearty, Civil Liberties, 57.

63. Johnson, Land Fit For Heroes.

64. Defence of the Realm Act 1914, 4&5 Geo 5.

65. Termination of the Present War (Definition) Act, 1918, 8 &9 Geo. 5, c. 59.

66. Ibid.

67. Barclay, “Duties in Aid of the Civilian Power.”

68. See note 42 above.

69. TNA, NATS 1/310, Prolongation of Emergency Legislation: Defence of the Realm Regulations Amendment Committee, 1917–1918.

70. TNA, HO 144/7480, Memorandum on Emergency Powers Bill, 13 March 1920.

71. HC Deb 16 February 1920, 125 vols., c. 597.

72. Emergency Powers Act, 1920, 10 & 11 Geo. 5, c. 55.

73. Dangerfield, The Strange Death.

74. Taylor, English History, 25.

75. Keil, “Zwischen Kooperation und Opposition.”

76. “The Speech: David Lloyd George,” The Scotsman, 23 November 1918.

77. Roberts, “The Geddes Axe.”

78. Tomkins, “The Failure of Expertise.”

79. TNA, WO 32/21382, Secret Service: Organization; Formation of Department Dealing with Sedition and Revolutionary Movements, 1919.

80. See note 3 above.