Attitudes Towards International Affairs Among the Students and Staff of the University of Edinburgh 1914-1939

Abstract

This thesis examines attitudes toward international affairs held by students and staff at the University of Edinburgh between 1914 and 1939, particularly those relating to the issues of war and peace. Specific ideological areas to be looked at include religious influences, nationalism and imperialism, racial concepts, health, fitness and eugenics, and Marxism. Primary sources made use of throughout include the private papers and publications of officials and teaching staff at the university, newspaper letters and reports, University Court, Senatus, Faculty and other committee papers and minutes, official University publications and course text books, and student publications, society minutes and debating records. In the main body of the thesis the relevant positions of the student body and University official and staff are looked at separately and a generally chronological approach followed, with the overall period divided up into World War One, the 1920s, and the 1930s respectively. The conclusion seeks to evaluate the reasons why both students and staff offered up a generally vigorous support for Britain’s war efforts in both 1914 and 1939, this in spite of the widespread popularity of pacifistic ideas throughout the period covered.