How Far Did The Coverage Of The War Change Public Perception? Flashcards
What was the first war to receive coverage that included photos?
It was the Crimean war
-to the British public, wars on foreign soil had previously been remote affairs
-before the 18th century, news trickled home slowly and sporadically. Weeks after a battle, town criers would announce what had happened, and rumour and gossip would tell the tale. By the 19th century, newspaper reports were appearing more speedily, but were usually based either on edited official dispatches or on eyewitness accounts, which were weeks old.
Before 1800, reading was a minority skill.
It is thanks to what that reading was no longer a minority skill after the 1800’s
It was thanks to church Sunday school
-charity schools for the poor and laws forcing factory owners to offer workers a basic education
-Literacy rates increased.
-By 1850, over half of Britain’s population could read and write.
-The increase in literacy meant a growing demand for something to read.
-Certain novelists had broad appeal. Such as Charles Dickens.
-Newspapers and magazines were read in huge numbers.
What did the Public Libraries Act of 1850 do?
It began the process that gave access to reading materials to all, free of charge
What was the cause for the big change in the war information was communicated?
It was photography
- Throughout the 1830s and 1840s, inventors had been developing photography, where images were captured with a camera and printed.
- By the 1850s, this process was reliable enough for professional photographers to take cameras into battle zones.
- There were no action shots, subjects had to hold each pose for several seconds.
- First war photographs from the Crimea gave people an insight into what war was like.
- Improved communications meant news could travel a lot quicker.
What did ‘Railway mania’ of the 1840s give Britain?
“Railway mania” of the 1840s gave Britain the world’s first steam rail network, connecting major population centres.
Newspapers printed one day could be taken by train around the whole country.
Reports from the war zone reached Britain quicker due to what?
Due to railways and electric telegraph
-during the French Wars, correspondents with the British army in Spain sent reports by letter carried on horse wagons to Lisbon. This took weeks, Mail went by ship to Britain
