<D 1965>
<A A.J.P. Taylor> [O.U.P. 1965]
<T Eng. Hist. 1914-45>
<C i>
<P 1>
AT WAR: OLD STYLE, 1914 -- 5
Until August 1914 a sensible, law-abiding Englishman
could pass through life and hardly notice the existence
of the state, beyond the post office and the policeman.
He could live where he liked and as he liked. He had no
official number or identity card. He could travel abroad or
leave his country for ever without a passport or any sort of
official permission. He could exchange his money for any other
currency without restriction or limit. He could buy goods from
any country in the world on the same terms as he bought goods
at home. For that matter, a foreigner could spend his life in
this country without permit and without informing the police.
Unlike the countries of the European continent, the state did
not require its citizens to perform military service. An English+
man could enlist, if he chose, in the regular army, the navy, or
the territorials. He could also ignore, if he ch . . .
