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Defence of the Realm Act 1914

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Citation
  
4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 29

Commencement
  
8 August 1914

Royal assent
  
8 August 1914


Long title
  
An Act to confer on His Majesty in Council power to make Regulations during the present War for the Defence of the Realm.

Territorial extent
  
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Amended by
  
Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Act 1914 Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act 1914 Defence of the Realm Act 1915

The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, four days after it entered World War I. It gave the government wide-ranging powers during the war period, such as the power to requisition buildings or land needed for the war effort, or to make regulations creating criminal offences.

Contents

DORA ushered in a variety of authoritarian social control mechanisms, such as censorship:

"No person shall by word of mouth or in writing spread reports likely to cause disaffection or alarm among any of His Majesty's forces or among the civilian population"

Anti-war activists, including Willie Gallacher, John William Muir, and Bertrand Russell, were sent to prison.

The trivial peacetime activities no longer permitted included flying kites, starting bonfires, buying binoculars, feeding wild animals bread, discussing naval and military matters or buying alcohol on public transport. Alcoholic beverages were watered down and pub opening times were restricted to noon–3pm and 6:30pm–9:30pm (the requirement for an afternoon gap in permitted hours lasted in England until the Licensing Act 1988 was brought into force).

Intention

The law was designed to help prevent invasion and to keep morale at home high. It imposed censorship of journalism and of letters coming home from the front line. The press was subject to controls on reporting troop movements, numbers or any other operational information that could be exploited by the enemy. People who breached the regulations with intent to assist the enemy could be sentenced to death. 10 people were executed under the regulations.

Though some provisions of DORA may seem strange, they did have their purposes. Flying a kite or lighting a bonfire could attract Zeppelins and, after rationing was introduced in 1917, feeding wild animals was a waste of food.

The original Act, its amendment, and consolidation

Section 1(1) of the Defence of the Realm Act read as follows:

The original Act was amended and extended six times over the course of the War, firstly on 28 August 1914 by the Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Act 1914, and then on 27 November 1914 by the Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act 1914 (which repealed and replaced the existing Acts). This final Act contained the following:

Similar legislation

In Canada, the Federal Government passed the War Measures Act in response to outbreak of World War I, since replaced by the Emergencies Act. Similar acts in the United States include the Sedition Act of 1918, and the Espionage Act of 1917.

After the War

Some of the provisions of the DORA regulations were re-enacted for peacetime emergencies, as part of the Emergency Powers Act 1920. A modified form of the regulations was also introduced in Ireland by the Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920, in an attempt to suppress the Irish War of Independence.

Second World War

At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 the United Kingdom again passed a similar Act, the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939. Regulations made under this Act created two capital offences, while the Treachery Act 1940 created a new capital offence of assisting the enemy. Although non-combatant, the Irish state also passed an Emergency Powers Act 1939.

References

Defence of the Realm Act 1914 Wikipedia