Defence of the Realm Act 1914

Defence of the Realm Act 1914

Parliament of the United Kingdom
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.
Statute book chapter	4 & 5 Geo. 5 c. 29
Territorial extent	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Dates
Royal Assent	8 August 1914
Commencement	8 August 1914
Other legislation
Amendments	Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Act 1914 Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act 1914 Defence of the Realm Act 1915
Related legislation	See below
Status: Repealed

The Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was passed in the United Kingdom on 8 August 1914, during the early weeks of 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.^[1] Some of the things the British public were not allowed to do included flying a kite, lighting a bonfire, 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). DORA ushered in a variety of authoritarian social control mechanisms, such as censorship.

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.^[2]

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 first person to be arrested under DORA was John Maclean, a Marxist and Clydeside revolutionary, for uttering statements deemed prejudiced against recruiting. He was fined £5 but refused to pay and so spent five nights in prison.

Excerpts

The original Defence of the Realm Act was barely more than a paragraph long:^[3][4]

Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

(1) His Majesty in Council has power during the continuance of the present war to issue regulations as to the powers and duties of the Admiralty and Army Council, and of the members of His Majesty's forces, and other persons acting in His behalf, for securing the public safety and the defence of the realm; and may, by such regulations, authorise the trial by courts martial and punishment of persons contravening any of the provisions of such regulations designed—

(a) To prevent persons communicating with the enemy or obtaining information for that purpose or any purpose calculated to jeopardise the success of the operations of any of His Majesty's forces or to assist the enemy; or

(b) To secure the safety of any means of communication, or of railways, docks or harbours; in like manner as if such persons were subject to military law and had on active service committed an offence under section 5 of the Army Act.

(2) This Act may be cited as the Defence of the Realm Act, 1914.

The original act was amended more than once, however, firstly on 28 August 1914^[3][4][5] and then by the Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act on 27 November 1914,^[4][5] which contained the following:^[4]

Be it enacted ... as follows:

(1) His Majesty in Council has power during the continuance of the present war to issue regulations for securing the public safety and the defence of the realm, and as to the powers and duties for that purpose of the Admiralty and Army Council and of the members of His Majesty's forces and other persons acting in his behalf; and may by such regulations authorise the trial by courts-martial, or in the case of minor offences by courts of summary jurisdiction, and punishment of persons committing offences against the regulations and in particular against any of the provisions of such regulations designed:

(a) to prevent persons communicating with the enemy or obtaining information for that purpose or any purpose calculated to jeopardise the success of the operations of any of His Majesty's forces or the forces of his allies or to assist the enemy; or

(b) to secure the safety of His Majesty's forces and ships and the safety of any means of communication and of railways, ports, and harbours; or

(c) to prevent the spread of false reports or reports likely to cause disaffection to His Majesty or to interfere with the success of His Majesty's forces by land or sea or to prejudice His Majesty's relations with foreign powers; or

(d) to secure the navigation of vessels in accordance with directions given by or under the authority of the Admiralty; or

(e) otherwise to prevent assistance being given to the enemy or the successful prosecution of the war being endangered.

(3) It shall be lawful for the Admiralty or Army Council:

(a) to require that there shall be placed at their disposal the whole or any part of the output of any factory or workshop in which arms, ammunition, or warlike stores and equipment, or any articles required for the production thereof, are manufactured;

(b) to take possession of, and use for the purpose of, His Majesty's naval or military service any such factory or workshop or any plant thereof;

Related Acts

United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland

The Act was followed by the Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Act 1914,^[3] the Defence of the Realm Consolidation Act 1914 (which repealed both predecessors)^[4] and the Defence of the Realm Act 1915, in total being amended and extended six times over the course of the War.^[5]

At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 a similar act was passed, the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939. Regulations made under this Act created three capital offences. Also the Treachery Act 1940 created a new capital offence of assisting the enemy.

• Munitions of War Act 1915
• Emergency Powers Act 1920
• Restoration of Order in Ireland Act 1920
• Emergency Powers Act (Northern Ireland) 1926
• Emergency Powers (Defence) Act 1939
• Emergency Powers Act 1939 (Republic of Ireland)
• National Registration Act 1939
• Trading with the Enemy Act 1939
• Treachery Act 1940
• Emergency Powers Act 1964
• Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973
• Prevention of Terrorism Acts 1974–89
• Terrorism Act 2000
• Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001
• Civil Contingencies Act 2004
• Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005
• Terrorism Act 2006
• Counter-Terrorism Act 2008

Elsewhere

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 Alien and Sedition Acts, the Smith Act, the Sedition Act of 1918, the Espionage Act of 1917, and the USA PATRIOT Act.

References

1. ^ Supplement to the London Gazette, 1 September 1914
2. ^ Hansard, 22 May 1940
3. ^ ^{a b c} The Times Documentary History of the War. The Times. 1917. http://www.archive.org/details/timesdocumentary01londuoft. Retrieved 13 December 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Defence of the Realm Act, The National Archives
5. ^ ^{a b c} Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) in The Encyclopedia of World War I: A Political, Social, and Military History, Dr Spencer C Tucker, vol. 2, pp 341–2. ISBN 1-85109-420-2

External links

• Spartacus: DORA