Blood and Treasure: The Social and Cultural History of Money during the First World War

This research project will study the social and cultural history of money in wartime. The question it asks is: How did the First World War change uses and perceptions of money, and what do those changes teach us about popular ideas about government and state, the war and society?

In peacetime, we often use money without a second thought. We spend, save, use, and keep count of it, with little consideration of its value. Money works, like a language does, because everyone tacitly agrees to let it do so.

War, however, can threaten or shatter that consensus. Money can no longer be taken for granted and people start to behave towards it in unusual ways. For example, materiality suddenly has value: gold and silver coins become more attractive than coppers or paper banknotes. The value of fiat currencies fluctuates with the legitimacy and effectiveness of government, prospects of victory, and with the level of trust within society. The very utility of money fluctuates, with commodities such as food or cigarettes sometimes emerging as alternative means of exchange and stores of value. At the extreme, trust collapses and barter replaces the money economy. Hierarchies of value flex, with money sometimes losing priority relative to other intangible or tangible goods such as courage or a new coat. Attitudes to rich and poor change, with profiteers and conspicuous consumers attracting suspicion, opprobrium, or worse. Money offers a unifying focus for patriotism or, for populations under enemy occupation, serves as a daily sign of foreign oppression. Saving can become an expression of patriotism and confidence in ultimate victory, or an unwelcome duty driven by peer pressure.

This research project, informed by diverse disciplines such as economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and history, will explore such themes via two strands. The first is a historical research project on money during the First World War: drawing on archival resources and museum collections, including those of the Imperial War Museum (IWM), it will explore the 'functional instability' of money in wartime and investigate themes of societal trust, government legitimacy and patriotism from a new perspective which complements and goes beyond existing works of economic and financial history. Outputs will include a monograph to be published by Cambridge University Press and at least two articles in leading journals such as English Historical Review. By constructing an international and interdisciplinary network, and collaborating with a postdoctoral Research Assistant (RA), to address the problems of money in wartime more generally, the Fellowship will build capacity to explore its history and ensure a legacy beyond the life of the project itself.

The second strand aims to stimulate public debate about the nature of money by raising awareness of the IWM's collection relating to money and finance. The Fellowship will integrate study of IWM collections into this research project, deliver a series of public lectures, and collaborate with the IWM on the design of a major public season on the topic of Money in Wartime. It will also set up and maintain a blog, including a regular research diary, and a Twitter feed, as well as publishing articles in popular history journals such as History Today and BBC History, and organising a workshop with the IWM on best practice for collaborations between academics and heritage professionals.

This project demands in-depth understanding of First World War history and of money itself. With the two monographs he has published, Jonathan Boff has established himself as one of the leading historians of the conflict. And with a nearly twenty year career in financial markets before returning to academia, he has acquired an excellent grasp of applied economics and the behaviour of money in crises, as well as useful project management skills, making him uniquely qualified to undertake this exciting new project.

The project will benefit three key user-groups beyond the academy:

Firstly, the partnership between academics and staff and volunteers of the Imperial War Museum working on the 'Money and Conflict' season planned for 2025, especially in the teams led by Bryn Hammond (Head of Collections and Curatorial) and Carl Warner (Head of Twentieth Century Conflict), will enhance the knowledge and skills of IWM personnel. They will better understand the context of their collection and gain experience of how to communicate the connections between past conflict and the contemporary world to diverse audiences, through both a major exhibition and a programme of public events and activities. They will also learn how best to develop and execute partnerships with the academic sector.

Secondly, the project will benefit a broader group of scholars and heritage professionals. It will impact their knowledge, skills and working practices by distilling and disseminating lessons learned from this and other collaborative projects. This will therefore help build further capacity for partnerships between the heritage sector and the academy in the future. The success of this project, and the best practice capture involved, will inspire new collaborations between academics and heritage professionals and generate further cultural, societal and financial benefits for museums and their visitors.

The third group to benefit will be the wider public. Working with and through the IWM, the project will not only create excellent, inspiring and relevant visitor and learning experiences for the 2.4 million people who already visit the museum each year, but will also target diverse new and non-traditional audiences with its public activities. The project will develop and communicate deeper understanding of the causes, course and consequences of war and help interested lay audiences better comprehend the connections between past conflict and the contemporary world and so help them, as global citizens, to make sense of an increasingly unpredictable world. This is always important but at a time when the role of money in society is increasingly being debated under the influence of the increasing digitisation of money and the after-effects of the financial crisis of 2008, this is especially timely.