Business as usual (policy)

Business as usual was a policy followed by the British government, under Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, during the early years of the First World War.^[1] Its fundamental belief was that in order to maintain a stable and functioning country, it was necessary to continue society in the same manner as before the war; in other words, that civilians should think of the war as "business as usual". The underlying assumption was that a morale-eroding change in behaviour equated to a victory for the enemy.

The maxim of the British people is 'Business as usual'.

Winston Churchill, speaking at Guildhall, 9 November 1914.^[2]

The term itself is attributed to Winston Churchill, then a prominent "New Liberal".^[3]

References

^ Cassar, George H. (1994). Asquith as War Leader. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 235. ISBN 1-85285-117-1., as available from Google Books.
^ The Oxford Library of Words and Phrases. Vol. I. Oxford University Press. 1981. p. 71.
^ Rasor, Eugene L. (2000). Winston S. Churchill, 1874-1965: a comprehensive historiography and annotated bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 25. ISBN 0-313-30546-3., as available from Internet Archive.

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[1] Cassar, George H. (1994). Asquith as War Leader. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 235. ISBN 1-85285-117-1., as available from Google Books.

[2] The Oxford Library of Words and Phrases. Vol. I. Oxford University Press. 1981. p. 71.

[3] Rasor, Eugene L. (2000). Winston S. Churchill, 1874-1965: a comprehensive historiography and annotated bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 25. ISBN 0-313-30546-3., as available from Internet Archive.

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References