Home Front Flashcards
Why was there a problem at the beginning of the war with recruitment?
Britain only had an army of 250,000 professional soldiers whereas Germany had 1-1.5 million
What did Lord Kitchener do to increase recruitment?
- posters (2-5 million copies of 110 different posters was issued)
- pamphlets
- recruitment officers
- patriotic speeches (children with roasted feet)
How many men joined up in the first month?
500,000
by which month did Britain receive 2.5 million volunteers?
March 1916
What were the requirements of the conscription act of 1916?
All fit men between the age of 18-41 must join the war effort.
Between 1916-1918 how many men were conscripted into the army?
one in three men
Who was excluded from the conscription act?
Men who had disabilities or doing vital work like mining.
What was a Conscientious Objector (Conchie)?
Somebody who refused to join the war due to religious or humanitarian reasons.
what were they forced to do in order to not join the war?
Prove their religion
What jobs were Conchies forced to do?
Drive ambulances or help mining
What happened to those who refused?
They were court-martialed, imprisoned or sent to labour camps.
What is meant by the term DORA?
Defense of the realm acts
When was the first act passed?
8 August 1914
What did Dora allow the government to do?
Bypass parliament and pass laws.
What major event occurred in 1915?
The munition crisis
How was the munitions crisis solved?
- Set up a ministry of Munitions
- controlling 20,000 munition factories
Why was a convoy system set up in 1916?
To prevent merchant ships being sunk by u-boats by allowing battleships to accompany Merchant ships.
In 1917 how many u-boats were sinking British merchant ships?
1 in 4 British merchant ships was being sunk.
By April 1917, Britain only had?
9 weeks supply of wheat and 4days supply of sugar.
What was introduced in order to provide families with food?
- The ninepenny loaf
- Rationing (royal family also participated)
- 1918 compulsory rationing for: sugar, meat, jam, butter and margarine.
What were farmers persuaded to do?
Turn pasture land into arable land, resulting in 3 million more acres of arable land and 1 more million tonnes of wheat by 1918.
What were the Disadvantages due to laws?
Business as usual-criticised by Lloyd George.
Events were cancelled
Pub opening hours were restricted
People were getting drunk and working less hard.
When were casualties first published?
May 1915
At the start of the war why weren’t War photographers allowed at the front?
Britain did not want people to know they were losing hence only four photographers was allowed.
