Home Front Flashcards
Total War
A ‘total war’ is a war where all the usable resources of a country are utilised for the war effort, not just the military.
This included:
Conscription i.e. forced military service
Restrictions on personal freedom e.g. censorship of the news, curfews
New legislation to enforce restrictions
Government control of economic production e.g. nationalising factories, setting production targets, allocating manpower and resources
Takeover of civilian possessions e.g. ships, trains, vehicles
Extensive propaganda
Rationing
Defense of the Realm Act (DoRA)
The Defense of the Realm Act was passed by Parliament a week after the declaration of war. This piece of legislation gave the government the ability to secure the nation from internal threat or invasion by handing it wide-ranging powers.
Conscription
1916 Military Service Act introduced conscription in the UK for the first time.
Previously the system of military recruitment had relied on men volunteering to fight, but this change made it illegal to avoid taking an active part in the war.
From March 1916, all unmarried men aged 18-41 were called up to join the armed forces. By May 1916, married men were also included. In 1918, the upper age limit was raised to 51 years.
Rationing
Food shortages were a problem for all the nations involved in the First World War. In January 1918 the British government introduced compulsory rationing to try to ensure that staple foods were distributed fairly.
There were a number of reasons for the food shortages:
Many agricultural workers had joined the armed forces
Poor wheat and potato harvests in 1916
Germany announced unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917, threatening the merchant ships importing food from overseas
Work
As the war progressed and more and more men were conscripted, their roles were replaced by women.
In the fields, the Women’s Land Army employed over 260,000 women as farm labourers.
After 1915, when the need for shells intensified, women were brought into munitions manufacturing in large numbers. By 1918 almost a million women were employed in some aspect of munitions work.
Between 1914 and 1918, an estimated two million women took on jobs which had been previously been filled by men, an increase from 24% of women in employment in July 1914 to 37% by November 1918.
Propaganda
The government used propaganda such as leaflets, posters, newspapers, radios, campaigns, and films to convince the public to act in a certain way. They would use things such as guilt-tripping and mentioning that it would help the country and their family if they did something such as sign up for the army.
What impact did the first World War have on civilians on the Home Front?
The First World War had a bad impact on men. This is because men within the age category had to go abroad to war and fight, therefore seeing the war first-hand. Many were physically injured, and almost all mentally. WW1 also had an impact on women. Before WW1, they were home-keepers and housewives, however now the government and country relied on them to fill up the jobs that men used to fill. Both genders were subject to rations however, and this became a huge problem from 1917 onwards.
The First World War also had a bad impact on Germans that lived in England. This is because they currently lived in the country that they were fighting a war against. Many people in Britain were anti-German by this point, leading to national discrimination, and German shops were looted. Some were even imprisoned, for the fear that they may be spies or sabotage the British war effort. WW1 also affected separated families. This is because letters were sent out once a week, and there was always the fear of them being returned, as the father, boyfriend relation etc had died in battle. Moreover, many households that had received bad news drew their curtains in mourning, which was seen across the town or street, putting a damper on hope.
