Life at home incl. DORA, munitions and bombings Flashcards
When was DORA introduced?
8th August 1914
What was DORA?
Defence of the Realm Act- it gave the government more powers to control aspects of everyday life: power to seize any land or building they needed and to take over industries needed for the war effort and to control what the public knew about the war through censorship
Where was the first shelling from a ship?
Scarborough
When was the first shelling?
16th December 1914
How many people died in the first shelling?
119
When was the first air bombing of Britain by a German zeppelin?
January 1915
When was the munitions crisis?
1915
Who became Prime Minister in 1916?
Lloyd George
When was the Ministry of Labour set up?
1916
In 1917 German submarines sunk what percentage of British merchant ships?
25%
What happened as a result of German submarines sinking British merchant ships?
Food supplies started to run very low- at one point Britain only had 6 weeks supply of wheat left
When was voluntary rationing introduced?
May 1917
When was compulsory rationing introduced?
Early 1918
Give 2 examples of towns bombed by zeppelins
Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn
How many people were killed in Britain overall by Zeppelin raids?
About 557 people were killed and another 1,358 people were injured
What was the munitions crisis?
There was a huge shortage of shells, bullets and armaments on the Western Front due to insufficient planning and an insufficient amount of workers
What did the soldiers have to do during the munitions crisis?
New soldiers had to train with wooden sticks instead of rifles, as there weren’t enough to go round and there were reports that soldiers in the front lines were rationed to three rounds of ammunition a day
Who was made Minister of Munitions in 1915?
Lloyd George
What did Lloyd George do to try and solve the munitions crisis?
He tried to force skilled workers to stay where they were instead of moving to where the best pay was, and also brought women into the workforce
What happened to prices during the food shortage?
Prices rose- wages had hardly risen, but prices were double what they had been in 1914. Shops had to close early each afternoon as they ran out of goods to sell, and many poor people did not even have enough money to buy a loaf of bread
How did the Royal Family lead the way with voluntary rationing?
They announced that they were aiming to reduce their consumption of bread by 25% and to dramatically reduce their use of flour
What did the Government do in November 1917?
They brought in laws to try and control the prices of bread, called ‘The Ninepenny Loaf’, and published many posters to try and encourage people to be more economical
What did compulsory rationing control the use of?
Sugar, butter, meat and beer
