Total war

Question 1

Historian quote

Answer 1

Tony Judt- “It was in the second world war that the full force of the modern European state was mobilized for the first time”

Question 2

Defining total war

Answer 2

Total war is a term used to describe the complete mobilization of a country’s resources and population in order to achieve victory.

Question 3

Country 1-Britain

Answer 3

-Conscription was introduced from the beginning of the conflict- was controlled to ensure that key workers were left in important industries, such as coal mining.
-Industrial conscription was introduced for women- played a role in industry, agriculture and administration.
-The government established the Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1940, and aircraft production increased from 15,000 in 1939 to 131,000 by 1945.
-

Question 4

Country 2-Soviet union

Answer 4

-Factories, resettlement
-Labor camps
-Women in arms - 3 divisions of the airforce
-Women made up most of the workforce.
-Women played a role in the red cross and red cresent organizations- civil defense and fire watching operations.
Richard overy- russian civilians”real hero’s”
-Used their vast population to create the largest armed forces in the world- 11 million.

Question 5

Country 3- USA

Answer 5

-Tank, aircraft production
-350,000 women joined the uniformed groups.
-19 million women working by 1945.
-Semi-skilled jobs such as crane operation,tool making,shell loading
-Between 1940 and 1945, military spending increased from $1.6 billion to $83 billion
-Financially altered the economy to suit it for war by-
1)Raising taxes- increased tax revenue from 5 billion dollars to 45 billion dollars between 41-45
2)Sale of war bonds- citizens lent money to the government. raised 185 billion dollars

-David M. Kennedy, in his book “Freedom from Fear,” argues that the United States became a “totalitarian state on the home front,” with government control over industry, labor, and civilian life.

Question 6

Japan

Answer 6

Hesitant- although 2.5 million woman entered the workforce.
The Japanese government emphasized self-sacrifice and the use of all available resources
-Lack of domestic resources.
-S.C.M. Paine, in “The Wars for Asia, 1911-1949,” argues that Japan’s lack of resources and inability to fully mobilize its economy ultimately led to their defeat.

Question 7

Germany

Answer 7

-Albert speer tried and failed. He was the minister of armament and war production. Didn’t get much support. Regional and national authorities were reluctant
- Women working were against the KKK- only in 44 did they start
-Only after staligrad did the germans realize that they needed to mould their economy into one that was fully mobilized for war.
-Goebbles famous speech- wohlt ihr den totalen krieg?
-21% of the german workforce was slave labor.
- by 1944, the country had produced over 25,000 tanks, 40,000 aircraft, and 1,350 U-boats.
-Adam Tooze, in “The Wages of Destruction,” contends that Nazi Germany’s failure to achieve total mobilization was a contributing factor in their eventual defeat.

Question 8

Impact of the war on civilians

Answer 8

2/3 of the 50 mil were civilians.
Talk about deportation and genocide.
List the different concentration camps.
Einzatzgruppen
Poland- 6 million out of 30 million
20 million dead in the soviet union.
1 million roma, 6 million jews
Wansee conference