The Impact Of Total War On The Home Front
Given the desperate need to produce weapons and other equipment of war, explain the impact of total war on the civilian populations of Britain and Germany.
In 1914 the world began to experience a war like no other. The Great War was the first occurrence of total war in the modern period. Total war is when a country becomes entirely involved in the war effort, economically, socially and politically. The governments and civilians of the time were faced with the problems of industrial warfare. It was a period of radical and often painful adaption for military and civilians. Prior to The Great War, nations had rather small armies and involved men fighting on distant battlefields, resulting in the men returning home triumphant or defeated. This contrasted with the modern war that nations were facing in 1914. The new aim was to merge countries’ resources, supplying all effort to the mass of conscripted solders battling on the fronts. Immense impact on the home front during The Great War consisted of increased government regulation, changes in the economy, recruitment and conscription, propaganda, censorship, politics, the revolution of women and changed attitudes towards the war.
Government regulation was one of the most apparent consequences on the home front, in response to the total war. There was a dramatic increase in the government’s involvement in the lives of its people, decreasing their democratic rights, though, this loss of freedom was supported by the nation itself. Civilians denied their democratic rights because they were seeking victory for their country and a large influence of this was nationalism.
This was seen in Britain as the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was passed through the Government on the 27th of November 1914. DORA gave the government of Britain the control of railways, censorship in newspapers, books and letters, restrictions on alcohol consumption, nationalised coal mines and even stated that “God Save the King” was to be played after
In 1914 the world began to experience a war like no other. The Great War was the first occurrence of total war in the modern period. Total war is when a country becomes entirely involved in the war effort, economically, socially and politically. The governments and civilians of the time were faced with the problems of industrial warfare. It was a period of radical and often painful adaption for military and civilians. Prior to The Great War, nations had rather small armies and involved men fighting on distant battlefields, resulting in the men returning home triumphant or defeated. This contrasted with the modern war that nations were facing in 1914. The new aim was to merge countries’ resources, supplying all effort to the mass of conscripted solders battling on the fronts. Immense impact on the home front during The Great War consisted of increased government regulation, changes in the economy, recruitment and conscription, propaganda, censorship, politics, the revolution of women and changed attitudes towards the war.
Government regulation was one of the most apparent consequences on the home front, in response to the total war. There was a dramatic increase in the government’s involvement in the lives of its people, decreasing their democratic rights, though, this loss of freedom was supported by the nation itself. Civilians denied their democratic rights because they were seeking victory for their country and a large influence of this was nationalism.
This was seen in Britain as the Defence of the Realm Act (DORA) was passed through the Government on the 27th of November 1914. DORA gave the government of Britain the control of railways, censorship in newspapers, books and letters, restrictions on alcohol consumption, nationalised coal mines and even stated that “God Save the King” was to be played after
Bibliography: Handouts: “The Home Fronts” – page 178 to 189 World War 1 1914-1919 – “2. The Home Fronts”, page 25 to 34 Books: “Impacts of War 1914 & 1918” by John Terraine, published in 1970 “The First World War” by Ian Cawood and David Mckinnon-bell, published in 2001 “The Great War” by Correlli Barnett, published in 2003 “The Oxford Illustrated History of The First World War” by Hew Strachan, published in 1998 “Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918” by Roger Chickering, published in 1998