The Home Front

1. The Home Front In England between 1914 and 1950

2. Work made by: • BAUMGARTNER Julien • PINTENA Florian Pupils of 2nd 3

3. Sources : • Chronicles of Britain • www.scenery.org/posters_gb_homefront.htm. • www.scenery.org/posters_gb_homefront2.htm. • www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWW.htm.

4. English Women at War • 1) the recruitement of the war • On 7th August, 1914 Lord Kitchener, the War Minister immediately began a recruiting campaign by calling for men aged between 19 and 30 to join the British Army. Firstly, this was very successful with an average of 33,000 menjoining every day. In the middle of September, over 500,000 men had volunteered their services .To help with recruitment David Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was given the task of setting up a British War Propaganda Bureau. The British Government began a successful campaign. Some artists produced a series of posters urging men to join the army. The desire to fight was so important that two million men had volunteered their services. For the second war, the British government introduced conscription in 1938. All men aged between 18 and 41 had to register with the government .Then, as they had a need of more soldiers, most young men were recruited into the armedforces.

5. 2)The role of women during the war • A) Women and the propaganda • Women played an important role in persuading men to join the army .In August 1914, Admiral Charles Fitzgerald founded the Order of the White Feather. This organisation encouraged women to give white feathers to young men who had not joined the army. The British army began publishing posters urging men to become soldiers. Some of these posters were aimed at women. After the war had been declared, the Women’s Social and Political Union and more precisely some leaders such as Emmeline Pankhurst, Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney played an important role as speakers at meetings to recruit young men into the army .But , others like Sylvia Pankhurst were opposed to the war and refused to carry out this role. • B) The different jobs of women • The Government decided that more women would have to become more present in producing food and goods to support their war effort. It was suggested that as a reward for their effort, women would be given the right to vote after the war. Over 250000 women became farm labourers during the war. Nevertheless, some farmers were unwilling to employ women. Moreover, it was decided to billet the soldiers in local towns and villages. The • Leaders of the Association and the Federation of University Women suggested the formation of Women’s Patrols to stop local women from becoming too friendly with the soldiers. (It is estimated over 2,000 patrols were set up) • Women work in munitions factories .Others were conscripted to work in tank and aircraft factories, civil defence, nursing transport but they were not allowed to take part in combat. These involved jobs had been traditionally seen as men’s work. This change is the cause for women’s emancipation.

6. Rationing • A) The First World War • Potatoes were often in short-supply and sugar was often difficult to get. Whereas the weekly consumption of sugar was 1.49 lb in 1914, it fells to 0.93 lb in 1918.the consumption of butchers’ meat also dropped from an average of 2.36 to 1.53 lb a week during this period. At the end of 1917 people began to fear that the country was running out of food. Panic buying led to shortages and so in January 1918, the Ministry of Food decided to introduce rationing. Sugar was the first to be rationed and this was later followed by butchers’ meat. The idea of rationing food was to guarantee supplies, not to reduce consumption. This was successful and official figures show that the intake of calories almost kept up to the pre-war level. • B) The Second World War • Before the Second World War, Britain imported about 55 million tons of food. The German government decided to disrupt this trade in hunting down and sinking British merchant vessels.

7. With imports of food declining, the British government decided to introduce a system of rationing : every householder were registered at their local shops. The shopkeeper was then provided with enough food for his or her customers.In January, 1940, bacon, butter and sugar were rationed. This was followed by meat, fish, tea, jam, biscuits, breakfast cereals, cheese, eggs, milk and canned fruit. The food rationing system gave people the opportunity to obtain a balanced diet . Although, cigarettes and alcohol were never officially rationed, they were often in short supply. It was not uncommon for shopkeepers to be reported to the Ministry of Food because they kept their limited stocks for their favourite customers . Children were treated differently from adults and were entitled to extra foods considered essential for growth. Besides People were encouraged to provide their own food. Clothing was rationed from June, 1941. But the cloth was so rare that men's trousers were made without turnups, while women's skirts were short and straight.

8. Bread was never rationed during the war, but at that time there were queues.

9. Petrol can be tested for a trace chemical absent from illegal supplies.

10. ANNEXED DOCUMENTS

19. WINSTON CHURCHILL • BORN in 1874 (in Blenheim palace) and died in 1965 (in London) • He was Prime Minister between 1940 and 1945 and later between 1951and 1955

20. Lloyd George • Born in 1863 (Manchester) and died in 1945 (Llanystumday) • He had a lot of power : Prime Minister Minister of War, …

21. Lloyd George’s wartime Cabinet . Lloyd George himself is the fourth from the right in the front row.

22. Chronology of the First World War. • Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand28th June, 1914 • Austra-Hungary demands that Serbia arrest the leaders of the Black Hand23rd July, 1914 • Serbia appeals to Russia for help24th July, 1914 • Serbia refuses to hand over leaders of the Black Hand group 25th July, 1914 • Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia28th July, 1914 • Germany declares war on Russia1st August, 1914 • Germany declares war on France3rd August, 1914 • Great Britain declares war on Germany4th August, 1914 • War Propaganda Bureau Writers Conference2nd September, 1914 • First tank demonstrated to British military leaders11th September, 1915 • Lloyd George became British Prime Minister6th December, 1916 • Armistice 11th November, 1918 • Lloyd George won British General Election14th December, 1918 • Paris Peace Conference 12th January, 1919 • Treaty of Versailles signed28th June, 1919

23. Chronology of the Second World War • Parliament passed the Emergency Powers Act. 24th August, 1938 • Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler sign the Munich Agreement. 29th September, 1938 • Britain established a national register for war service. 1st December, 1938 • Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany. 3rd September, 1939 • Neville Chamberlain appointed Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty. 3rd September, 1939 • Neville Chamberlain resigned as Prime Minister and was, replaced by Winston Churchill. 10th May, 1940 • Anthony Eden announced the formation of the Home Guard. 14th May, 1940 • The last of the 338,000 British, French and Belgian forces evacuated from Dunkirk. 4th June, 1940 • The Luftwaffe began attacking RAF Fighter Command's aircraft and airfields. 13th August, 1940 • The Luftwaffe carried out a all-night bombing raid on London and began the Blitz. 23rd August, 1940 • Airbourbe radar successfully used by the Royal Air Force for the first time. 18th November, 1940 • The British government introduced plans to ration clothes and furniture. 1st June, 1941 • The National Service Act, that conscripted unmarried women, was passed by Parliament. 18th December, 1941 • First V1 Flying bomb landed on Britain. 13th June, 1944 • First V2 Rocket landed on Britain. 8th September, 1944 • Last V2 Rocket landed on Britain. 27th March, 1945

24. Special thanks to: • Mr BUREAU, English Teacher • BAUMGARTNER and PINTENA Corporation