Key To The British War Effort example essay topic

To What Extent Did The Home Front In Britain Affect The Outcome Of The Second World War To what extent did the Home Front in Britain affect the outcome of the Second World War In September 1939 Britain went to war against Germany, the war lasted until 1945 in Europe. Throughout this time there was always on front, which was constant, this was the home front. The home front was the front at which the British people were involved. Those who were not fighting were expected to work for the British war gain and to support the war fully. They were also expected to make some sacrifices for the good of the country. In this essay I will be examining to what extent the home front and the people on it affected the outcome of the war for Britain.

I will be examining different factors including those affecting production and those affecting morale. There are a number of factors affecting production and output these included union militancy, morale and how the industries were controlled. A case study that can be used to best illustrate the factors is the coal industry. The coal industry employed 1 man in 20 during the war. There was a lack of technology therefore many men were needed. The coal industry had a history of union militancy and striking going back to the general strike in 1926.

Worried about strikes and the effect they could have on the British war effort Churchill banned strikes and set-up a national arbitration tribunal, which would attempt to solve disputes. This did little to stop the strikes and in 1043 1,800,000 working days were lost to strikes with 1,875 separate strikes. This number increased in 1944 with 3,700,000 days being lost through 2,194 separate strikes. There was a drop in coal production, which was not beneficial for the British war effort. The government blame the large number of strikes and absenteeism whereas the miners blamed the loss of skilled workers to the army. The media agreed with the government and argued that the strikers were holding back the war and holding back the invasion of France.

Overall even though there were a large number of strikes production especially munitions production was never halted due to a lack of coal. Because of the large numbers of men who had joined the army at the beginning of the war there were a large number of job positions left open which need to be filled. At the beginning of the war Chamberlain called for women to become volunteer workers to help the British war effort. 30,000 enrolled but many were not found jobs and returned to the dole queue. Ernest Bevin the minister of trade and industry was reluctant to employ women but when it became apparent that another 2 million workers would be needed in 1940 he re-introduced conscription for female workers.

Many women disliked war work because it detracted from their work in the home. Also women had to suffer prejudice as there was no equal opportunities for example they were only paid 60% of the male wage. This lack of equal opportunities did little to help the female morale. The womens work was key to the British war effort as they were involved in all the major war industries such as armaments manufacture.

The population of Britain was much more involved in the war and the war industries than in the First World War. Churchill said whole of the warring nations are not only soldiers but the entire population The workmen are soldiers with different weapons. This state was sometimes described as a total war. In 1939 with the declaration of war there was a mass evacuation of people from the major cities in Britain. Many people believed that there would be widespread bombings of the major cities so it was arranged that 3.5 million people would be evacuated to so called reception areas. The main area to be evacuated was London.

There were a number of problems with the evacuation. People had little idea of where they were going and therefore could not prepare. The reception areas also had problems often there were to many evacuees for houses or to few evacuees for houses. This was due to poor organisation by the government. It was not only people who were evacuated works of art from different art galleries were evacuated out of cities.

The pictures from the National Gallery were evacuated to a slate cave in Wales. The rich usually evacuated themselves to countryside hotels or to America. The royal family was advised to evacuate themselves to their colony in Canada but they refused. The evacuation had a good effect on the war effort as it increased the morale of troops knowing that their loved ones were not at risk in the town and cities. This gave them peace of mind. One effect of the war, which was said to have transformed life more than any other, was the blackout.

The blackout involved cutting out all artificial light escaping into the atmosphere. This was to reduce the effectiveness of the German bombing raids, as they could not identify targets. The blackout also had a large effect on the people of Britain, within the first month there was an increase in the number of road accidents by 100% per-cent. By October 1939 the government realised that they were causing more problems than they were solving so the blackout laws were relaxed. The blackout also led to the banning of certain activities because they led to the congregation of large numbers of people and could lead to large numbers of casualties if hit by a bomb. These included cinemas, football stadiums, and theatres.

This led to decrease in public morale and a reduction in support for the war effort as people were being denied their leisure activities. Therefore the laws on this were also relaxed. The government in 1939 with the outbreak of war introduced rationing. Many things were rationed including food, petrol and clothing. Rationing was introduced to introduce the British people to the idea of limitation from the outset of the war even though there was enough food not to have to ration people. It was also introduced to bring an idea of equality to the war and to break down the class barriers.

Everybody was rationed including the Royal Family. This was to avoid a struggle between the classes so that people could concentrate on the war effort. It would also prevent the rich buying up food supplies. In conclusion it could be argued that the role of the home front in the outcome of the Second World War was huge. The home fronts role in the British army and there morale and supplies was key. And therefore there role in the war overall was also key.

We believe that without the support of the home font in the war the British army would not have won the war, as there would have been poor morale and a lack of supplies.