Social Impacts Of Ww1

World War I, “The Great War” is often considered the first example of “Total War”, as the home front heavily supported the military, and civilians across the world were affected. From 1914 to 1918, the United Kingdom (a member of the Allied Powers along with the U.S, France etc.) saw a war that profoundly impacted their entire population. The British people played a role of the utmost importance in the war, and there were many shifts in all aspects of life. The impacts of World War I on civilians in the United Kingdom were all-encompassing, being social, economic, and political.

World war I created various social shifts: conscription, acknowledgement of women’s capabilities, and the targeting of non-combatants from the enemy. For the first

The United Kingdom spent $47 billion during the First World War, and met only a quarter of these costs by raising taxes. They were funding a considerable proportion of the Allied Powers’ war effort, as well as trying to sustain their own empire. To feed its population, the U.K relied heavily on naval imports of food, mainly coming from the U.S. Even with low supplies of food, the government was reluctant to introduce rationing, as it did not want to further lower civilian morale. However, this became necessary in 1917, when German submarines started sinking one in four British merchant ships in order to cut off the food supply and starve the population. Food prices rose creating a wider gap between the rich and the poor. At this point, voluntary rationing was introduced, but when this proved unsuccessful, it became compulsory. The poorer population when hungry, and there were many illegal food deals and trading. The government subsidized the “ninepenny loaf of bread”, so that all families could be guaranteed

This was due to the Defence of the Realm Act 1914, which enabled the government to control aspects of everyday life and set fixed wages and profits across many industries. For example, the Munitions of War Act of 1915 allowed the Ministry of Munitions to take over the munitions factories and their workers. The government would also control the Mining industries, along with the Railways and Shipping, which created a much more efficient and coordinated system to provide for the battlefront, for example organising convoys. The government’s share of the Gross Domestic Capital rose rapidly. DORA also put in place heavy censorship and propaganda. Letters from the battlefront were read through, news articles were always written in a positive fashion to keep the morale high, and at least 2 million propaganda posters were printed. At the beginning of the war, casualty lists could not be published. This contributed to the pressure put on men to go to war, and also increased the negative feelings of the British population towards Germany. When David Lloyd became prime minister, he used DORA to create rules that would control the population and stop them from going about their business as usual. Being a Liberal, Lloyd George created a more equalitarian post-war