Transcript How far was British society changed by the experiences of the

“How far did the various sections of
British society make the sacrifices
required for the national war effort?
“
■ Jack Ramsden
■ Mathew Waterhouse
Introduction
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Total war – a country industrially and socially
geared towards war;
Distinction between compulsory, voluntary
and passive sacrifices;
Sacrifices from the entire population as a
whole;
Sections of society: upper/middle classes;
workers; families and children; women and
men, young and old.
Universal I – material
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compulsory
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Rationing – meat, tea, margarine,
jam, marmalade, cereals, cheese,
fish & vegetables;
Milk and eggs supplied with
priority to children and mothers;
Fish supplies disrupted;
From 1941 clothes were rationed, leading to ‘make
do and mend’ and a restriction on designs;
There were long queues at each shop.
Universal II – civil liberties
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compulsory
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Everyone was issued with an ID card;
German, Austrian and Italian immigrants
were interned in camps, deported and put
under severe restrictions;
Potential dissidents arrested, black-outs
ordered at night, expressing ‘defeatist’
thoughts was prohibited, phone lines
were tapped and censorship imposed on
overseas mail & newspapers by the Ministry of
Information;
Propaganda tried to hide some of the failings/atrocities
of war, though not to the same extent as in the First
World War.
Upper and Middle Classes
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1939-40 compared to 7,000 by 1943);
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War work;
War bonds purchased to finance the war
effort, to be reimbursed at a later date.
passive
voluntary
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compulsory
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Taxes raised (income tax and indirect taxes
rose);
Servants conscripted into the armed forces;
Conscription and rationing weren’t
discriminatory;
Housing boom halted (220,000 houses built
Workers
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passive
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Restrictions of strikes;
‘Bevin Boys’ conscription (20,000) into mines;
11 or 12 hour working days, including night shifts;
Unemployment, having been over 1million in 1939,
had virtually disappeared by 1943;
Longer shifts provoked increased workplace
accidents (1000 fatalities per year);
Wages rose by 80% between 1938-45;
Trade union membership increased from 6.3million
to 8.9million.
compulsory
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Families
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voluntary
passive
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compulsory
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Many fathers were conscripted;
The conscription of male teachers interrupted the
children’s education;
Many war widows received no compensation;
Servicemen’s pay was low, with no overtime;
Children were evacuated (half had returned by
January 1940);
Towns were bombed – 60,000 civilians bombed,
86,000 injured and over 2 million homeless.
Women
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passive
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voluntary
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compulsory
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Unmarried women 19-30 could be conscripted into war
work or civil defence;
Women were directed into shipyards, aircraft factories,
munitions engineering, the docks, hospitals etc. – by
1943 over half of factory workers were women;
Some flew aeroplanes for delivery, were radio operators,
at Bletchley Park;
Voluntary organisations (Women’s Voluntary Service,
Women’s Auxiliary Forces [500,000 women], Women’s
Land Army);
Women gave up their jobs after 1945;
By 1943 80% of married women were working, yet
women rarely got 60-70% of the MAN’s wage;
More liberal attitudes (to women’s attire and careers)
brought about the sexual revolution.
Men – Young and Old
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compulsory
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Conscription for 18-41 year olds from September
1940;
3 million conscripted into the armed forces by mid1941; by 1944 this number had risen 4.5million;
Many were killed or disabled;
‘National service’ – the Home Guard numbered
1.75million who were either under 18 or over 65;
They were not guaranteed jobs on returning home,
however many women left voluntarily.
To the contrary
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Black market – ‘spivs’;
Looters – isolated incidents;
Wasters – People were prosecuted
for wastage of food. This led to a
campaign against ‘squander bugs’;
Discrimination – women received a lower
average pay than men and many faced
harassment in the workplace.
Conclusion
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The government’s ministries imposed many
restrictions and mandatory sacrifices from all of
society;
Success of voluntary organisations (eg. Home
Guard) and work by women, who
volunteered/were drafted into work;
Small, isolated acts of wastage/black markets;
The government cultivated the image of national
unity, which people complied with on the whole.