Good morning, we are working through World War I and World War II documentaries for November. This time we are looking at an episode from the Series the Great War in Numbers. In this episode, what was the impact of World War I on the home front? Were the nations really prepared for the war? The run time for this episode is 45:13 and is episode four in the series.
At the end of 1916, the families on the home front understood the horrors and hardships of war. The state started to exert control over people’s lives. Families and communities are torn apart and ordinary people are finding their voice. Deference for the higher classes was being swept away. At the start of the war, the British army was small and there was no conscription. The British recruit volunteers and these volunteers are willing to defend the empire. The Officers are recruited from private schools. They are young and often have less life experience than working-class soldiers. They had better food and more money for uniforms. The elite has an interest in defending and maintaining the war. For every three officers, there are ninety-seven soldiers under their command. In the meantime, the British government is aggressively recruiting soldiers. The pressure was enormous on the men to go to the front. The recruits believe that the war will be short and would like to have a sense of adventure. It could be considered an escape from a hard job. Men are encouraged to sign up. There were so many men that signed up for the volunteer centers are overwhelmed. However, as the war progressed the early enthusiasm started to wane. New recruits were often ill-treated and married men worried about supporting their families. Even the British government finally conceded that conscription would be needed. In Europe, conscription was practiced. The Germans has mass conscription before the Great War and they were able to call up soldiers quickly. The men were gone, and the women stepped into the gap. There were new opportunities for women. Before the war, women worked in unskilled jobs while many of the jobs were handled by men. That would soon change. The suffragettes in Britain suspended their campaign for the vote and choose instead to campaign for the right to serve. Women soon found themselves working in government munitions factories and other industries to support the war effort. Eighty percent of munitions were produced by women. Unfortunately, safety standards slipped during this time and women would suffer ill health or be killed. In America, women who had husbands fighting, worked on the gas masks because it was thought that they would take extra care. State regulations started to expand and the state was going to intervene in other people’s lives. Breweries were nationalized because the drink was a threat to productivity. Excessive drinking could prevent targets in the factories from being met. In 1914 vodka sales were suspended in Russia. Freedom of movement was also curtailed and other activities were forbidden as well. Feeding the birds was illegal. You could not whistle for a taxi or have a bonfire. Newspaper stories were often suppressed. Only positive news of the war was presented. Private letters were censored. In Germany, censorship was overseen by the military. France will introduce censorship in the newspapers as well. However, the reality of war could not be hidden from the people and the people started turning against the war. The British would spend a great deal to finance the war. Industries scrambled to find supplies to continue with the fighting. Church bells were taken down to melt down to make bullets. Women were encouraged to dump their corsets and wear bras. In fact, so many women switched to bras that all the steel in the corsets was enough to build two battleships. Money poured into the American markets in order to purchase munitions to keep the war going. What were the other numbers behind the Great War? Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more. This was another fascinating look at the numbers behind World War I. The numbers are still mind-boggling. This would be another episode to consider showing during the World War I section in a history class.
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |