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Description: | The development of the Home Front and war industry in Britain, 1915.
By May 1915 all the war plans had failed and stalemate resulted. Civilisation seemed to be crumbling, the war had escaped from the control of man. In Britain the war "uprooted tradition" and brought social change. When Sir John French broke the shell scandal in the 'Times' the press blamed Lord Kitchener, hitherto an idol, for the failure. On 26th May the first coalition government was formed, letting in Conservatives and Labour MPs, and the Ministry of Munitions created under Lloyd George. Meanwhile Italy had declared war on the Allied side against Austria-Hungary. LLoyd George realised that "war had outgrown battlefields" and demanded organisation and industrial power on a vast scale. The German chemical industry made more and better explosives than the British, the German clockwork industry better fuses. In France one-sixth of the country's industry was in German hands and most skilled men were in the Army. Women took over industry and agriculture, and by the end of 1915 the country was self-sufficient in shells. In Germany, as the British blockade caused shortages and rationing, the same things happened. In all countries prices rose, hitting the poor, including soldiers' widows and dependents, worst of all. In Britain the upper and middle classes were still unaffected and few people, in early 1915, had any idea of what the Western Front was like. Lloyd George wanted to change this "business as usual" attitude. On 7th May the Lusitania was sunk, and there were anti-German riots throughout Britain. On 19th January came the first Zeppelin raid and on 31st May the first raid on London. Newspapers like 'John Bull' worked up an anti-German hate campaign. There was near-hysteria, particularly from middle class women. Many working class women started munitions work: by the end of 1915 there were 73 national armaments factories (as well as many private firms) producing 200,000 shells; by the end of 1916 they produced 7,000,000 shells. Middle class women became office clerks or nurses. It was a "social revolution". High wages for working class munition workers caused middle class resentment. The trades unions saw woman labour as "dilution" of skilled trades, and strikes increased from 47 in February 1915 to 63 in May. "For the first time the trades unions no longer represented the underdog" and negotiated with the government as equals, accepting dilution in exchange for a return to the status quo after the war. As new restrictions were intrdoduced King George V helped win over the people, setting an example and visiting working class factories and homes. It took the whole of 1915 before Lloyd George's reforms produced any visible result, but by the beginning of 1916 the British were moving into total war.
16mm | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Subjects: | 31/3(41) | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Shaw, Sebastian | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
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