How was civilian life affected by WW1? Essay

The First World War greatly changed the lives of civilians living in Britain. When the state of fightfare first broke out, there was a tremendous feel of euphoria and patriotism.In the first four weeks after the declaration of contend, everywhere ergocalciferol 000 men had enlisted in the army. This was partially callable to the belief that it would be over by Christmas, and was the opportunity for a holiday political relation activity boards also compete a part in the persuading of batch to enlist. A popular presidential term poster was that of Lord Kitchener, pointing at YOU and with a caption that read Your pouf and country need YOU.In 1914 the governing body passed a law that gave them billet over civilians daily lives, this was known as DORA (The defence of the realm act). It allowed the government to seize any buildings or land they needed which would contri scarcelye to the war effort. This also included the take over of industries. As soon as this law was pass ed the government immediately seized coalmines. This was an important industry in the role towards the war effort. An act under DORA was that of the watering down of beer in breweries, this was so that to keep workers focused at one time they returned from their lunch break. This was one of the stranger acts but yet it was obeyed and carried out.DORA also had the power over the media and newspapers. This was so that civilians saw what the government wanted them to see. This because kept the general enthusiasm around the war on a high, and the man did not know the true horrors of chuck warfare, nor the massive number of casualties and deaths the British army had suffered.Contrary to popular beliefs the British government also produced propaganda. This was in the form of posters. One poster depicts a German as a mad brute, another showed Germans murdering babies. twain of these posters encouraged Britons to hate the Germans. Another form of Government propaganda was that of a f ilm, released in 1916, it was of the battle of the Somme. Many scenes in this film were staged and were not real. This gave the public who watched it the idea of brave and heroic soldiers fighting the war. This film was a triumph for the Government, as people did not question the films realism and welcomed it gladly.In 1915, Lloyd George became in charge of the munitions crisis. This crisis was that there were not enough people working in the key industries. People tended to go for the job that had reform pay. He move to solve this problem by forcing people to stay in the factories where the government needed them most. Another way he tried was by introducing women into the factories, where once this had stereotypically been seen as the males job. This annoyed trade unions as they believed women would work for little and therefore would dilute the males wages. To make unions co operate they had to expect that they would pay women the same wage as men, and that as soon as the wa r was over women would not be kept on.The war real changed the role of women in society as, as men were going to war, jobs were be left unfulfilled. Lloyd George fixed that women were as good and as skilled as men to carry out their jobs. Lloyd George and Emily Pankhurst both encouraged women to work in munitions factories. In 1915, 100 000 women registered for jobs but only 5000 were actually given them. This was imputable to opposition from trade unions. Another government scheme was set up named Womens Land Army this was were women were recruited as farm workers, to grow crops and vegetables. This would work to the war effort. A slogan on a government poster read Dig For Victory. Any other jobs that had been once seen as the males job had been undertaken by woman and in many another(prenominal) cases women could do the job just as good and sometimes better then the men. The fulfilment of these jobs helped dismiss the pre-war belief about women being incapable(p) of doing me ns jobs. Due to the huge part women played in the war, in 1917 a bill was passed allowing women over the age of 33 the veracious to choose.In 1916, the government passed another law known as the phalanx service act this made all men between 18 and 40 eligible for active service. This was due to the decreasing amount of people volunteering to enlist in the war. Many people were angry at this act, as some did not want to join for political reasons and others because of their religion. These people were label conchies.By 1917, there was serious concern for the supply of food Britain had left. This was due to the sinking of British merchant ships by German U-Boats. As less and less food was being imported, the small amount of food that was unperturbed in circulation within Britain became expensive and many of the prises rose. Voluntary confine was introduced in May 1917, but proved unsuccessful. So in 1918, compulsory rationing was introduced. This meant that people had to cut dow n on the amount of sugar, butter, meat and beer that they consumed. They managed to do this by giving everyone a book of coupons in which they bought food. Penalties were forced on those who broke the rationing rules.The First World War was the first war where Britons came under direct attack from the enemy. This was due to German bombers and Zeppelin warships. In 1915, German bombers bombarded Scarborough in which many innocent people had been killed. The government decided to use this to their advantage and encouraged people to avenge the attack on Scarborough by joining the army, yet again, here is British government propaganda.To stop my essay I believe civilian life was greatly affected in World War 1. The war brought around the right for women to vote conscription, compulsory rationing and also it changed many peoples views about war.