How did the Second World War effect life in wartime Britain?

Farhat Hasan History Coursework

The war that changed the world began on the 3rd of September 1939 and lasted six long years. During this time it took the lives of over forty million people including 20 million civilians, never has a single war before or since claimed so many lives. In the Battle of Britain forty thousand people were killed if operation sealion had been carried out many more would have perished. This war was truly a world war, battles raged not just in Europe but also in Africa, Asia and in North America. This war left many cities including most of Eastern Europe in ruins and created a rift between East and West that only officially ended at the fall of the USSR in 1989, but I believe it is still going on.

Many people at the time put the blame squarely on the German leader Adolph Hitler who is now forever associated with evil and spoken of with hatred. His Nazi party had almost completely indoctrinated Germany with their ideas such as the Aryan race theory. They had made Hitler into a God like figure who they would die for without a word. The Nazis had achieved this through a revolutionary form of politics master minded by Joseph Gobles, which was propaganda. The streets of Germany were overflowing with Nazi posters, every building waved the swastika and every radio simultaneously played Hitler’s speech. This meant that the average German was bombarded with the Nazi message most of the people in Germany were united under common beliefs, which made them feel as if they were part of something that could change the world. The few that did not want to conform would have to eventually do so through fear, this was the affect of the Nazis.

The Nazis had many ideas they had enforced on the German people, they believed that the Aryan race was superior to all the races; this implied that they should rule the inferior races and some like the Jews should be exterminated. They believed that Hitler had been chosen to rule the German people and lead them to glory and the glory of Germany was more important than anything else. The idea that sparked the Second World War was Lebensraum, which means living space, the Nazis wanted to conquer parts of Eastern Europe and none of the super powers intervened until Poland was invaded.

At the beginning of the war the major forces in the Allies were Great Britain and France against the major forces of the Axis powers of Germany, Russia and Italy lead by the Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini. By June 1940 France is defeated and attentions turn to Great Britain, most people suspect the war will be over within the next year. But then the already crazed Hitler invades Russia against his Generals advice; the Blitz screen war almost succeeds except that the Germans do not anticipate the ferocity of the Russian winter. The Blitz screen war turns to an all out war in the East while Japan joins the Axis Powers and bombs America’s Navy base pearl harbour, sinking many of their best ships. The under estimated America with it’s endless resources ends it’s isolation policy and aids the weary Allies. By the end of 1941 two of the great world powers turn against the Axis powers. The main turning point of the war came in the 2nd of February 1942 when Germany was defeated in Starlingrad, Russia after this Germany had loss after loss. Then three years of hard fighting later Germany finally surrendered in 6th of May 1945 with most of Germany in ruins. Soon after America dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, which led to their surrender and this marked the end of the Second World War.

In this essay I will be looking at how the Second World War affected life in wartime Britain. Such as the changing role of women, the emergence of the welfare state, decline of power from the upper and middle class to the working class, the increasing role of the government and the hardships faced in the home front.

SECTION A

1. (I) Source A1 shows us that the people of Stepney have been bombed out of their homes, this source ...

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SECTION A

1. (I) Source A1 shows us that the people of Stepney have been bombed out of their homes, this source is reliable as it is censored by the government. ‘Bomb damaged house in Stepney, London 9th September 1940, a censored photograph’. This shows the source is reliable as the government wanted to keep morale high so they did not show a lot of the damage done and the homeless.

The steps people have taken to protect them selves according to Source A2 (i) and A2 (ii) is to build a shelter in their gardens and refuge in the London Underground. The image of the Anderson shelter is an artist impression, which shows the inhabitants of the shelter very happy and cosy but as the government probably does this it is not a reliable interpretation of an Anderson shelter.

2. I think the King and Queen are visiting the London Underground in Source A3 because it is government scheme to boost morale as this gives the impression to the common people they are in the same situation as the monarch. The king and Queen are definitely not sheltering there, as I know from my own knowledge they have their own bomb shelters in their palaces.

3. There is evidence in Source A4 that the bombing of London has become heavier. ‘The Church was a popular shelter… so it was full when the bomb fell.’ This shows that at first Churches were a popular place to shelter in the early part of the blitz where bombing was a less so when it became heavy the Church was hit.

4. Sources A5 (i), (ii) and (iii) show how the people of London were unprepared for the blitz. Source A5 (i) shows 60% of the people did not even have proper shelters to be in at times of an air raid and the stairs and ground floor rooms they did shelter in were completely useless if a bomb did fall near them. ‘I wouldn’t be out of London now for a hundred pounds…’ Source A5 (ii) shows the overconfidence of the Londoners. In 1939 no British civilians were killed by the enemy but in 1940 there were over 23,000 people dead. All these Sources suggest that the people of London were unprepared for the blitz.

5. The people of London have suffered badly during the Blitz in all aspects of life as many things had to change. One of the biggest problems was homelessness, Source A1 shows a bombed out house in Stepney but Source A5 (iii) shows us people were being killed all over Britain. From my own knowledge I know that Two million people were made homeless from a direct result of the blitz. Also I know that 40,000 people were killed so this meant that there was a constant threat of death for the citizens to deal with. Source A4 shows us first hand experience of the carnage caused by a single bomb; Londoners will have heard these stories and would be very scared.

Other effects that caused suffering to the people of London is that 1.5 million children had to be evacuated to the countryside for their safety in Operation Pied Piper. Also with many of the men away from their homes the birth rate decreased. Another effect was rationing when food was limited to British citizens, as food could not come in and a lot of it went to the army.

The Blitz caused suffering also in every day life as people had to carry gas masks everywhere in case of gas bombs. Source A2 (i) and (ii) how people could not be safe in there own homes and had to find shelter elsewhere. From my own knowledge I know that Anderson shelter were cramped and often damp. The London Underground was ill equipped to house the refugees, as even basic needs such as toilets were not provided. These are some of the ways the people of London have suffered.

SECTION B

The difference between Source B1 (i) and B1 (ii) is that one working class boy found life much better living in the country side as he had for the first time tools of hygiene that we take for granted. But the middle class boy found it disgusting as he could only have a bath once a week and eat bread with margarine when he was used to bathing once every day and eating expensive food. The working class boy said, “We’d never cleaned our teeth up until now.” This obviously shows an improvement in life style for this boy. “Once a week we bathed in a tin bath” this shows deterioration in life style, which is different from Source B1 (i).

In Source B2 the expressions on the faces of the children tell me they are very upset one of the children is actually crying. This is because they are in a foreign country with out their parents many of whom are dead. The woman is a nurse who is checking for nits, as the children are filthy and need some medical attention.

Source B3 (i) is a first hand account of a boy who was being evacuated and B3 (ii) is a government leaflet persuading parents to evacuate children. These sources support one another because the government leaflet talks about heartache and clearly there is heart when the children are leaving. “I saw my mother crying outside” and “Of course it means heartache to be separated from you’re your children” both say that it is upsetting.

The information in Source B4 is very reliable as it is an extract from a report on evacuation. Also the report has been acquired from all over England and not just from a small part of it. This also supports all other sources as it describes the filthiness of the working class.

Source B5 is very useful in supporting the information in Source B4 as it describes how unhygienic the working class really are. One source describes “You dirty thing… go do it in the corner”. This is clearly a hygiene violation and can add to the report. This source is not useful in the way that it does not show where these events are taking place as they could all have been from the same area.

Evacuees faced many problems when moved from London, as some of them had no idea where they were going. ‘It would not be possible to let all parents know in advance the place where each child will be sent’ a government leaflet. Source B3 (ii) shows us that parents did not know where their children were going and would not be able to write to them at first as the only means of communication was through this form. ‘I thought it was a Sunday school outing down to the sea side’ Source B3 (i) a WWII evacuee. This shows us that the younger children were not told they were being evacuated, as this would cause a lot of heartache. But eventually the child would find out and be very upset as most of them have not spent a day without their mothers and now would have to spend months without any communication with them.

Also the sudden change of scenery was a shock, as the children of smog-covered London had not ever scene a proper sunset and now would be surrounded by nature in the countryside. ‘They call this spring, Mum, and they have one done hear every year’ source B5 (ii). This shows the total lack of understanding of the city children for the countryside and the difficulty this would provide. ‘Rosie whispered, she whispered for days’ Source B1. This shows the awkwardness of living with a family who the children do not know. ‘Once a week we bathed in a tin bath in front of the fire’ Source B1 (ii). This shows the unseemliness of the working class and how unhygienic they were, this would all put problems on the evacuees.

SECTION C

The message the cartoon in Source C1is trying to give is that the Home Guard was unfit, ill equipped and senile old men. I know this because they portray them as very fat and old in drawing, they show them with only two guns when there are eight people. This Source is not very reliable as it is form Punch magazine, a satirical magazine. I know that satire takes current events and makes fun of it and the objective of a magazine is to sell so this will be very exaggerated. But from my own knowledge and many sources I know a lot of what the magazine is showing is correct.

Source C2 does not support C1 but that would be expected, as it was a speech by Winston Churchill, the head of the government. Of course this was propaganda as it contradicts many sources and my own knowledge. The primary aim of the government in the home front was to keep morale up and they did this effectively with the Home Guard as people did fell safer knowing that armed men were stationed close by.

Source C3 is reliable in showing the effectiveness of the Home Guard, as it is first hand experience. The Source is memories of an Home Guard officer who has no reason to lie as he not part of the government who would praise it and not against the home guard otherwise he would not have joined. This also supports many other sources and has figures, which can be checked.

Source C4 supports the evidence in Source C5 as it says how some workers are malnourished and how there is no variety in the food; the other shows the amount of food that is prohibited. ‘Some workers, doing heavy jobs like mining or steel-making, did not get enough food’ Source C5. I know that the weekly amount is just below the amount of calories an adult man has in seven days and men working in heavy manual labour will need much more food. ‘The worst aspect of rationing, for most people was that it made life even more of a struggle, even more tedious’. From the ration list I know that there was no variety thus making cooking very boring as new recipes were running out.

There were many changes forced upon to the British public during the war to get much needed supplies to the front. These changes were enforced by the laws and the police, as they became a priority for the government. Children had to be evacuated out of the major cities as they were targeted by the German air force. This cased a lot of heart ache as we read from many Sources, many children had no idea were very unhealthy as a result of this. Also all men from 18 to 40 was conscripted to the army this meant that they would not see their families for many years.

There were some good changes like women getting a higher social standing and more freedom to do what they want. With women conscripted in organisations they became more independent as they had jobs. Another unlikely good change was for some working class people who became healthier as a result of rationing.