When wars happen, usually, each country has an internal political change. This happened in the United Kingdom that underwent drastic political differences during the War. First of all, Britain went from being a constitutional government to a full democratic state by 1918. Freedom of speech was brought in late 1914 giving a lot of power to the media that already had a crucial role in these hard times. There was a bit of havoc in politics with the sudden expulsion of H.H. Asquith who was replaced by David Lloyd George as Prime Minister. He was head of a coalition Government replacing the existing Liberal Government. He was highly praised as Prime Minister as he understood the need for a new viewpoint geared towards the inevitable total war. Conscription is a new yet key aspect of Lloyd George. Young men from all over the country were forced to join the army and were sent over to battle. New ministries were also created to fill the wartime needs such as the Minister for Ammunition. Many industries were taken over by the Government like the mines, railway service and shipping. The First World War obviously had a major impact on European and Global politics. Bonds were tied between countries such as Britain and America while others were broken like the central European states. Britain would later go on to become the main country in the League of Nations. Also, people who would rise to fame a little later like Winston Churchill were to make their first appearances and gain the people’s respect.
In the time of total war, a country’s economy usually over goes major changes, mainly negative. It is said that Britain spent roughly 20% of its wealth during the war. It had to sell off most of its colonies that were their main sources of importation. Britain also saw its National Debt rise from 650 to 7000 million pounds. It had to borrow very large sums of money from both the United States and Russia. Taxation was increased by a rather large amount. Britain’s exportation challenge continued after the War as countries were now more self-sufficient or imported food from other cheaper locations. In addition, after the war, the many people that had been forced into war related jobs were now jobless so the unemployment scale shot up. Anyway, the biggest economic challenge the United Kingdom had to face during the war was the lack of food. In 1916, Germany started using their U-boats to sink the Allied food supply ships going to Britain in order to make them surrender. This technique was rather successful and therefore rationing was introduced. From February 1917 on, very cheap public meals were offered and basic ingredients were subsidised. Some laws were even brought in as to how much one could eat at certain times per day. Luckily for Britain, it is the arrival of the Americans that saved them from famine as they brought food from the Atlantic that the Germans could not reach.
Throughout World War One, Britain suffered terribly on the social side and many changes were made in the British community. The main impact was on the British women. They were forced to abandon their homes and jobs and work in ammunition or tank factories. By 1945, more than 250,000 women had joined the Women's Army Corps (WAC), the Army Nurses Corps, and Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), the Navy Nurses Corps, the Marines, and the Coast Guard. Most women who joined the armed services either filled traditional women's roles, such as nursing, or replaced men in non-combat jobs. During the First World War, the first demonstrations were held to give women the right to vote. Then, one cannot forget to mention the horrible amount of British soldiers that died during the Great War. Ten percent of the younger male population died. This had a social affect back home as it altered the male/female population balance that lead into a declining birth rate. However, not all of these changes were bad, some actually helped Britain and its development. During and after the War, the middle class saw an upgrade in its earnings and standard of living. The country saw a huge motivation on the technological and scientific side that leads to the final major shifting aspect: technology.
Wartime has always been a time in which inventions have come to the fore and the inventions of World War One simply show that this is always the case. Unfortunately, this period in our history is not one that showed inventions that were created in order to help individuals. Rather, many of the inventions of World War One included things that were meant to kill and destroy. Examples are the tank, a rather primitive version of the ones we have today. It resembled its original sketches drawn by Leonardo da Vinci more than the steel powerhouse we have today. However, this invention was proved to be very unreliable especially because of the trench warfare. Two other horrific inventions would be the flamethrower and the use of gas. These were developed by the Germans to make extermination much more efficient and succinct. The new creation that had a real impact on the war itself was the submarine or U-boat. Both the Allies and the Germans possessed quite a few of these and used them to cut of the food supplies or sink ships transporting people. Later on, the expansion of air vehicles started with the building of new safer and more precise aircrafts. The First World War is arguably a transition period between the old 18th century weaponry and the more modern technology.
Britain was undoubtedly greatly affected by World War One on the political, economical, social and technological sides. New leaders were brought into power and brought with them new ideas. Though, Britain’s economy was not very bright as they saw their National Debt grow out of hand. Famine came to the United Kingdom and new measures had to be put in place. Conscription was brought in, women were given men’s jobs and the press gained free speech. Technology and science reached new peaks. Weaponry had to adjust to the rapidly changing style of warfare. In short, WW1 was a time of great change both good and bad and on many fronts for Britain.
Bibliography:
1 - Robert Wolfson and John Laver, Years of Change, Hodder Education
2 - Power points and notes
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