How far did the First World War transform key areas of social and economic life in Britain?

Part B

The First World War changed a lot of things social and economically for Britain. These changes consisted of the diminishing international trade, the woman’s role, and changes in political issues and different attitudes to the war. I will show how far Britain’s economic and social state changed due to the war, causing negative and positive changes.

Britain’s international export trade was a problem for Britain as during the war Staple industries relied heavily on exporting; they also relied on old markets such as Russia, the Far East and elsewhere which were closed to them because of the war. Also former customers who where in need of coal, textiles and steel turned to other new suppliers such as America and Japan. The contraction of trades during the war helped reduce the income Britain traditionally derived from shipping, which caused inter-war unemployment. Yet there were still advantages stemming from the war. The productivity of the British industry increased rapidly owing to state-sponsored mechanisation. Also there seemed to be a better standard of the engineering products as well as electric power being used more, because of all the factory work. The distortion of the economy also helped to stimulate industries such as engineering, chemicals, shipbuilding, coal, iron and steel, which had a direct relevance to the armed forces. However textiles did not have much relevance during the war and slowly lost value. Another positive impact due to the war was that after the war there was a post-war boom in the years 1918-1920. Investment and the demand for goods were both high, also industrial production rose to 29% within two years of the end of the war. Unemployment was consequently low. However, in December 1920 the bubble burst and a brief but acute depression begun, known as the ‘great depression’ today. This ‘great depression’ effected many parts of the world’s economy, such as America and Germany. The prices of goods fell, industrial production slumped, and unemployment reached two million by 21st June 1921. Britain also begun to grow heavily in debt, due to the war payments. So to help pay off these debts, Britain sold off foreign assets and borrowed heavily at home and abroad. The increased size of national debt had an inflationary effect in Britain, the problems of wartime finance forced Britain off the gold standard, under which the value of the pound had been linked to gold.

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One of the main social changes was how the war affected the psychology of the whole nation in some degree, the combatants most of all but also their families at home. Ideas about war begun to change. It brought a more realistic view to the British people about what modern welfare involved. The war also created a term called the ‘lost generation’ this applied to the people who perished in the war but to those who were permanently alienated and disoriented by it. The First World War was the cause of many deaths, majority of this being the men. This then caused many children to grow up without fathers. Also during the war as most of the men were sent away to fight, jobs were left vacant so women occupied these for the time being. With the children’s mums working and their fathers fighting, some children became unsettled and some even became involved in crime.

The war had a major impact on the British women. Britain needed to fill the posts the men had left vacant, as they had gone to the war, so they offered these jobs to the women. Women found employment in transport (the rail lines and driving buses and trams), nursing, factories (which was making ammunition, a key job), the Women’s Royal Air Force (where they worked on planes as mechanics) and on farms in the Women’s Land Army. Before 1914, these sorts of jobs would have only employed men with the exception of nursing. One of the most important jobs during the war was the ammunition factory. This work for would have been very dangerous, as the women would be working with explosive chemicals, and if one were to explode many others could have been triggered off, causing the whole building to collapse. The women who worked in the ammunition factory were usually nicknamed ‘canaries’, this was due to them working with the chemical sulphur (which is very hazardous) which would impregnate itself into any exposed skin causing it to turn yellow. As the women were working in horrible conditions in them days cause they could not afford the correct protection, women found that their hands and faces would take on a yellow tinge. The nickname ‘canaries’ was not a term of abuse but more of a name of endearment, to show that the British people recognised the massive importance of their jobs. As these jobs were just temporary until the men returned, many of the women was dismissed as the fit enough men returned to work. However the work the women did during the war did not go unrecognised, this was to help lead them to something the suffragettes had wanted but failed to get. This was that in 1918, women over the age 30 were given the right to vote and in 1928, this was to change so that all women had equal political rights with men. Now as the women were allowed to work again many things started to change. Women started to do all the things men would have done, such as going to the pubs, dances, theatre and restaurants. Hair and skirts became shorter as a result of factory work, however these things were seen to make things harder. As women took over the running of the country many other things changed. Women were allowed in the police force and they had their very own police service. This service would supervise things at the music halls, dances, cinemas, railway stations and parks. With all the demands of working in factories fashion changed to co-inside with the type of work they would be doing. Long skirts would have got in the way so they would have been shortened and as the First World War finished this was restored. The petticoat was lost and hats were made smaller. Women were now becoming an important role in not only social issues but also the economic and political issues. I believe the women played a major role during the first world war, one would argue that they played the same importance as the soldiers on the front line.

The government through out the war, used women as a way of getting more men to sign up. The women were encouraged to have nothing to do to the men who did not do their duty, and were insisted to encourage the men who did. When supplies of men did run low women were never conscripted and instead were used in campaigns to help persuade men to enlist. One of the most major campaigns used to make men enrol was the poster in 1915 with a little girl asking her father what he had done during the war. This tried to make the men at home guilty, which did succeed and resulted with many men signing up as they believed the women would not respect them if they did not help fight. The war helped Britain change socially as the whole nation was prepared to work together to help have a victory.

When the war broke out the Liberal Party had been in power since December 1905. However, the ideas and policies that were followed by the Liberal government were not suited to fighting major European war. The party dislike compulsory military service, restrictions on personal freedom and government intervention in the economy. The conservative party did support the idea of strong armed forces. This war was such a long and costly war that it had major impact on both political parties, especially to the Labour party. Full employment during the war increased the power of Trade Unions; they rose from four million in 1914 to six million in 1918. Labour was bound to derive extra support and funds from this expansion. Membership of government not only gave the Labour Party credibility but also the confidence to strike out on their own. A new socialist programme’ Labour and the new social order’ was adopted. The policies it contained, such as state control of industry (clause four) and a minimum wage, enabled Labour to fill the gap left by many parts of the country. In 1918, there was just short of 400 candidates that stood for parliament, whereas in December 1910 the figure was just short of 80. In all 61 Labour MP’s were elected in the 1918 election, this was not a huge increase for the Labour party but this was the ‘coupon’ election and patriotic loyalty to Lloyd George was decisive. However, their foundations had been laid and in 1922 Labour secured 142 seats. However the authority of Parliament remained intact, and the monarchy did not fall. The war enforced the abandonment of laissez-faire. War was too serious business to be left to the operation of free market forces. The government introduced conscription in 1916; ministers had to try to keep price and wage levels in equilibrium; the mines passed under state control. Soon the government controlled the whole of the economy.

The first world war also help cause the expansion of the empire to its maximum territorial extent, as territory was taken from the German and Turkish empires and added to the British empire.

So as I have shown the war did have an effect on social, economic and political aspects of Britain, and not all was for the worst. Such as the women movement, the post-war boom, unemployment staying low, labour coming into power, attitudes changing towards wars and gaining some territory. However the war did cause Britain a great deal of problems. These were financial problems such as the large debts being owned which then caused an inflationary effect. Also Britain’s international trade diminished and the loss of many lives’s that caused psychological damaged. So in my opinion the First World War was a ‘ Total War’ for Britain. It cost them millions of pounds, a great amount of lives were lost and wasted, and gold reserves were shattered in wartime trading. The war also changed the way in which many people lived and entitled people to many rights, these were mainly for the women of the time. Many things did change due to the war either for better or worse, many things had to change for a chance of success. Britain engaged its resources sensibly but was still stretched to find enough of everything to win. Women played a major role in the war effort and their help back home was just as important as those on the front line. Clearly 1914-1918 saw momentous economic changes. The economy was radically reoriented for the efficient prosecution of the war: there could, therefore, be no easy or quick return to satisfy peacetime needs.

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