WW2- (Practices) The home front and occupied Europe Flashcards
Give an overview of civilian involvement in WW2 on the home front
- Civilians were affected greatly by the Second World War.
- Millions took up active service or support roles for the war effort and all nations were affected by the impact of food and fuel shortages.
The home front: elements
- Women in war
- Rationing
- War production
Examples of countries in which the role of women in the war was significant
- Germany
- Britain
- USSR
How did women’s roles in the war vary?
Women’s roles varied from nation to nation, with women in the USSR taking on combatant roles, women elsewhere taking on support roles in the armed forces and almost all nations involving women heavily in war production.
Role of women in war in Germany
- Women did not become heavily involved at the beginning of the war as Nazi ideology believed that women should remain in the home.
- By the end of 1939, however, women made up 37% of the workforce. German women were never allowed to be involved in military service.
Role of women in war in Britain
- In 1941, all women aged between 18 and 60 were registered ready for conscription into the industrial workforce. By the end of the war, 6.5 million British women were employed in factories or shipyards.
- Women also took up non-combatant military roles, joining organizations such as the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) and the Women’s Land Army.
Role of women in war in the USSR
- Tens of millions of women were conscripted for military service, with over 800,000 women serving in the Soviet armed forces over the course of the war.
- Women took up roles as pilots, mechanics, agricultural labourers and soldiers.
- By 1945, over 40% of Soviet doctors were women.
Rationing in Britain
Britain began rationing oil-based products at the start of the war, followed by food such as butter and sugar in 1940, and eventually almost all food products.
Rationing in the USSR
- In the USSR, rationing was severe, with children and the elderly allowed 700 calories of food daily, while adult workers received around 1500 calories.
- Almost all of the entire population was on the verge of starvation through most of the war
Rationing in Germany
- Germany introduced limited rationing prior to the invasion of Poland in 1939 and added further restrictions as the war went on.
- German civilians had better access to food products than most warring countries; by the end of the war, however, shortages were apparent in all areas.
War production: the strength of US military production
- US military production was crucial to the Allied war effort even before the USA became a belligerent nation.
- Under the terms of the Lend–Lease agreement, Britain and the USSR were sent vast amounts of goods and supplies.
War production: the weakness of production from the Axis powers
- German production proved problematic at first; however, industry was reorganized in 1942 to give the German government control, and subsequently production levels increased.
- Italy’s industrial production output was the second highest of the Axis powers in Europe, although it was significantly behind the output levels of Germany.
Imprisonment and extermination: elements
- The Holocaust
- Prisoners of war
- Capturing of foreign individuals
Antisemitism in Germany in the 1930s
- Germany introduced a series of anti-Jewish laws in the 1930s that removed the majority of freedoms from the one per cent Jewish population.
- Discrimination and violence against Jews worsened in the late 1930s and the German government actively encouraged emigration.
How did policies against Jews evolve as WW2 progressed?
- As the Second World War progressed and Germany began to control more land in Europe, its policy against Jews evolved.
- When Germany invaded the USSR in June 1941, the German government ordered the immediate execution of Jews in occupied areas, leading to 500,000 Soviet Jews being killed in the winter of 1941–2.
