Europe had not seen war like this before. Millions of civilians, including women, were mobilized into factories to produce the much needed supplies for the conflict. The civilians were made to do plenty of work for minimal wages. In Britain, Irish home rule, women’s agitation for the right to vote and union rights were all overlooked. All the states were involved in coming up with new forms of propaganda to justify the conflict. The state propaganda combined the truth with myth and exaggerating the brutality of the other side. Rumors circulated in France and Britain of the Germans killing Belgian civilians. In France and Britain, people with German last names were attacked. Censorship laws were passed to ensure the populations did not know about the number of the dead, the strategies involved, or the mistakes made. Pacifists were imprisoned and militant socialists arrested.

All the countries involved in the conflict realized the need to conserve food to sustain the war efforts. The British government was especially reluctant to regulate the food market; although, it did intervene in areas of sugar, meat, and grains all of which were considered essential food items. The British used their navy to blockade Germany. In response, the German U-boat submarines attacked the Allied powers’ marine vessels and later neutral merchant ships, in an attempt to starve the British population and force the government into surrendering. By the end of the war, the U-boats had sunk 5,282 merchant ships, which equaled 880,000 tons of merchant shipping in one month. The British responded through voluntary rationing programs followed by a formal rationing in February 1918. Rationing books were introduced in July 1918 to regulated the consumption of butter, meat, and sugar.

Overall, the British diet changed by only 3% fewer calories. The British could rely on their empire for help while the Germans could not. In Germany, the situation was much worse. Domestic factors, such as the recruitment of farmers and the overburdened railroads, combined with a British blockade caused food shortages throughout Germany. Millions of people attended soup kitchens and even the military regulated the consumption of food. By 1918, there was 88% less meat available in the country and 80% less butter, eggs, and cereal. The winter of 1916-17 was especially difficult as people ate turnips, a vegetable that was fed to livestock. In January, the average adult civilian consumed only one thousand calories, half of what the body needs.Germany suffered an estimated 763,000 civilian deaths due to malnutrition and disease occasioned by the British blockade. The homefront was suffering and people were demanding change.

The End of the War

The entry of the United States into the war provided a new life-with over 300,000 men fighting- while the Russian exit caused a great deal of worry. However, it was Germany’s Spring Offensive in 1918 that turned the tide of the war. General Ludendorff called for a massive German assault of 1.6 million men that caused a breakthrough against the Allied trenches. The advance was eventually stopped, just outside of Paris, and the Germans were pushed back. Calls for the end of the war increased in Germany where the effects of rationing and inflation caused people to protest. The Allied counter-attack , including the use of British tanks, broke through the German lines. As a result, the Allies were confident of an eventual victory as the Germans asked for peace. By November, the war was over with 9.4 million soldiers dead and 20 million wounded.

Figure 10: A cemetery of unknown soldiers at Verdun