Home Front

• 'War at Sea' mainly involved countries using navies to blockade enemy ports as did not want to risk their attle ships.
• As an island Britain relied mainly on merchant ships bringing n food and supplies, Germans knew if their U-boats could stop this trade then Britain would be starved into submission.
• FEB 1915 Germans announced they would sink all merchant shipping going to and from British ports, this was optimistic as there were 15, 000 sailings a week ad Germans only had 21 U-boats
• But by 1917 Germans had 200 U-boats and were sinking every one in four ships bound for British ports
• April 1917 Britain had oonly 6 weeks food supply and the secretary of state for the war Lord Derby said the gov was at 'ts wits end of how to deal with these submarines.'
• The use of depth charges and the convoy system where a collection of merchant ships were sailing together under he protection of British naval destroyers solved the proble however, there were still food shortages throguhout the war.
• U-boats reduced the amount of food reaching Britain and British farmers could not produce enough food even with the Women's land army so there wer shortages and prices went up.  There were queues for good like margarine and potates and many shops closed early. Poor people could not afford the food and the rich brought and unfair amount.
• In some industrial areas there were strikes over wages.
• 1916- white bread was banned as there was a shortage of grain
• 1917 voluntary rationing as introduced led by the royal family who announced they were cutting their consumption by a quarter.
• for example the gov asked people to limit their consumption of meat but the limit was still more than most people could afford.
• Gov were keen to avois the cost and administravtive burden of compulsory rationing but in 1918 they were forced to.
• 1 jan there was a suagr ration
• May jam marg tea and butter were added
• meat was not allowed for breakfast
• and guests for afternoon tea were allowed to be given no more than 42g bread cake ad biscuits and were asked to bring their own sugar.
• Ration cards were issued and shopkeepers took coupons when rationed goods were sold to stop people buying over the legal limit.

Right to Serve

• When war broke out suffragettes called off their caampaign.
• Suffragists began a poster campaign encouraging men to join the army.
• When men left women  took on roles such as bus conductors and drivers but it actually tok until March 1915 for the gov to draw up a register of women willing to undertake war work and even after this not all those women were given jobs.
• So suffragettes oragnised a demonstartion in July 1915 demanding the righ to serve.

Canaries

• demonstration raised awareness but it was the increasing demands of the war that brought women into work losses at the front and conscription meant that the was a lack of male workers
• it was estimated britain were short of 2 mill workers after conscription.
• many employers happy to employ women in office jobs and by the end of the war half a million woen had repaced men in office jbs.
• but many doubted about women's ability to work in traditional engineering and manufacturing jobs.
• From 1916 there was a heavy demand to manufacture supplies especially shels for artillery guns-so the gov employed huge numbers of women in their factories. In 1914 only 125 women worked at woolwich aresenal by 1917 there were 27,000. 
• the work was dangerous and there hands ofte turned yellow from the chemicals in the explosives and factories sometimes blew up. But the pay was good as women could earn £4 aa week compared with £2 per month they used to earn from doestic service.
• Example set by government encouraged other employers, women showed that with the right training they could be just as capable as men, by the end of the war 800,000 women were employed in engineering jobs.

Right to Serve

• When war broke out suffragettes called off their caampaign.
• Suffragists began a poster campaign encouraging men to join the army.
• When men left women  took on roles such as bus conductors and drivers but it actually tok until March 1915 for the gov to draw up a register of women willing to undertake war work and even after this not all those women were given jobs.
• So suffragettes oragnised a demonstartion in July 1915 demanding the righ to serve.

Canaries

• demonstration raised awareness but it was the increasing demands of the war that brought women into work losses at the front and conscription meant that the was a lack of male workers
• it was estimated britain were short of 2 mill workers after conscription.
• many employers happy to employ women in office jobs and by the end of the war half a million woen had repaced men in office jbs.
• but many doubted about women's ability to work in traditional engineering and manufacturing jobs.
• From 1916 there was a heavy demand to manufacture supplies especially shels for artillery guns-so the gov employed huge numbers of women in their factories. In 1914 only 125 women worked at woolwich aresenal by 1917 there were 27,000. 
• the work was dangerous and there hands ofte turned yellow from the chemicals in the explosives and factories sometimes blew up. But the pay was good as women could earn £4 aa week compared with £2 per month they used to earn from doestic service.
• Example set by government encouraged other employers, women showed that with the right training they could be just as capable as men, by the end of the war 800,000 women were employed in engineering jobs.

• Opportunities of war meant that many middle-class women were financially independent from husbands
• and fro working clas women allowed them to earn higher wages
• although women still remained the minority in the workforce and were paid less than men war did bring about a change in attitudes
• women were allowed to wear more make up-----visit pubs-----buy their own drinks-----and wear trousers.
• aalthough many women lost their jobs at the end of the war it was a significant step.

• As the war went on more women took on jobs in industry or the women's land army
• from 1917 women could work in the armed forces 100,000 women took on jbs in the:

-women's army auxilary corps WAAC

-women's Royal Air Force WRAF

-women's Royal naval service WRNS

• A further 23,000 served as nurses close to the front
• Women also played an importat in recruitment.