World War II

The Home fronts

Main article: Home Front during World War II

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Home front is the name given to the activities of the civilians in a state of total war (sometimes referred to by the United States as the American Theater of Operations).

Related Topics:
Home front - American Theater of Operations

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In Britain women joined the work force in jobs that the men overseas used to occupy. Food, clothing, petrol and other items were rationed. Access to luxuries was severely restricted, though there was also a significant black market. Families also grew victory gardens, small home vegetable gardens, to supply themselves with food. Civilians also served as Air Raid Wardens, volunteer emergency services and other critical functions. Schools and organisations held scrap drives and money collections to help the war effort. Many things were conserved to turn into weapons later, such as fat to turn into nitroglycerin. A notable case was the collection of street railings as scrap iron, which changed the 'feel' of many older urban streets. This metal, however, was unsuitable for reuse and subsequently dumped.

Related Topics:
Rationed - Black market - Victory garden - Nitroglycerin

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In the United States and Canada women also joined the workforce to replace men who had joined the forces, though in lesser numbers. Franklin D. Roosevelt stated that the efforts of civilians at home to support the war through personal sacrifice were as critical to winning the war as the efforts of the soldiers themselves.

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In Germany, at least for the first part of the war, there were surprisingly few restrictions on civilian activities. Most goods were freely available. This was due in large part to the reduced access to certain luxuries already experienced by German civilians prior to the beginning of hostilities; the war made some less available, but many were in short supply to begin with. For example, the famous Volkswagen "People's Cars" that Hitler had promised the German people were not actually produced until after the war. The factories meant for the cars were instead used to manufacture war materials. It was not until comparatively late in the war that the civilian German population was effectively organised to support the war effort. For example, women's labour was not mobilised as thoroughly as in Britain or the U.S. Foreign slave labour was more significant as a substitute for the males enlisted into the armed forces.

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Civilian populations were heavily involved in war production and subject to propaganda from both sides.

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