1.1. The soldiers, sailors and airmen needed supplies of guns, bullets and shells they also needed ships, aeroplanes, trucks and tanks.
1.2. In Germany and Britain mines, railways weapon factories and shipyards were controlled by the government.
1.3. With men away fighting, women were needed to do their jobs. Such a: weapon factories, shipyards, steel works and the police force and ambulance services.
1.4. In Germany and Russia, the women did the farming jobs that men had left to join the army.
2. The Home Front
2.1. The First World War was fought on many fronts: land, sea and air.
2.2. The home front was the most direct way that ordinary civilians were involved in the war as they were the victims of enemy bomb attacks.
2.3. Within a week of war breaking out, a German Zeppelin airship bombed the Belgium city Liege.
2.4. By the end of the first month, Britain had been targeted by German airships.
3. Anger
3.1. After months of fighting the casualty rates and shortages of food made people angry with the governments rules.
3.2. In Germany in 1915, 500 women stood in the front of the government building and said that they wanted their men back from the trenches.
3.3. A year later 10,000 workers started shouting ‘down with war down with the government’ in Berlins City Centre.
3.4. In Russia in 1917 and in Germany in 1918, their anger started a revolution which destroyed the system of the government.
4. Food
4.1. Britain and Germany used their navies to block food supplies to each other. In Germany 1916 soap, cheese, butter and eggs were unavailable while coal and shoes were hard to get.
4.2. Germany set maximum prices on certain products like sugar and potatoes. They introduced meatless days where meat was banned. The German winter of 1916-17 was nicknamed the ‘Turnip Winter’ because turnips were one of the only foods available.
4.3. The blockade of Germany continued after the war ended and was not lifted until the final peace treaty.
4.4. In Britain they had rationing to make sure that food was equally shared out. Each person was allowed a certain amount of products.
5. Lanscapes
5.1. In France for over 2 million people made homeless because 750,000 houses had been destroyed.
5.2. Over 20,000 factories, 1,000 bridges, 38,000 kilometres of road, 2000 breweries and 1600 kilometres of railway line have been wrecked too.
5.3. Lots of places had been devastated as high explosive shells ripped up the rich soil into useless mud.
5.4. Still, some of the soil cannot be used because of the dangers of unexploded shells just below the surface.
