This writeup is concerned with the war effort at home by German civilians.
People in
Germany added to the
war effort by restricting and sharing out
resources evenly. Efforts to maintain the health of the population included travelling
kitchens which, in
Berlin alone, provided 25,000 meals per day in 1916. The
public readily accepted inferior substitutes for such foodstuffs as
coffee,
eggs,
butter and
oil. A systematic instruction in war
cookery was strictly adhered to, as the extremely patriotic
civilians felt they should make sacrifices "for the
Fatherland." A War
Raw Materials Department was established in August 1914 to try to conserve whatever materials were available. Such cooperation ensured that the German population could continue to provide for themselves and the
soldiers at war.
Germans of all ages made huge contributions to the war effort.
Children were helpful in collecting any materials that could be
recycled or used in
manufacturing, for example scrap
metal, waste
paper,
rags,
bones, old
rubber,
bottles, and kitchen refuse and
scraps for stock feed.
Toddlers and
elderly people worked together to produce
bullets and other war
equipment. A person by the name of Bethmann Hollweg made clear the attitudes of civilians at the beginning of the war:
The War demanded the greatest exertions from a people which had hardly found its way to nationhood out of the tangle of party doctrine and class strife. Yet in the dark urgency of an external danger the people rallied to its banners, and there shone forth blindingly the aspect of a nation at one with itself and politically qualified to withstand the harshest trials. The memory of that time can only evoke feelings of reverence.
As the war wore on and food shortages became more severe, the spirit of the people was just barely kept alive through the use of
propaganda. Even before
World War I began there was much unrest in Germany. The only way the
government could get the support of the people was to justify their starting of the war. They did this by claiming their motive was
defence.
France, the German government said, was ready to invade, and Germany had to make a pre-emptive strike to prevent this from happening. Gradually the German people realised the insubstantiality of this argument and began to lose faith in the purpose of their struggles. As a result, the people put less effort into the war than most
allied nations, who could much more easily
justify their conduct.
Bibliography
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Two Centuries: A Profile of Modern History. Pitman, Melbourne.
Guest, V., Lawrence, J. & Eshuys, J. (1990)
World War I: Causes Course Consequences. Macmillan Education, Melbourne.
O'Brien, C. & Merritt, A. (1996)
1914-1918 The World at War. Rigby Heinemann, Melbourne.
O'Brien, T., Jones, K. & Ingster, S. (1984)
From the Source 1. Nelson, Melbourne.
Stewart, D. & Fitzgerald, J. (1987)
The Great War. Nelson, Melbourne.
Wall, R. & Winter, J. (1988)
The Upheaval of War: Family, Work and Welfare in Europe, 1914-1918. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.