The German Home Front & Total War (Edexcel IGCSE History: Paper 1: Depth Studies): Revision Note

Summary

• Enthusiasm for the war declined once it became clear Britain would not be quickly defeated

  • Shortages and rationing set in from the very first weeks of the war

• Defeat in the Soviet Union and increasing Allied bombing pushed Germany towards 'total war' from 1943

  • This meant that every resource and almost every person had to be committed to the war effort

• Allied bombing killed hundreds of thousands of German civilians and devastated many cities

  • Its effect on German war production was more limited than the Allies had hoped

• The role of women changed significantly during the war

  • The Nazis' own ideology about women staying at home had to give way to the practical need for female labour in industry and the armed forces

The changing role of women during the war

Why did the role of women in Nazi Germany change?

• As many men were serving in the Army, Germany had a lack of workers

  • Nazi policies had encouraged women not to work

  • Minorities such as Jewish people had been forced out of the workplace

• Labour shortages had a significant impact on the German war effort

  • Germany had shortages in fuel, coal and food

    • It did not have enough workers to make vital products

  • Germany relied on plundering occupied countries to supply their citizens with resources

Mobilising women for war

• In June 1941, Goering ordered previously employed, childless women to register for work

• When 'total war' was introduced in 1943, all women aged 17 to 45 had to register

  • By mid-1943, half a million extra women were working in industry

  • By the end of the war, women made up around 50% of Germany's labour force

    • Some women also served as auxiliaries in the armed forces, operating searchlights and anti-aircraft guns

The psychological impact on women

• Many German women lived in constant fear of news that a husband or son had been killed

• Women struggled to raise families on the home front

  • Cities suffered heavy bombing and food shortages

  • Many families were made homeless or forced to flee to safer areas

• As the war ended, German women also faced the advancing Soviet Red Army

  • Nazi propaganda had warned that Soviet soldiers would treat German civilians brutally

    • Soviet troops sexually assaulted large numbers of German women in East Prussia and Berlin

Rationing and 'total war'

Rationing

• Rationing began in August 1939

  • Rations covered bread, meat, dairy products and soap, and clothing was rationed from November 1939

• Civilians received food stamps, which had to be handed over when food was bought

  • Stealing stamps was a criminal offence that typically resulted in a sentence at a forced labour camp

• Rations were generally enough to maintain basic nutrition

• Some goods were very hard to find

  • Coal and shoe shortages in the winters of 1939–40 and 1940–41 caused real challenges

• In April 1942, as shortages worsened, the government cut rations further

  • They restricted bread to about half a loaf per person per day and meat to just 40 grams per day

  • Anything else could be bought on the black market, but these products were very expensive

What does 'total war' mean?

• "Total war" was the idea that every person, including citizens, had to participate in the war effort

  • All parts of society and the economy were solely focused on war

  • As civilians were helping with the war effort, they could also be targeted in attacks

'Total war' in Nazi Germany

• In June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa

  • The German Army advanced rapidly at first but had come to a halt outside Moscow and Leningrad by December 1941

  • Millions of German soldiers are thought to have died in the resulting fighting

• Following this failure and other defeats, Goebbels announced in February 1943 that Germany was now engaged in "total war"

  • All of Germany's resources and all of its people had to be committed to fighting for victory

• "Total war" meant that:

  • all men aged 16 to 65 and all women aged 17 to 45 had to register as available for work

  • non-essential small businesses were closed

• In August 1944, the Nazis:

  • banned holidays for workers

  • raised the working week to 60 hours

• By October 1944, the Nazis created the Volkssturm (Home Guard)

  • They eventually conscripted boys as young as 12 to help defend Germany

The effects of allied bombing

• By 1942, all areas of society felt the impact of war

• From 1940, Allied (British and, from 1943, American) bombers attacked cities across Germany

• Aerial bombings caused:

  • the destruction of infrastructure, impacting:

    • electricity

    • water

    • transportation

  • the destruction of homes

  • damage to war production, the bombing of factories disrupted the supply of weapons

  • the evacuation of children to the countryside

    • Around 2.5 million German children were evacuated to rural areas, such as Bavaria

  • displacement

    • Thousands of people left their homes, becoming refugees

  • high civilian casualties

    • A bombing raid in Dresden in February 1945 killed 25,000 citizens

• Consistent bombing damaged morale

  • It contradicted Nazi propaganda that Germany was winning the war

  • Similar to Britons during the Blitz, most Germans simply tried to carry on with their normal lives and turn up for work as usual

  • Low-level or private opposition to the government increased

How far did the war change life on the German home front?

Evidence of significant change

• Rationing, evacuation and constant bombing brought the war into almost every German household

  • Over 600,000 Germans, including 76,000 children, are estimated to have died as a result of Allied bombing

• 'Total war' from 1943 reorganised German society completely

  • Conscripting labour, closing ordinary businesses and forcing women into paid work changed day-to-day life on the home front

Evidence of minimal change

• Despite the challenging situation, most Germans coped with rationing for years without the system collapsing

  • Most people tried to carry on with ordinary life and go to work even after bombing raids

• Nazi propaganda worked to soften the impact of shortages and bombing on morale

  • The Nazi government remained in control throughout the war

Conclusions

• The war changed the practical conditions of daily life for almost every German, especially through rationing, evacuation and bombing

• It did not fundamentally change the structure of Nazi control over society, which is why the regime could still demand ever greater sacrifices right up to 1945