Topic of Unit: First World War

Topic of Lesson: Total War – Home fronts

Purpose, including concept: Students learn the significance of the domestic situation in the context of total war
Connection with the purpose of unit: Students learn that only Britain and France handled this well.

Teaching and Learning Activities:

World War One as a Total War (home fronts are underlined)

1. Read and discuss the following:
Civilians affected by the war in the home-front (economy and women), targets of war (occupied territory) and in the impact of economic warfare
(blockades). As the boundary of the war moved in the east civilians were increasingly involved on or near the actual ‘battle fied’. Minorities that were
persecuted or evicted from western Russia included Jews, German, Gypsies, Hungarians and Turks. The first modern case of genocide happened in
Turkey in which hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed as a result of the new nationalism of the emerging modern Turkey. Hunger was
common throughout Europe (calories per day dropped from a low of 1,500 to about 900 calories a day in Germany – a healthy amount is 2,500)
Government power increased to manage military, economy (man/woman power & production) - civilians used to support war effort. Propaganda was
used to increase nationalist sentiment and ‘demonize’ the enemy. It was difficult to move from this to a negotiated peace – compromise. “Only the
benefits of victory could justify the sacrifices made in the war.” Dictatorial powers were assumed by governments (to varying amounts) over
ministries of all governments. The purpose of this was to control manpower (role of labour), production (war industries), morale (propaganda and
censorship) and economy (controls of trade) so that the war effort would absorb more and more of the available economic potential.
War aims: Allies went from defending Serbia, Russia, Belgium, France to planning a New World Order. Central Powers went from defending Austro-
Hungarian status to the conquest of Eastern Europe. As the war progressed and costs soared governments asked for more from their populations.
As a result, promises (war aims) grew.

2. Read and discuss the summaries from the documentary ‘Revolution’ that the students have seen as homework before the lesson. This is Home
Fronts
Russia Britain France Italy Germany

Challenge Revolution. Provisional General strike by Mutiny in parts of the Mutiny in parts of the Public protests the war
 government replaces the Tsarist labour unions is army. army – desertion. and its consequences -
imperial government. threatening the falling standard of living
war effort. in Germany.

Response of The Provisional Government did The government The military solved the Used force against Tried to use the military
government not solve the problems that met the minimum demands of the soldiers the soldiers, to crush the public
caused the protest and got them requests of the and punished only the including those who demonstrations and the
into power. protesters. leaders of the rebellion. did not protest. sailors who revolted.

Result More protest and another No general strike. French army continues and Mutiny and desertion The military refuses the
revolution from the left The economy re-unites. increase. orders of the imperial
(Bolsheviks) , not the middle. continues. government.

Later …. Bolsheviks establish a Britain survives and France survives and wins Italy wins the war The imperial government
dictatorship and take Russia out wins the war. the war. only because her falls and is replaced by a
of the war. allies do. No real new republican
victory. government who asked
for peace – an armistice,
admitting they cannot
win.
3. Read pages 24-25 (The Home Front) in Longman and Pearson 61-66 and make notes. Give a main point for each topic.
• Propaganda: Propaganda was absolutely key in the war effort. It allowed governments to drill people’s minds and get them to follow their
lead. It’s undoubtable that without it unrest at home would be much higher and the war could not have lasted as long as it did.
• Censorship: Like propaganda censorship allowed the government to control the flow of information it allowed to suppress their losses and
suppress dicidents.
• Economies to war production: Without guns men are nothing in war. Industry and war production are core components in warfare, you simply
cannot win a war if you cannot equip your men to fight and you cannot win a war if you cannot quickly close any gaps in technology between you and
your enemy through mass production. At the same time countries started to target each other’s industry and economies, mainly through blockades
and air raids.
• Role of women: Women played very important roles in the war effort. In nearly all countries involved, due to the sheer number of men
deployed and gone from work, many women had to step up and fill those jobs, at the same time industry vastly expanded during the war creating
even more jobs that needed filling. In some countries, like Russia for example, women were even allowed into the army and women battalions were
formed.
• Resistance and revolution: Knowing the outcome of the war it is easy to see how resistance and revolution shaped WW1. The brutal conditions
the war created, obviously sowed a lot of unrest. This often translated into direct disobedience in mutinies mainly among the French and Italian
armies, major strikes in Britain and the revolutions in Russia and Germany.
• War aims: When entering the war each nation had a certain goal in mind. Russia wanted to protect Serbia and later to prevent revolution, AH
wanted to show strength against a nationalist power. So on and so on, point being that all of them had goals that throughout the war changed from
“help out our ally” to “The German Nation is inherently aggressive and militaristic and must be destroyed” and the sort. Incomplete
• Government power: Government power among all participants expanded wildly during the war. Due to the war requiring a lot of resources,
many everyday luxuries were cut and more of the citizen’s lives were controlled by the governments. The economy also quickly fell under
government control to supply the front lines with guns and ammunition.
• Deportation and genocide: Due to the quick rise of nationalist sentiment during the war, many attrocities were commited. Some ethnic groups
became considered untrustworthy by authorities and collaborators with the enemy. This led to these authorities killing these groups en masse in
genocides or deporting them far behind the front lines in order to not give them an opportunity to help the enemy.
• Use of weaponry: Weaponry rapidly evolved during the war and many new technologies were discovered. While non really had a large impact
on the outcome, they did in some ways extend the war.

Assessment: The third activity is assessed for completion.

Differentiation:
ToK connection:
International mindedness:
Learner Profile: Students learn that caring and balanced government (loyal to the state and society) is more effective than government that is only loyal to the state
– whatever the actual state is.
Approaches to Learning:
Resources: pages 24-25 in Longman and Pearson 61-66.