The Effect of World War II on the Lives of People at Home

The Effect of World War II on the Lives of People at Home

World war two was officially started with the invasion of Poland,

September 1939 where the British being an ally of Poland and

disagreeing with Hitler’s actions, declared war against Germany. The

war lasted for 6 years in Europe until 1945. It managed to involve

most of Europe and Asia, America, Canada, Australia, Africa. Debatably

more the 30 million perished as a direct result of the war and

generally it was the war that the world collectively lost more in than

any other through out history. Not surprisingly it was proclaimed to

be ‘ the war to end all wars’.

In my essay I will be discussing and evaluating how the turning points

of Dunkirk, battle of Britain, battle of the Atlantic and D-day

affected the British home front. I will also go into more detail on

the subjects of evacuation, rationing and women’s role. I will justify

my statements by analysing and evaluating sources relating to the

titled subjects. These factors of the war that I am going to research

are relevant because; - each turning point in the war would have had a

major effect on the morale of people, and roles of women, rationing

and evacuation were all aspects in which significant changes in

societies attitude were provoked.

The war was described as a ‘Total war’ because the complete economy

and populations of the participating nations were geared in to the

production and support of the war effort. This made warfare totally

reliant on the industrial capacity of its country, forcing everyone to

be included somehow. In the case of Britain, this unified the citizens

and strengthened its spirit through...

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...d they had a divine duty to

stamp out the evil tyranny of Nazi Germany.

The war was a time of great change in the attitudes towards women and

people became more accepting of each other’s differences. Often

children had to grow up quickly as they were given more

responsibilities. Families were often separated due to bombing and

evacuation and people had to deal with the grief of relations dying in

battle and the visions of horror they experiences in the cities during

raids.

The end of the second world war marked a time of jubilation and

national pride, people became very patriotic and also valued the

democracy they lived in. The war also causes many minorities to be

more open about their feelings of inferiority and the unjustness of

prejudice, making them more demanding of change in times of peace as

well.