Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
U. S. History II
HW 4.3: Total War
Do Now
1. Based on last night’s homework and yesterday’s lecture (use your notes if
necessary), summarize the progress of World War I up to 1917.
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2. How do you think the war affected civilians [ordinary people not fighting the war]?
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Name __________________________
Date: ________________
Section: 11.1
11.2
(circle one)
Reading: Total War
Source: Adapted from J. Llewellyn et al., “Total War,” Alpha History.
World War I was a total war, involving the governments, economies and
populations of participating nations to an extent never seen before in history.
This was distinct from the way ‘smaller’ wars had been fought. In ‘total war’,
the entire nation was called into service, rather than just its military.
Governments played an active role, passing laws that would be intolerable
during peacetime. Ministers and departments took control of economic
production, nationalising factories, determining production targets,
allocating manpower and resources. Conscription was introduced to bolster
military forces and resources like ships, trains or vehicles were
commandeered for military purposes. Wartime governments also acted to
protect national security, by implementing press censorship, curfews and
strict punishments for breaches and violations. They also made extensive use
of propaganda, both to raise public morale and to raise money through war
bonds.
Total War and the Economy
Key question: how did total war affect the organization of the economy?
Source: Adapted from J. Llewellyn et al., “Total War,” Alpha History.
The British economy was also shifted to a total war footing. Under the
Defence of the Realm Act the government could requisition any land or
building deemed necessary for the war effort. Government control of the
economy increased dramatically in 1915, in the wake of the ‘Shell Crisis’ (a
shortage of artillery shells that contributed to British military failures on the
Western Front; this shortage brought about strong criticism of the
government and a change in prime minister). A new portfolio was created:
the Ministry of Munitions. Construction of a massive factory capable of
producing 800 tons of cordite [a replacement for gunpowder] a day was
ordered, while other factories were nationalised and retooled for the
production of artillery shells. British production of shells increased by more
than 1000 per cent. The government also formed departments to coordinate
other areas of the economy, including food, labour and maritime transport.
The other pressing demand was for food, both for the military and the
civilian population. The government seized control of unused land for
farming, including parks, commons and disused blocks. Rationing was
introduced and food queues [lines] became the norm. Food became so
valuable that it was a criminal offence to feed bread to animals or to throw
rice at weddings.
Total War and Civil Liberties
Key question: how did total war affect the rights of everyday citizens?
Source: Adapted from J. Llewellyn et al., “Total War,” Alpha History.
Britain initiated total war from the outset. A week after the declaration of war,
the parliament passed the Defence of the Realm Act. This legislation empowered
the government to secure the nation from internal threat or invasion, by handing
it wide-ranging powers, including censorship, the authority to imprison without
trial and the power to court martial and execute civilians. Control of the press
and communication media was particularly stringent. London appointed
‘official’ military journalists and set up the War Office Press Bureau, which
processed stories and distributed them to newspapers. Government agencies
and the military were authorised to prevent the publication of offensive or
dangerous material in newspapers and books; to open and censor civilian mail;
and to tap into telegraph and telephone communications. As the war progressed,
new restrictions were added to the legislation. Daylight saving was introduced to
provide more working hours in the day. Alcohol consumption was restricted,
opening hours of pubs were cut back and beer was watered down to reduce its
strength. It became illegal to light bonfires or fly kites, both of which might
attract enemy airships.
Total War at Sea
Key question: how did the British blockade affect German civilians?
Source: Adapted from British National Archives, “The Blockade of Germany.”
When war broke out in August 1914, the British government moved
immediately to strangle the supply of raw materials and foodstuffs to Germany
and its allies. This marked the beginning of the 'hunger blockade', which lasted
until Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.
British naval ships spent the war patrolling the North Sea, intercepting and
detaining thousands of merchant ships thought to be harbouring cargo bound
for enemy shores. Most neutral merchant ships agreed to put into British ports
for inspection and were subsequently escorted - minus any 'illegal' cargo bound
for Germany - through the British-laid minefields to their final destinations.
By 1915, German imports had fallen by 55% from pre-war levels. Staple
foodstuffs such as grain, potatoes, meat and dairy products became so scarce by
the winter of 1916 that many people subsisted on a diet of ersatz [imitation]
products that ranged from so-called 'war bread' (Kriegsbrot) to powdered milk.
The shortages caused looting and food riots, not only in Germany, but also in
Vienna and Budapest [in Austria-Hungary]. The average daily diet of 1,000
calories was insufficient even for small children. Disorders related to
malnutrition - scurvy, tuberculosis and dysentery - were common by 1917.
Official statistics attributed nearly 763,000 wartime deaths in Germany to
starvation caused by the Allied blockade.
Total War on the Battlefield
Key question: how did total war affect the way that soldiers engaged in
combat?
Source: Adapted from an interview with Jay Winter, Cambridge University.
In some ways, you might be able to argue that the First World War started on
the 22nd of April, 1915. Up to that point, what had occurred was a series of
well-known 19th Century encounters that had gone wrong. But on the 22nd
of April the Germans did something new. They opened cylinders of poison
gas to try to break through the defensive strength of the allies on the other
side. French and Canadian troops were hit by this gas, or chlorine gas, and
were terrified. These are men without really any protection against this
because it never happened before. These weren't shells, these were cylinders
that had been lined up, and when the German troops thought that the wind
was blowing the right way, the cloud opened -- it looked very much like a
green cloud -- and the people who didn't escape from it would have their
lungs burned out and die an awful death.
Now, that moment is very important in understanding how the war that so
many people joined up to fight turned into something much worse. It's
important for a whole series of reasons. One, is that gas warfare is another
level of brutality, another level of violence that until that point, had not been
available to either side. And, once it became available to one side, it was used
by both… [These weapons] lowered the obstacles to brutality, because if you
couldn't get out of a trench, if you couldn't flee, if you couldn't surrender,
then there is a different nature to battle and confrontation. That is
extermination, not combat, because a soldier cannot surrender. If he has no
protection against the gas, he will simply suffocate and die miserably. The
nature of that kind of war opens up the whole issue of whether this conflict
began in a 19th Century fashion with a degree of understanding about what
the limits of violence were, and, slowly but surely -- 1915 is a critical moment
-- those limits were pushed and pushed and pushed until they didn't exist
anymore.
Homework
1. Carefully read the attached article on unrestricted submarine warfare. Then, answer
the following questions in complete sentences on a separate sheet of paper:
a. How does the use of naval blockades indicate that WWI was a total war?
b. How did Britain’s naval blockade affect Germany?
c. Why did Germany eventually adopt a policy of unrestricted submarine
warfare?
d. How did submarine warfare affect Allied economies?
e. How did submarine warfare affect the US’ position on World War I?
2. In at least one well-developed paragraph, answer the question: In what ways was
World War I a total war? Refer to specific details from the readings and/or
yesterday’s lecture notes.
3. Add the following identifications (date, definition, significance) to the key terms
section of your binder.
a. Total war
b. Blockade
c. U-Boats (no date)
d. Unrestricted submarine warfare (end date: 1918; you find the start date)
The First Battle of the Atlantic
Adapted from Dr. Gary Sheffield, BBC History, 2011.
In 1914, the submarine was seen as a weapon of marginal importance. Yet, it was to be the
fragile Unterseeboot (U-Boat) rather than the mighty dreadnought that was to mount the
most dangerous challenge to British maritime security during World War One. U-Boat
attacks on merchant shipping in the Atlantic brought Britain to the point of defeat. The
Allies eventually prevailed, but at a heavy cost in lives.
Undesea Peril
Some warnings of this challenge emerged as early as September 1914, when a U-Boat sank
three old British cruisers. Another threat materialised in the following month, with the
sinking of a state-of-the-art battleship, HMS Audacious, by a mine.
The Gallipoli campaign of 1915 reinforced the undersea peril, when mines and submarines
sank and damaged a number of French and British warships. While the threat to the
warships was serious enough for Britain, the widespread use of submarines against the
British merchant fleet was for Germany a potentially even more effective war-winning
strategy.
World War One was a total war, and in such conflicts, restraints are cast aside. Both Britain
and Germany strove to starve each other into submission through the use of naval
blockades. The British had a huge advantage in that their surface fleet could intercept ships
bound for Germany, and soon Germany's seaborne trade dwindled away. With its fleet
bottled up, Germany had to use U-boats.
Before the war, the submarine was regarded as a morally dubious [questionable] weapon,
subject to international agreements. Submarines were supposed to surface and give crews
time to abandon ship before sinking their vessels. This sacrificed surprise, one of the
submarine's major advantages, and left the submarine vulnerable to attack while on the
surface.
In February 1915 Germany decided to abandon these constraints, and moved towards
unrestricted submarine warfare. The seas around the British Isles were declared a war
zone, in which Allied merchant craft could be attacked without prior warning.
Unrestricted Strategy
This strategy offered huge opportunities for Germany. Britain was heavily reliant on
foodstuffs and munitions carried across the Atlantic Ocean from Canada and neutral
America. The severing [cutting] of this Atlantic lifeline could force Britain out of the war.
Unrestricted U-boat warfare also, however, posed enormous risks. In practice, it would be
very difficult to avoid sinking vessels belonging to neutral states. Popular opinion in the
USA tended towards isolationism [staying uninvolved with the war], although President
Woodrow Wilson was personally sympathetic to the Allied cause. Indiscriminate attacks on
shipping that resulted in the sinking of American vessels and the loss of American lives ran
the risk that the USA might be added to the number of Germany's enemies.
The sinking of the passenger liner Lusitania by U-20 in May 1915 underlined this risk. 128
Americans were among the 1,198 people who died. America was outraged about this attack
(although the ship may have been carrying munitions). Further sinkings brought about a
rapid deterioration in German-American relations, and in September, Berlin ended
unrestricted warfare.
The campaign had sunk about 750,000 tons of Allied shipping, which was too little to make
much of an impact on Britain's economy. The fleet of German long-range submarines was
too small - at around 16 - to be really effective, and their commanders struggled to keep
more than five on station at any one time.
Ramped-up tensions
A longer-term threat to Britain was still, however, clearly possible, particularly as the
German U-boat building programme was gathering speed. Particularly ominous was the
fact that, in a return to unrestricted warfare in spring 1916, U-boats sank another 250,000
tons in the space of only a few weeks.
Once again, the U-boats ramped up tensions between Germany and the USA, and Germany
again called off the campaign. By the time of the next unrestricted submarine offensive,
early in 1917, the strategic situation had undergone profound changes and Germany was
determined to prosecute the campaign to its utmost even if America came into the war as a
consequence.