Siir Tecirlioglu

11A

10 May 2011

Evaluate the contribution made towards the war effort by civilians on both the home front and

the battle front in World War II

The civilian contribution in both the home front and battle front in World War II was significant to

some extent in that it impacted the war. However, this is not to say that there was no other way to carry

out the war without the civilian involvement. Different nations had different events happening in their

home fronts and the battle fronts because the war was not the same to all due to differences in

geography, economy and their situation in the war. The contribution made towards the war effort by

civilians on both the home front and the battle front in Britain, France, and Germany presents examples

of the role of civilians in World War II.

In general, most nations experienced rationing, increased amount of recycling, formation of civil

defense organizations and change in role of women and children in the home front. In both France and

Britain, for example, women not only kept up to their house work but also took on the jobs of men. They

made weapons and planes in factories as well as working on buses, trains, hospitals and schools. In

Germany, however, women were idealized by Nazi ideology and work wasn’t seen to be suitable for

them. Therefore, the expectations from women in France and Britain for the war effort were different

from that in Germany. On the other hand, children in Britain and France had the same role as children in

Germany. They were responsible for going to houses and collecting materials for war equipment such as

metals, rubber, glass and newspapers. Anything reusable was saved. Rationing, too, was common in all

three of these nations in order to make sure that everyone had a fair share of what was available and to

send more supplies to the battlefront. Civilians, for most of the time, carried out the rationing policies

honestly—ration books were used—and even took it a step further. They had their own gardens in

which they grew fruits and vegetables. Finally, civil defense organizations had one of the most crucial

roles in the war. For example, in Great Britain, there was the Home Guard which managed blackout

practices and gathered weapons from civilians. All these contributions and sacrifices of the society

resulted in improved life-standards for soldiers and unity of the civilians with the will of fight—or even

fighting. Also, these contributions helped the war to be carried out for four years continuously.

The bombing of cities was a very important strategy in World War II that it made the home front as

dangerous as the front lines. In Germany, Hitler believed that the collapse of the home front had led to

defeat in World War I. He was determined to keep the German home front strong while attacking to the

other home fronts, such as the Blitz in Great Britain. One of the reasons this policy failed is the British

resistance and protection against bombs. Black outs were carried out very cautiously that people were

scared to strike a match even though they had thick black out curtains on the windows. People wore

white at night and they painted many objects white. If the civilians hadn’t contributed to black outs in

this way, the Germans would easily see the cities at nights and attack by bombings. The fear of the

civilians for their own lives increased their war effort and their role in black outs is a great example of

this. Besides the regular civilians, the civilian organizations played a role during the bombing of British

cities. For example, fire watchers and street wardens were awake and listening for possible attacks.

There were also more official civilian organizations such as the Civilian Repair Organization (CRO) which

repaired and put back into service 4995 aircraft. This way, planes were saved and new ones didn’t have

to be built as much—it wouldn’t even have been possible to build 4995 aircrafts because just like many

other nations, Great Britain was short in supplies. Therefore the role of the volunteering civilians was

reusing materials, repairing mechanics, protecting cities and thus, saving supplies, and decreasing

amount of damage that could be made by German bombings.

Battlefront is the area where opposing armies fight against each other. Although civilians are not

usually left in battlefronts or sent to battlefronts, support staffs and other voluntary organizations were

there in order to take care of the wounded/dead soldiers or even helping them in the fighting. Nurses

and doctors were sent to battlefronts by governments or they went there with their own will. It is clear

how they contributed the battlefront: they helped and healed the physically wounded which in return

meant better life-standards in battlefront and less casualties as well as a boost up to the morale of the

soldiers since they were being taken care of. Besides the support staff which existed in almost every

battlefront, there were also civilian resistances. One of the most famous one of these is the French

resistance which was a powerful resistance movement to fight against the Germans that occupied

France. There were small groups of armed men and women called the Maquis who sabotaged electrical

power grids, transportation and communication. The French resistance gave moral support to France

and increased the national pride. They assisted the Allies on D-day by fighting against the German

soldiers in French territories. Without such civilian resistances, the nations would fall to the enemies

easier or it would be harder to get its freedom back.

In conclusion, the examples presented above prove the fact that the contribution made by civilians

in both the home front and the battle front is so great that without them, nations would fall much easier

and governments wouldn’t be able to carry out this 4 year war. One may argue that before World War II

and even before World War I, the civilians didn’t contribute at all and yet wars happened. The difference

between the World Wars and previous wars is the change in technology which decreased safety.

Imagine if the civilians hadn’t followed rationing policies, recycled, worked, took care of wounded,

participated in black outs and resistances. Then, the nations would run out of supplies very quickly and

find themselves under attack very quickly and not produce enough weapons to fight back. The

consequences—damage and casualties—would be larger if protection and resistance didn’t exist.

Therefore, the contribution of civilians was so crucial in the way the war was carried out and the

outcomes of it.

Work Cited

"World War 2: The war effort ." bbc.co.uk. N.p., 2011. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ schools/primaryhistory/world_war2/the_war_effort/>.

"Home front during World War II ." en.wikipedia.org. N.p., 12 May 2011. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_front_during_World_War_II>.

" Britain and World War II ." johndclare.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.johndclare.net/wwii1.htm>.

"World War Two - The Home Front ." historyonthenet.com. N.p., 1 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/home_front.htm>.

"Women in World War Two." historylearningsite.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/women_WW2.htm>.

"Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II ." en.wikipedia.org. N.p., 11 May 2011. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Evacuations_of_civilians_in_Britain_during_World_War_II>.

"THE BOMBING OF CIVILIANS IN WORLD WAR II ." worldfuturefund.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/war.crimes/World.war.2/Bombing.htm>.

"British Civilian Life." wearcam.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://wearcam.org/decon/ cleansing_stations_civildefense.html>.