How did the outbreak of the Second World War influence the individual, household, and daily life in
Great Britain from 1939. to 1945?
The first half of the 20th century marked a new era in the history of warfare in which almost the
entire civilian populations of countries in conflict experienced the economic and social impact of war on
their individual life. This essay aims to explore the way in which the Second World War, the largest
military conflict to date, influenced the daily life of the middle class British civilian population throughout
the entire duration of the conflict.
The diet of British civilians remained unchanged in the early stages of the war, up until the
German attack on France in early 1940, when the subsequent mobilization led to an increased amount of
food being distributed to the military. This caused essential foods like meat, milk, butter, and sugar to be
distributed through a rationing program (Defense of the Realm Acts), so English families could only
acquire them in small amounts and eventually consumed them less and less. The rationing further
intensified in 1942 when the German navy made it hard for the British to import foods like grain, fruit,
tea and etc. adding them to the list of rationed condiments. However, even the foods that were not
rationed were also prone to shortages. Most vegetables were available in limited amounts causing the
British propaganda machine to advocate for civilians growing their own fresh produce in gardens. Bread
and other similar foods mostly available but had to change their contents to an inferior recipe, in order
to include less wheat and eggs. Therefore, the vast majority of British civilians ate worse quality foods in
smaller amounts than before, leading to an increased number of food-related illnesses and a decrease in
overall civilian morale.
The Second World war was one of the first large scale conflicts in which motorized attack and
transport vehicles saw universal use on both sides. The British army required tens of thousands of trucks,
aircraft, ships and tanks to feed and assist it’s growing army, causing civilian transportation vehicles to
stop being produced and fuel to become scarce. As a part of the rationing campaign diesel and petrol
fuel was limited to only 200km of driving per month in 1939 and decreased even further as the war
progressed. This issue was effectively mediated by propaganda and awareness efforts in which the
British government called on people to utilize carpooling, take public transport and use bicycles for
shorter distances. This made an impact on the overall population as the people moved much less over
long distances and used alternative methods of transportation which limited their capability to travel
effectively.
Another aspect of household and daily life that changed dramatically with the breakout of this
conflict was the entertainment and free time activities of middle-class people. Mainly, since the national
economy was suffering heavily due to the war, many people had to work unpaid overtime to support the
war effort and thus had less time for entertainment. In larger cities that were, many people who were
not actively at war volunteered as air raid wardens, field nurses and search and rescue team members,
which was heavily advertised by the media. The majority of entertainment content was also oriented
towards benefiting the army, with British and American studios producing movies, radio broadcasts and
books meant to increase military turnout, advertise volunteering and donating property to the army and
boost the morale of the civilian population. This led the overall population to become more patriotic and
raised awareness about ways to boost the war effort on an individual level, constituting one of the
crucial reasons for the ultimate allied victory.
In conclusion, all three important aspects of daily civilian life on an individual level have changed
drastically following Britain’s involvement of the second world war. Although it could be argued that
some wartime decisions regarding civilian lifestyle yielded positive results in the near future, the impact
of this war on the individual and household life of middle class civilians I was mainly negative.
