The Home Front in Germany

Lesson starter:Describe the food supply in Britain during World War One.

The Home Front in Germany

• Understand the problems affecting the Home Front in Germany

• Compare the German Home Front to the British Home Front

What do you think the German Home Front was

like compared to the British Home Front?

Discuss with a partner and write down ideas!

• From the beginning of the war, Britain had used her Navy to stop boats getting into Germany

• This was called the Naval Blockade

• The Naval Blockade meant that Germany suffered far more than Britain during the war

• Germany was crippled by shortages

Shortages in Germany• Rubber to make machinery and

goods• Metals for weapons• Fertilisers for farmers• Coal for energy• Cotton for clothing• Soap to clean houses and people• Leather for clothes and shoes

• Germany made most of their own food so the naval blockade did not affect their food

• BUT it did affect Germany getting fertilisers which farmers needed to grow food

• This led to extreme food shortages

• Pig farmers had no pig feed, so fed their pigs potatoes instead

• The Government thought this was a waste and ordered all the pigs to be killed

• This created a meat shortage

• Prices of meat went up and up until the government had to bring in rationing

• Bad harvests also created big food shortages

• The winter of 1916-1917 was called ‘The Turnip Winter’ as people had to eat turnips because there was no potatoes

• Germans were eating around 1000 calories a day – half of what they needed

People queuing for food in Berlin

• The German government introduced substitutes – foods made to taste like something else

• There was ‘war bread’ made with potatoes and a coffee substitute

• Foods like cream, cakes and chocolate completely disappeared during the war

Results of food shortages in Germany

• 750,000 Germans died from starvation or a poor diet during WWI

• There was also a ‘Spanish flu’ epidemic in 1918 and 150,00 Germans died of this since they were weak from so little food

• A ‘black market’ was created where richer people could buy food illegally

• People disagree on why these people died. Some blame the Naval Blockade, some blame bad harvests, some blame the German government

Write down all the things you notice about this picture

Discussion Point

•Which country coped best during World War One?

Today we will…

• Understand the problems affecting the Home Front in Germany

• Compare the German Home Front to the British Home Front