You are on page 1of 8

The war started in 1939

World war 2 was caused when France and Britain declared war on Germany following Germany invasion of Poland. How World War 1 did affected Germany Borders were withdrawn cause them to lose territory to some countries to France. E.g.(Alsace-Lorraine) Reich empire dissolve and Kaiser eliminated. They were blamed for the war and was forced to play reparations to others countries for their expense Restrictions on military build up were made New government was built on a shaky foundations(Weimar republic)

Impact of World War 1 on Germanys economy Many persons were left unemployed Infrastructure was demolished by bombs Couldnt pay allies force in sighning the treaty of versallies

Food shortage
Hunger stalked the civilian populations of all the combatant nations. Agriculture and food distribution suffered from strains imposed by the war and naval blockades reduced food imports. Some countries met this threat more successfully than others.

The war took men and horses away from farm work. Imports of nitrate fertilizers were hit. Reduced agricultural output forced up prices and encouraged hoarding. Governments responded by putting price controls on staple foodstuffs

Germany introduced numerous government controls on food production and sale, but these proved to be badly thought out and worsened the effects of the British naval blockade. Substitute foodstuffs were produced from a variety of unappetising ingredients, but their nutritional value was negligible and Germans became increasingly malnourished from 1916 onwards

Germanys campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare was intended to expose France, Italy and, especially, Britain to the same food crisis. These countries relied heavily upon imported grain and viewed the submarine campaign as a deadly threat. They attempted to increase their own food production, but their main success was in introducing successful systems of rationing. Britain introduced rationing in London early in 1918 and extended it nationwide by the summer. British civilians defied German expectations by accepting this state intrusion into their daily lives.
British women keep cheerful while waiting in a long bread line during food rationing. Below: Germans wait patiently in their food line. The ongoing Allied naval blockade kept out the food imports that Germany had come to rely upon in the prewar years to feed its burgeoning population of 70 million. Shortages included butter, margarine, cooking fat, sugar, potatoes, coffee, tea, fruit, and meat due to the lack of sufficient cattle feed. All homegrown foodstuffs went first to Germany's soldiers. The remainder was rationed to the civilian population utilizing coupons allowing the purchase of a particular item on its designated day. This caused food lines as everyone lined up by dawn at the nearby shop to get their ration before the shop ran out. The food situation worsened year-by-year, becoming critical in early 1917 after the entire potato crop failed. Ultimately the food shortage weakened German soldiers fighting on the Western Front, expected to exist on a fraction of the calories, compared to their well-fed enemies.

As the food shortage became critical in Germany, substitute (ersatz) foodstuffs were made available such as those on display in this shop. They include coffee made from chicory, herbs, berries, or other inventive mixtures. There were also substitutes for milk, sugar, bread, eggs, marmalade, cocoa, and chocolate--all of which tasted quite poorly compared to the real thing

Reich empire (Deutsches Reich)

You might also like