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Germany 1919–45

The home front: rationing, bombing, labour and morale

  • 3 things to know
  • AS Unit 1

Overview

When rationing began in Germany, development of Allied bombing of Germany and overall human cost of the bombing.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Numbers

State when rationing began in Germany.

Key term

Why did German rations stay tolerable until late in the war?

Numbers

What happened to food supply in the last year of the war?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    State when rationing began in Germany.

    Model answer

    Food rationing was introduced in late August 1939, before the invasion of Poland, and clothing, soap and coal followed within months.

  2. 2

    Why did German rations stay tolerable until late in the war?

    Model answer

    Germany systematically stripped the occupied countries of food and raw materials, so German civilians were fed at the expense of the populations of Poland, the Soviet Union and the west.

  3. 3

    What happened to food supply in the last year of the war?

    Model answer

    Rations were cut sharply as transport collapsed and the occupied territories were lost, and by 1945 many Germans depended on the black market and on what they could grow or barter.

  4. 4

    Describe the development of Allied bombing of Germany.

    Model answer

    British area bombing of cities began in earnest in 1942 with raids on Lübeck and Cologne, American daylight attacks on industry followed, and by 1944 the two air forces could strike almost anywhere in Germany.

  5. 5

    What happened at Hamburg in July 1943?

    Model answer

    A week of heavy raids created a firestorm that destroyed much of the city and killed some forty thousand people, and hundreds of thousands fled into the countryside.

  6. 6

    State the overall human cost of the bombing.

    Model answer

    Around four hundred thousand German civilians were killed by bombing and about seven and a half million were made homeless.

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Every question in Germany 1919–45, on a schedule.

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