This module explores the creation, experience, and social, cultural, and political consequences of the 'home front' in Britain during the Second World War. The notion of the 'People's War' was central to the war effort, a short-hand term for idea that the war was being fought by the people for the people. It enshrined a set of popular and enduring 'myths' of the war: that everyone pulled together, that there were fair shares for all, and that political and social attitudes were transformed in the process of fighting the war. We will examine how this 'mythic' story of the war arose, how it was used to promote the war effort, and how it was experienced and understood by the public.
Central themes of the module will be the extent of popular participation in the war effort, the way the war was experienced differently in terms of class and gender, and the importance of government propaganda. We will examine these themes by analysing a range of sources, from posters and government reports to diaries, paintings and fiction. Weekly topics will include: the evacuation of children at the start of the war; the experience of the 'blitz' on British cities; the importance of rationing and austerity; the gendered construction of citizenship; women's war work; the debates surrounding post-war reconstruction.
Central themes of the module will be the extent of popular participation in the war effort, the way the war was experienced differently in terms of class and gender, and the importance of government propaganda. We will examine these themes by analysing a range of sources, from posters and government reports to diaries, paintings and fiction. Weekly topics will include: the evacuation of children at the start of the war; the experience of the 'blitz' on British cities; the importance of rationing and austerity; the gendered construction of citizenship; women's war work; the debates surrounding post-war reconstruction.