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United Kingdom home front during World War II

The United Kingdom home front during World War II covers the political, social and economic history during 1939–1945.

WW2 Britain

The war was expensive and financed through high taxes, selling off assets, and accepting large amounts of Lend Lease from the US and Canada. The US provided $30 billion in munitions, while Canada also contributed aid. American and Canadian aid did not have to be repaid, but there were also American loans that were repaid.[1]


Britain’s total mobilisation during this period proved successful in winning the war by maintaining strong public support. The media dubbed it a “people’s war,” which caught on and signified the popular demand for planning and an expanded welfare state.[2][3] By 1945, the Post-war consensus emerged, delivering a welfare state.[4] The Royal family played major symbolic roles during the war. They refused to leave London during the Blitz and visited troops, munition factories, dockyards, and hospitals all over the country.[5]


The British relied successfully on voluntary labour. Munitions production rose dramatically while maintaining high quality. Food production was emphasised to free shipping for munitions. Farmers increased the area under cultivation from 12 million to 18 million acres (from about 50,000 to 75,000 km2), and the farm labour force expanded by a fifth, thanks to the Women's Land Army.[6]

Timeline of the United Kingdom home front during World War II

Military history of the United Kingdom during World War II

London in World War II

Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)

History of the United Kingdom during the First World War

United States home front during World War II

Diplomatic history of World War II

Addison, Paul. "The Impact of the Second World War," in Paul Addison and Harriet Jones, eds. A Companion to Contemporary Britain: 1939-2000 (2005) pp 3–22.

Allport, Alan. Britain at Bay: The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938–1941 (2020)

Calder, Angus . (1969), highly influential survey; online review

The People's War: Britain 1939-45

Field, Geoffrey G. (2011) Blood, Sweat, and Toil: Remaking the British Working Class, 1939-1945 DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604111.001.0001 online

Gardiner, Juliet. (2004) Wartime: Britain 1939–1945 782pp; comprehensive social history

Levine, Joshua. The Secret History of the Blitz (2015).

Marwick, Arthur. The Home Front: The British and the Second World War. (1976).

Overy, Richard. Britain at War: From the Invasion of Poland to the Surrender of Japan: 1939–1945 (2011).

Overy, Richard, ed. What Britain Has Done: September 1939 - 1945 a Selection of Outstanding Facts and Figures (2007)

Taylor, A. J. P. English History 1914-1945 (1965) pp 439–601.

Todman, David. Britain's War: 1937-1941 (vol 1, Oxford UP, 2016); 828pp; comprehensive coverage of home front, military, and diplomatic developments;

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