History 1.5

• Maintaining people’s morale during the war was a major challenge for the British Government
• Without morale and hope, victory may not have been attainable
• Maintaining the civilian population's morale was an essential part of the war on the Home Front
• Emergency Powers Defence Act


  Passed in the summer of 1939, it gave the Government the power to create laws without going through Parliament in the interest of the country's safety
• Campaigns launched to help civilians cope with

  • Bombing
  • Rationing
  • Blackouts
  • Evacuation
• Propaganda


  Information, often biased or misleading, designed to persuade people to adopt a particular point of view
• Propaganda during the war

  • Attempted to maintain unity, loyalty and confidence
  • Victories were emphasised
  • Discussion of defeats was kept to a minimum
• Keeping up morale was a major challenge for the British Government
• Without morale and hope, victory may not have been attainable, especially as it needed civilians to help the war effort
• Morale


  The confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline of a person or group at a particular time
• Role of media during the war

  • Censored and controlled by the Ministry of Information
  • Used to ensure morale did not drop
  • Informed people of successes
• Radio broadcasts


  • Spoke of key successes
  • Spread positive messages
  • Preached bravery and determination
• The BBC was an important part of maintaining morale as it was heard in the home via the radio
• Popular radio broadcast


  • Tommy Handley’s, It’s That Man Again
• Cinema's role during the war

  • Promoted the war effort
  • Raised people's spirits
  • Shared victories
• People were shown newsreels before the main feature film which informed them about the events of the war
• Popular and powerful films about the war

  • Went the Day Well?
  • The Day Will Dawn
  • Tomorrow We Live
• Went the Day Well? featured an English village captured by German paratroopers
• The local Home Guard and villagers work together to defeat the invaders in Went the Day Well?
• Keeping up morale was a major challenge for the British Government
• Without morale and hope, victory may not have been attainable
• Importance of maintaining morale during the war

  • Needed civilians to help the war effort
• Propaganda


  Information, often biased or misleading, designed to persuade people to adopt a particular point of view
• The Ministry of Information employed the best artists to produce propaganda posters
• Focus of propaganda posters

  • Bravery
  • Togetherness
  • Bulldog spirit
  • Encouraging men to sign up
  • Encouraging women to work in munitions factories
• By the end of the war, 3,000 people worked in the Ministry of Information
• Posters were cleverly designed to promote the war effort
• Housewives were instructed to 'make do and mend' instead of purchasing new items
• Careful use of food could help defeat Hitler
• Censorship was used to control the messages people saw
• Keeping up morale was a major challenge for the British Government
• Any negatives about the war were kept to a minimum
• Without morale and hope, victory may not have been attainable
• Censorship methods


  • Radio
  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Cinema films
  • Newsreels
• Propaganda


  Information, often biased or misleading, designed to persuade people to adopt a particular point of view
• The Daily Worker, a pro-communist newspaper, was banned due to its negative comments
• Major appeals during the war

  • Dig for Victory
  • Spitfire Fund
• The Government considered censoring the broadcasts of the pro-Nazi William Joyce
• Dig for Victory campaign

  1. Waste less food

  2. Grow own food

  3. Use spare land

  4. Turn flowerbeds into allotments
• William Joyce was called Lord Haw-Haw because of his posh voice