How were civilians affected by the World

Wars?
• Learning objectives:
• All of you will be able to explain how the lives of civilians were changed by the First
and Second World Wars
• Some of you could assess the impact of government intervention upon the war
effort

• Starter activity- In pairs produce definitions for Censorship, Propaganda, Civilians,

and Total war

• Stick in your timeline and the fact sheet about DORA (Defence of the Realm Act)
• Highlight the following themes:
• Role of Women, Examples of censorship, Examples of Government control (e.g
industry / rationing/ changes in the law,) Examples of the use of the Media
(propaganda and recruitment, )
 Key words
• Propaganda: limited one sided information to persuade people to
follow certain ideas e.g WW1 recruitment posters OR WW2 to keep
morale up during the blitz

• Censorship: The government controls the spread of all information.

Eg WW2 the media, letters home (WW1)

• Civilian: someone not on active service in the armed forces (e.g at

home during WW1/WW2)

• Total War: Unlimited warfare fought using all possible/available

resources (e.g everyone is involved in the war effort)