Today marked 100 years since our country entered what was to be known as the first world war. In the context of that you might find the following interesting, and perhaps even surprising. I am grateful to Wikipedia for a number of the facts contained therein. The UK economy grew about 14% from 1914 to 1918 despite the absence of so many men in the services; by contrast the German economy shrank 27%. The War saw a decline of civilian consumption, with a major reallocation to munitions. The government share of GDP soared from 8% in 1913 to 38% in 1918 (it was 50% in 1943). Despite fears in 1916 that munitions production was lagging, the output was more than adequate. The annual output of artillery grew from 91 guns in 1914 to 8,039 in 1918. Warplanes went from 200 in 1914 to 32,000 while the production of machine guns increased from 300 to 121,000. By 1916, Britain was funding most of the Empires war expenditures, all of Italys and two thirds of the war costs of France and Russia, as well as other smaller nations. The Gold reserves, overseas investments and private credit then ran out, forcing Britain to borrow $4 billion from the U.S. in 1917–18. Shipments of American raw materials and food allowed Britain to feed itself and its army while maintaining her productivity. The financing was generally successful, as the Citys strong financial position minimized the damaging effects of inflation, as opposed to much worse conditions in Germany. Overall consumer consumption declined 18% from 1914 to 1919. Trade unions grew from 4.1 million in 1914 to 6.5 million, peaking at 8.3 million in 1920 before falling to 5.4 million in 1923. Women were available, and many entered munitions factories and took other home front jobs vacated by men. Energy was a critical factor for the British war effort. Most of the energy supplies came from coal mines in Britain. Critical was the flow of oil for ships, lorries and industrial use. As there were no oil wells in Britain everything was imported. The U.S. produced two-thirds of the worlds oil. In 1917, total British consumption was 827 million barrels, of which 85 percent was supplied by the US and 6% by Mexico.The great issue in 1917 was how many tankers would survive the German u-boats. Convoys and the construction of new tankers solved the German threat, while tight government controls guaranteed that all essential needs were covered. An Inter-Allied Petroleum Conference allocated American supplies to Britain, France and Italy. Fuel oil for the Royal Navy was the highest priority. In 1917, the Royal Navy consumed 12,500 tons a month, but had a supply of 30,000 tons a month from British Petroleum, using BPs oil wells in Persia.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Aug 2014 15:52:59 +0000
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