WW2: On the Homefront

In this first episode of On the Homefront, Anna tells you about division of labour, food production and rationing in the early years of the war.

Now that the labour-needs and the availability of manpower has changed due to the outbreak of World War Two, Women are required to join the workforce. They're put to work in the Women's Land Army.

The European powers may be at war but there's now thing they can agree on: their young must be protected. So, before the first RAF or Luftwaffe bombs were even dropped on cities, countries are drawing up plans to save as many lives of their youth as they possibly can.

The future looks bright for soviet women in the 1910s, they have the right to vote and they're on track for social emancipation. Yet this doesn't last long. Soon, the demands of the nation will rob them of these promises.

When WWII breaks out many parts of the world are still missing population wide healthcare. The pressure of the war deteriorates healthcare services even further. By 1941, both the British Commonwealth and Germany are facing an outright healthcare crisis on the home front.

While battles rage across the world, women at home are fighting for their basic emancipation. In Egypt, Huda Shaarawi stands at the centre of this struggle.

The geisha class has long been a feature of Japanese society. In the 1920s, they were caught between the struggle for women's liberation and the rising sexual demand of powerful men. This crossfire only becomes more intense as war sweeps the Pacific.

Patriotism and war enthusiasm sweeps through the totalitarian countries in the run-up to the second world war. This doesn´t leave out children either, who are supposed to become the prime soldiers of the future.

What would happen if Nazi Germany invaded Canada? You don't need to imagine. In 1942, the government of Mackenzie King launch a propaganda effort that simulates Canada falling under Hitler's yoke. Why? For the war economy of course!

With the scarce food supply brought about by war, many turn to the black market and its astronomic prices as supplements. It is a place for opportunists and patriotic protesters, but mainly it's a means to survive.

With the ascent of the radio, popular music became an important cultural phenomenon for the masses throughout the world. Therefore, it is the perfect mouthpiece for Allied war propaganda during the Second World War.

With men away at the front, couples have to separate and manage the struggle of war on their own. For women, who stay at home, this is not any easier than for the man: Worry, longing, loneliness, meaningless sex, the temptation of falling in love with others – it is an emotional rollercoaster.

In predicament due to the extreme situation of war, people are in dire need for a working system of social security. Therefore, Beveridge is instructed by the British government to draw up a report on the state of the country´s insurance schemes. But in his opinion, a war is no time for patching up a collapsing system – and he is ready to make some waves.

With high losses of German soldiers and low birth rates, the Nazis worry about who will inherit the Nazi paradise they are fighting to build. One of their ideas to breed a new Aryan generation is the Lebensborn association.

Right from the start of World War Two, there has been little distinction between combatant and civilian. While bombs keep falling, people in Great Britain and in Germany are sitting in bunkers, basements and underground tunnels. We are taking a look at live inside those shelters.

With American men going off to fight the war, there are concerns about a labor shortage. Enter Rosie the Riveter. The women who answered the "We Can Do It" call and entered the factories. But did she really exist?

How do you motivate men to leave home and go fight in a foreign land? Send them packing with Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth, and Irene Manning, of course! It helps if you include an Esquire magazine and girlie cartoons from the infamous Alberto Vargas.

The Nazis love to spread the myth that they have transformed the German capital from a city of sin, unemployment, and Marxist street violence to the centre of a glorious new Reich. But the reality is that right now, Berliners are trapped between the Allied bombing and the Nazi regime's tightening grip. And yet, the men and women of Berlin continue to support this war. For them, it's a war of survival.

Occupied Paris, a paradoxical city of banality and brutality, of resistance and collaboration. Join Anna as she takes you on a tour of the city from occupation, the establishment of the Pétain regime and collaboration, the growth of resistance, and finally liberation. But the story doesn't end there and into the 21st century, the city of lights is haunted by its occupation.