War effort

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During World War II, women had to fill job positions some of which would be male dominated.

In politics and military planning, a war effort refers to a coordinated social mobilization of industrial and human resources towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative size of the armed forces and the society supporting them, the style of government, and the popular support for the military objectives, such war effort can range from a small industry to complete command of society.

Although many societies were retroactively perceived to be engaged in a war effort, the concept was not generally used until the nineteenth century, when the leaders of the French Revolution called for the levee en masse and a general mobilization of society to prevent monarchist forces from reclaiming control of the French government. The concept was subsequently adapted and used by Prussia, Great Britain, and the United States, especially during the First and Second World Wars. The term war effort was coined in conjunction with these efforts.

Civilian rationing: A shopkeeper cancels the coupons in a British housewife's ration book

Although certain societies, especially nomadic raiders and mobile cavalry societies such as the Mongols, specialized in providing war effort-like support for their armies, the idea of a specialized war effort that diverted supplies, means of production, and people to military support came into general use only with the increased specialization of the industrial revolution. Previously, most military supplies were either common elements of the economy (food, clothing, horses, gunpowder) or specialized instruments produced only for war purposes by industries dedicated to the task (mainly weapons and vehicles). Crossover use of peacetime elements of society and economy for wartime uses became important due to scarcity of manpower (due to the large size of armies) and specialized materials used for war production (rubber, aluminum, steel, etc). The complex decisions involved in conversion to wartime use also necessitated organization and a bureaucracy; the term war effort was coined to describe these collective tasks. Implicit in the concept of war effort was that the entire society was expected to contribute in some way; this served the double purpose of improving morale as well as resource conservation.