ABSTRACT
While the war was felt most keenly by those engaged in its prosecution—the military at the sharp end of the conflict—the war impacted on the wider world in a host of other ways. Indeed, as the war progressed, virtually the whole society of the respective participants became involved and the distinction between combatant and non-combatant become less clear: the munitions worker was arguably as central to the successful conduct of the war as the soldier who used their product. Many of the changes wrought by the war years would not dissipate with the end of the fighting, but would remain part of the permanent fabric of society. In this respect, as well as in the political/military sphere, the war’s impact was enormous.
