ABSTRACT

Arming the Western Front resulted in the transformation of Britain from a maritime to a military power. The industrial war economy did successfully arm the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) with the materials of war on the Western Front, the state did provide the necessary institutional framework that enabled the mobilisation of industry for war purposes, and it transformed the industrial landscape of the nation. Lloyd George was the leader who had the vision, drive and intent to focus most directly on the imperative of mobilising the home front for industrial war. Labour was essential to the effective working of the war economy, and, as the war progressed, the struggle over the allocation of manpower between the military and domestic fronts became more intense. The industrial war economy was sufficiently organised to supply the BEF with the materials it needed to inflict a series of defeats on the German army from the summer of 1918.