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Blockading Britain and Germany during World War 1: Preparations, conduct and consequences of Economic Warfare

Author

Listed:
  • Broadberry, Stephen

    (Nuffield College, Oxford)

  • Vonyó, Tamás

    (Bocconi University)

Abstract

A pre-war policy of free trade in Britain and protection in Germany meant that Britain entered the war producing 35 per cent of its food needs while Germany produced 80 per cent. And yet Britain managed to feed itself adequately while Germany faced food shortages. Britain successfully adopted a range of counter-measures, exhibiting a capacity for substitution, allowing the economy to be flexible enough to survive the German blockade. The blockade accounted for at most around a quarter of the decline in German food consumption, which was largely the result of a collapse in domestic production caused by excessive mobilisation. German counter-measures were sometimes successful, but at other times indicate a less flexible economy with a limited capacity for substitution. The British government quickly reversed wartime policies to boost agricultural production and entered World War 2 equally vulnerable to submarine blockade, while Germany pursued autarkic policies to avoid dependence on seaborne imports.

Suggested Citation

  • Broadberry, Stephen & Vonyó, Tamás, 2025. "Blockading Britain and Germany during World War 1: Preparations, conduct and consequences of Economic Warfare," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 750, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
  • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:750
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    File URL: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/centres/cage/manage/publications/wp750.2025.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blum, Matthias, 2011. "Government decisions before and during the First World War and the living standards in Germany during a drastic natural experiment," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 556-567.
    2. Marrison, Andrew, 1996. "British Business and Protection 1903-1932," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198202981.
    3. Feinstein, Charles H. & Temin, Peter & Toniolo, Gianni, 1997. "The European Economy Between the Wars," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198774815.
    4. Webb, Steven B., 1982. "Agricultural Protection in Wilhelminian Germany: Forging an Empire with Pork and Rye," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(2), pages 309-326, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour productivity; sectoral disaggregation; international comparison JEL Classification: N10; N30; O47; O57;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N10 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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