Why did rationing continue in the UK for 9 years after the war ended?

Question

The war ended in 1945 but rationing lasted until 1954!

Even after the war bread and potatoes went on the ration.

Why?

Answer 1

WIth limited supplies rationing is the only way to ensure everybody has access to the food thats available



(and as already said winter 1946-47 was the worst winter on record.)



Without rationing the rich buy what they want leaving very little for those less well off, and virtually the scraps for the poor. Historically this is a good way to trigger a revolution, especially with a lot of highly trained soldiers coming back from a war



Funny think is-

During the war and afterwards the general population of the UK was far healthier than they were before the war. Rationing gave everybody the same access to a variety of foods giving them a far healthier diet



the other thing is



goverments dont pay for food - people do



Problem with the UK was the balance of payments - Continue with this at a high deficit then the country runs out of money unless it can borrow some, and THAT leads to high inflation and/or devaluation



The UK devalued the £ by 30% in 1949 , and so did 9 other countries.

Answer 2

The UK was broke by the time the US entered WW2, but FDR invented "lease lend" to keep Britain in the war. The moment the war ended, Truman ended lease lend and the country had to take out an enormous loan from the US just to survive. Given 20-20 hindsight, the UK should never have entered WW1, let alone WW2, and if she had entered, should have accepted German peace offers in 1916 rather than fight on in the hope the US would enter the First War. Even now the UK has a huge balance of payments deficit, far far more serious than its budget deficit (which can always be abolished by printing money).

Answer 3

Britain maintained a sizable military even when WW2 ended - the British troops in the British Occupation Zones in Germany and Austria,plus military commitments in its empire,which Britain still retained in whole in 1945.



Food resources had to be put aside for the military first,and this meant rationing had to continue. Further,Britain was just about bankrupt,so the government had no money to pay for increased food imports - another reasoning rationing had to continue.Additionally,the new Labour government had got elected on the back of promises of big social reforms,so government money was being spent on those rather than food imports.



There were also climatic reasons.Heavy rain in 1946 ruined the wheat crop,and a particularly severe 1946/47 Winter destroyed potato stocks,froze vegetables in the ground, and killed 25% of sheep in Britain.



Ideas that "food was sent to other parts of Europe" or that "the government was trying to save money to pay off their war debts" are entirely incorrect - Britain had NO food to spare for other Europeans,and NO money to spare,as what was available was being spent on social reforms (see above).



If there had have been any spare food or money,Britain would NOT have needed almost $3.3 billion in Marshall Aid between 1948 and 1951 - more than any other European country,and twice as much as West Germany received and 50% more than France (the next 2 biggest recipients).

Answer 4

Food was sent to other parts of Europe which were in worse condition and the government was trying to save money to pay off their war debts.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rationing_in_the_United_Kingdom#Post-World_War_II

http://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s50s-rationing-shortages-post-war.htm

Answer 5

War is expensive and Britain was out of money.

Answer 6

we had an empire to look after we went into debit so ensure that did Not fail it took us 5 years and Millions of Pounds to prepare India for independence



we had to build the BOAR from may 1945 in Germany we lost our main oil supplier Iran in 1945 and became Just another Customer



we had to Bring home over 200,000 POWS from all over the world we needed fuel for the RAF and Royal Navy we needed to rebuild the Military Plus demob those that served and every demobbed serviceman got his Demob Bundle Suite Shirts socks shoes hats ties underwear so Rationing was a Great option it prevented demand which we could spread over europe we helped Holland Belgium Germany and Most of the empire all with the help of Canada Australia



South Africa and NZ we had Protectorates in the Middle east we were Obliged to feed and House



in 1948 we decided Israel was a Burden and allowed the UN to decide and before Rationing ended in the UK i was eating Jaffa Oranges and Bananas from Israel and before the end of rationing eating Australian cheese Lamb beef NZ lamb and dairy produce



remember we Not Only won the war we helped Europe win the Peace



when i was In Borneo we were eating Military rations packed in 1943 /44 /45 /46



remember in 1939 we imported about 70 % of our Food and our suppliers needed time to Rebuild their Countries for peace Customers the Canadians all 11.2 Million went over to a full war based Economy to supply us in europe with everything we needed to win WW2



takes time to convert to a peace time Economy and they had rationing if i remember the last thing Not Rationed was fuel this gave Shell / BP time to rebuild Destroyed Oil Fields in the Middle east





At the start of the Second World War in 1939 the United Kingdom imported 20 million long tons (20 Mt) of food per year (70%), including more than 50% of its meat, 70% of its cheese and sugar, nearly 80% of fruits and about 70% of cereals and fats. The civilian population was about 50 million.



It was one of the principal strategies of the Germans to attack shipping bound for Britain, restricting British industry and potentially starving the nation into submission.



Mid-1946: Continual rain ruined Britain's wheat crop. Bread rationing started.

January–March 1947: Winter of 1946–1947 in the United Kingdom: long hard frost and deep snow. Frost destroyed a huge amount of stored potatoes. Potato rationing started.



Mid-1947: A transport and dock strike, which among other effects caused much loss of imported meat left to rot on the docks, until the Army broke the strike. The basic petrol ration was stopped



1 June 1948: The Motor Spirit (Regulation) Act 1948 was passed, ordering a red dye to be to put into some petrol, and that red petrol was only allowed to be used in commercial vehicles. A private car driver could lose his driving licence for a year if red petrol was found in his car. A petrol station could be shut down if it sold red petrol to a private car driver. See List of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 1940–1959: 1948.

June 1948: The basic petrol ration was restored, at a third of its previous size.



1948: Bread came off ration.



May 1949: Clothes rationing ended, according to one author because attempts to enforce it were defeated by continual massive illegality (black market, unofficial trade in loose clothing coupons (many forged), bulk thefts of unissued clothes ration books).



23 February 1950: The 1950 general election is fought largely on the issue of rationing. The Conservative Party campaigned on a manifesto of ending rationing as quickly as possible.[2] The Labour Party argued for the continuation of rationing indefinitely. Labour was returned, but with its majority badly slashed.



26 May 1950: Petrol rationing ended



25 October 1951The Conservatives came back into power.



February 1953: Confectionery rationing ended.



September 1953: Sugar rationing ended.



4 July 1954: Meat and all other food rationing ended in Britain.

Although rationing formally ended in 1954, cheese production remained depressed for decades afterwards.

During rationing, most milk in Britain was used to make one kind of cheese, nicknamed "Government Cheddar" (not to be confused with the "government cheese" issued by the US welfare system).



This wiped out nearly all other cheese production in the country, and some indigenous varieties of cheese almost disappeared. Later government controls on milk prices through the Milk Marketing Board continued to discourage production of other varieties of cheese until well into the 1980

Answer 7

There were still food shortages