Previous chapters have ended abruptly with the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. This break is unavoidable. The social effects of the war cannot be denied, especially within a port city. Liverpool's docks saw their share in national imports rise from 25 per cent in the three years before the war to 33 per cent between 1915 and 1920. Thousands of troops poured into camps near the port, raising concerns for the virtue of local girls, and murmurs of the need for a new Contagious Diseases Act. There were demographic changes too. Thousands left the city to fight; 13,500 never returned. As well as these absences, occasional sightings of German submarines less than five miles off the coast and sporadic threats of air raids gave a certain immediacy to local perceptions of war. The loss of the Lusitania, whose sinking caused national outrage, was felt particularly strongly in Liverpool which ‘regarded the ship as its own possession’. One eyewitness, local headmistress Ada McGuire, wrote sadly how ‘the little street at the side of the Cunard offices was filled with a dense mass of people waiting for news [as the] crew belonged almost entirely to Liverpool’. As the extent of the tragedy unfolded, reaction was fierce; German shops were wrecked and individuals hounded and interned for their own safety against a rioting mob of around 3,000.

The unprecedented effect of the First World War on civilians was felt particularly by women. The cost of living rose dramatically, increasing by 25 per cent in the first months of the war. Regional price variations show that Liverpool suffered disproportionately from inflation, with a standard loaf of bread costing twopence more than in Manchester by 1918. Separation allowances, which were paid directly to the families of servicemen, rarely kept pace with rising costs. Moreover, these were paid monthly and retrospectively, a system that brought many working-class women close to destitution in September 1914. Simultaneously many industries supplying luxury consumer goods shut down, forcing thousands of women out of work. On Merseyside, dressmakers and needlewomen watched their usual market evaporate. However, there were also fresh opportunities.