Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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the armed forces relied for their weapons, suffered in the last two years of war, cutting staff
numbers and reducing output. 129 Ironically enough, during the "boom years" of 1915 and
1916, when the war had not yet wreaked havoc with supply, a major impediment to
increasing production for factories filling military orders was finding enough adequately
trained staff. As a result, the govermnent used "state of siege" jurisdiction at the borders to
force men with certain skills to remain in the country. It meant that as of 18 October 1915,
qualified miners, engineers, construction workers, smithies, car mechanics, bicycle
repairers, saddlers, bank-tellers, toolmakers, metal workers, shipbuilders and industrial
machinists could not receive a passport or leave the Netherlands. 130 It also helped to keep
workers in the country, who might otherwise depart for well-paid work in German war
industries. This became enough of a concern to the government that it told the Central
Employment Bureau to refuse pennission for Dutch persons to work in Gennan and
Belgian factories, if they thought the workers would be involved in manufacturing military
materials. Likewise, at the borders, military patrols had to apprehend employees of Gennan
and Belgian war industries. 131
By the winter of 191711918, the food and fuel situation in the Netherlands was
serious. The Netherlands economy ground slowly down almost to a halt in the last twelve
months of war. Although not starving, most people were nevertheless hungry and cold. 132
The focus of everyday life became keeping wann and finding enough to eat. 133 People
turned their gardens into vegetable plots, learning to cook with little or no fat on a fire made
from brilcken (bricks of pulped burnable materials) rather than wood or coal. 134 For families
without gardens, some city councils allocated small plots of land for the purpose of growing
vegetables. 135 Fanners looked at alternative sources of fertiliser, including "sea manure"
129 Ibid. pp. 3 - 111. See: press notices of factory closures in scrapbook of miscellaneous articles, section "B" (1917)
in SMG/DC, "Handschrift nr. 135 (11 delen)" 143.
130 Oranjeboek: Overzicht der voornaamste van Juli 1914 tot October 1915 door het lvIinisterie van Buitenlandsche
Zaken behandelde p. 38.
131 Minister of Foreign Affairs to Commander-in-Chief, 3 March 1915, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Star'
entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 178.
132 Buckmann, "Distributiejaren" p. 580; Treub, Herinneringen p. 320.
133 For the effects of the shortages, see: extracts from Miep de Zaaijer's diary in Haags gemeentemuseum, Den Haag
']4 - '18; Morgan, The Fountain; Kruger (ed.), Dejaren1914 - 1918.
134 Kamp, "De kolenvoorziening" p. 32.
135 J. Verseput, "Gevolgen van de gesloten wapenstilstands- en vredesverdragen, welke een einde aan de eerste
wereldoorlog maakten, voor Rotterdam" [Consequences of the armistice and peace treaties, which ended the First
World War, for Rotterdam] Rotterdamsjaarboekje. 8, 1960, p. 228; The Times History of the War Volume 13, p.
208.