Indigestible, disgusting, and vile: the development, regulation, and reception of ersatz food products in Germany during the First World War

Slater, Jonathan Allen (2025) Indigestible, disgusting, and vile: the development, regulation, and reception of ersatz food products in Germany during the First World War. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Abstract

Ersatz (substitute) food products have long played a part in histories of the German food crisis during the First World War. From war bread, to turnips, to watery sausages, these foods have been used by historians to symbolize the desperation of the food crisis, particularly in the later years of the war, often valuing these foods more as anecdotal material than a phenomenon worth studying in their own right. Who was responsible for developing these wartime substitutes, and what nutritional impact did they have on the diet of German consumers? The historical record suggests that these food products were universally despised, using terms like ‘indigestible’, ‘disgusting’, and ‘vile’, but were these products—as a rule—really inferior to the foods they were replacing? Or did contemporary associations with class, culture, and the natural order influence consumers’ perceptions of these much-maligned goods? Furthermore, how did the introduction of these goods affect the course of government food regulations? On all of these points, the historiography is largely silent. This thesis will address that gap by conducting a dedicated study of the role played by ersatz food products during the war, using previously unexamined primary sources to direct a critical lens onto these fascinating substitutes. Rather than being a mere symbol for deprivation, an empirical analysis of ersatz food products reveals how they helped to sustain the nutritional durability of the German home front, yet also eroded public confidence in the government’s regulatory efforts—simultaneously contributing to the survival of consumers while hastening the collapse of their morale. By addressing the research questions above, this thesis argues that ersatz food products were a symptomatic response of a food system under incredible stress, and that by better understanding these substitutes, we can better understand the complex dynamics of the German food crisis itself.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	© 2025 Jonathan Allen Slater
Library of Congress subject classification:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D501 World War I D History General and Old World > DD Germany H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor T Technology > TX Home economics
Sets:	Departments > International History
Supervisor:	Stevenson, David and Motadel, David
URI:	http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/4870

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