<P> The Allies had much more potential wealth they could spend on the war . One estimate (using 1913 US dollars) is that no Allies spent $147 billion on the war and the Central Powers only $61 billion . Among the Allies, Britain and its Empire spent $47 billion and the U.S. $27 billion (America joined AFTER the war started) while among the Central Powers, Germany spent $45 billion . </P> <P> Total war demanded total mobilization of all the nation's resources for a common goal . Manpower had to be channeled into the front lines (all the powers except the United States and Britain had large trained reserves designed just for that). Behind the lines labor power had to be redirected away from less necessary activities that were luxuries during a total war . In particular, vast munitions industries had to be built up to provide shells, guns, warships, uniforms, airplanes, and a hundred other weapons both old and new . Agriculture had to be mobilized as well, to provide food for both civilians and for soldiers (many of whom had been farmers and needed to be replaced by old men, boys and women) and for horses to move supplies . Transportation in general was a challenge, especially when Britain and Germany each tried to intercept merchant ships headed for the enemy . Finance was a special challenge . Germany financed the Central Powers . Britain financed the Allies until 1916, when it ran out of money and had to borrow from the United States . The U.S. took over the financing of the Allies in 1917 with loans that it insisted be repaid after the war . The victorious Allies looked to defeated Germany in 1919 to pay reparations that would cover some of their costs . Above all, it was essential to conduct the mobilization in such a way that the short term confidence of the people was maintained, the long - term power of the political establishment was upheld, and the long - term economic health of the nation was preserved . </P> <P> Gross domestic product (GDP) increased for three Allies (Britain, Italy, and U.S.), but decreased in France and Russia, in neutral Netherlands, and in the three main Central Powers . The shrinkage in GDP in Austria, Russia, France, and the Ottoman Empire reached 30 to 40% . In Austria, for example, most pigs were slaughtered, so at war's end there was no meat . </P> <P> The Western Front quickly stabilized, with almost no movement of more than a few hundred yards . The greatest single expenditure on both sides was for artillery shells, the chief weapon in the war . Since the front was highly stable, both sides built elaborate railway networks that brought supplies within a mile or two of the front lines, with horse - drawn wagons used for the final deliveries . In the ten - month battle at Verdun, the French and Germans fired some 10 million shells in all, weighing 1.4 million tons of steel . </P>

Explain the impact of first world war on british company