One interpretation shows that women benefited politically from the war after the end of WW1. Source A1, highlights how WW1 impacted both women as a whole, as well as the Suffrage movement, by showing that they were a crucial part in Britain's success in the war. The source shows an extract from the BBC Website in 2008, states how women benefited from the war, both politically, and in terms of equality, as shown in February 1918, where they receive the right to vote, in the "Representation of People Act" (exclusive only women over 30), which led to 8 million women being eligible to vote by 1918, showing female advancement in politics. The source is also accurate in saying that role of women was significant during WW1 (60% of all shells were …show more content…
Additionally, the source is published in 2008, meaning that the source has hindsight, and it had access to multiple historical records, so it can therefore make a long-term and well-informed view. The source was written to inform and it was intended to be as reliable as possible, making it trustworthy as it has no reason to be bias. The source is very useful in showing that the women played a huge role in WW1 and is useful in showing that women made political advancement as a result of WW1. However, the source was written for GCSE students, so it may come across as unspecific and lacking in detail, as it may have been simplified in an attempt to tailor to their target reader, making it slightly less useful to us as a historian, because of the lack of in-depth detail. In spite of these obvious flaws, this source is still useful in showing that WW1 impacted women politically, and in showing that the general perception of women …show more content…
This is supported by Source A6 which depicts women to be a lot more wealthier and more economically able. The source shows an extract from a book called "Voices and Images of the Great War", which recalls an account from H.V Shawyer, saying how women were able to "spend a night in the pub", an action, which would have previously been to be unusual. Shawyer further recounts how women were also paid in a "roll of notes", which shows that women were earning far more than they used to. This is reinforced by figures showing that some women earned 20 shillings a day (£1 a day) compared to a corporal, who earned around 2 shillings a day. Furthermore, women were often seen to be outside, socialising , which wasn't the norm, therefore supporting the source in saying women gained more social freedom. However, there is some questionability, as to the reliability of the source, because of the fact that it is a memory from H.V. Shawyer, a man, who could pose a biased view on women and may exaggerate some details due to jealousy, making it inaccurate and unreliable. Furthermore, the source is written in 1990, 72 years after the war, which could mean some of the details may have been inaccurate because the memory may have been distorted over time, making it unreliable as he may have exaggerated aspects of the account to compensate for parts he couldn't remember that
One of the most important roles that women played, were the increasing large amount of female soldiers fighting in the war. These roles gave women the right to work and serve in armed forces. The jobs that women took part in during this time period made a huge difference in the war, and in turn, WW2 helped expand women’s
Women Before, During and After World War One 1. Pre war women did have working opportunities though very little compared to men, as they were seen as weaker and that their place was in the "home". Their employment was limited to the domestic service (cleaning or working as a servant) and secretarial work and not manual labour in factories or working class women often worked in the textiles industry.
Did WWI open the door for the role of women in society? With women eager to support their men in uniform, they quickly began to fill in the gaps of employment that were previously filled by men. These jobs included positions such as, “bank tellers, bus and ambulance drivers; factory
The structure of workforce changed, all out war effort and lack of working age male in factories brought women into factories across Europe in incomparable way. Thousands of women worked with the army as nurses and ambulance drivers, with nominal supplies and harsh condition of the front line, they helped wounded soldiers and provided some solace to the dying. Propaganda Picture by E.V. Kealy, P-524, on its poster says “Women of Britain say-GO” I think which means that all the men can go to the war and fight for the nation, while women are taking care of the house. War had changed role women were assigned to but they were refusing to go back to their old Victorian traditional role and challenged the gender status quo of the women after the war which completely changed the patriarchal European states, and American society as
Women's participation during World War II has had significant results throughout history. It has lead to economic advancement for them specifically after the post war Baby Boom period. The research is filling practical information about the advanced affects woman had on their family income during this time. To get my results I analyzed ten sources and read through each one and found important quotes and details in each. As a result of this I learned that after World War II this was the beginning where woman had a large impact on the economics in their households. One major causes of the U.S. postwar baby boom was the increased demand for female labor during World War II. The effect of the war on female employment was not only large, but also
The Great War, or World War I, lasted from 1914 to 1918. This was a time of “total war.” While there was fighting, there was also struggles at home. Those who did not go to fight for the country, had to stay home to keep everyday life going. Women especially had to help ration food, work, and keep track of their own lives. The soldiers may have endured harsh conditions but those at home also experienced the war from a different perspective. The different effects of the war on the home fronts include enthusiasm, anger, and women’s rights.
Through the war effort, women solidified their place in society as capable and responsible citizens by working jobs they had never worked before, managing finances and other aspects of home life, and entering the war as soldiers who helped wage against the Axis powers. Women proved for the first time that they were more than just housewives who could sometimes work in factories when the nation was in trouble. General Eisenhower said that “The contribution of the women of America, whether on the farm or in the factory or in uniform, to D-Day was a sine qua non (essential part) of the invasion effort”.1 Some of these women even served as nurses on the front lines and lost their lives defending our soldiers.
However, after the Military Service Act was passed and men were beginning to leave to fight overseas, there was a shortage of men for the workplace. This helped women to integrate into the workforce and transform social norms of traditional women responibilites. Women played a key role in the war efforts by working as farmers, bankers, bus drivers, police officer and working in munitions factories. In fact, 30000 worked in a munitions factory, 1000 for the royal air force and 6000 in the civil services. They also united to start a suffragist movement to fight for their rights to vote, fair wages and gender equality. Eventually, women almost had all rights as men would and they were allowed to do as they wish without anyone's
In 1918 at the final stages of the war, there were at least 1 million more people working than at the commencement of the war. Women would undoubtedly have an enormous impact on the outcome of the war, which may have convinced the Government into the thinking that giving women the vote, was not an outrageous proposal. The women also worked as nurses in the red cross centes, which were set up just after the beginnin of the war. There were also hospitality organisations set up for the attained of the Belgians to England. The women also worked in munitions in the war, but before the war the women wouldn't have been allowed anywhere near weapons, because the Government thought that women weren't to be trusted.
Women served an important role in WWII. They not only took the challenge and stepped up to take the places of the men off fighting in the war to work in factories, but they also fought side by side with those risking their lives and fighting for their country. They were needed everywhere during the war. There were an unbelievable amount of job opportunities for women during the war and many supported the brave acts of voluntary enlistment. “‘A woman’s place is in the home’ was an old adage, but it still held true at the start of World War II. Even though millions of women worked, home and family we considered the focus of their lives” says Brenda Ralf Lewis. Without the help of those women who were brave enough to
When the war was over most of the women left, or were forced to leave, the paid employment which they had taken. Despite this the war had brought a significant change to their life's. They began to do things the normally had never done before such as wear trousers and smoke in public. After the second world war their daughter proved to be much tougher to remove from their jobs.
As more men entered the armed forces, women needed to replace them. By the war's end, hundreds of thousands of women had entered the workforce, many of them in traditionally masculine occupations such as engineering, munitions, transport, business, and eventually even the military. The war produced a leap in women's employment from twenty-six percent in the workforce in 1914 to thirty-six percent by 1918. One million women worked in munition industries, forty-thousand served as nurses, and twenty-thousand joined the Women's Land Army as agricultural workers (Marwick, 1977). For the young and the middle-class, work outside their homes was indeed a new experience. On the other hand, working-class women were used to paid work, but the type of work was new. Many left low-skill, low-wage jobs, especially in domestic service, for better paying skilled labor in factories and workshops (Kent, 1993).
World War I made a colossal impact on all aspects of human life and almost everyone in Europe was affected by this impact to different degrees as a consequence. One group in particular, most often illustrated as a real turning point, largely in enfranchisement and employment, were women.
Millions of women before 1914 had taken over jobs that men had already stereotypically done. For example, some women had newer occupations such as typists, telephonists and shop workers. A small number of women were already attending university and entering careers such as medicine and teaching. The war just accelerated this. The concept of the war, meant that women were needed, both in larger numbers and also new kinds of work.
Women played an important role in allowing the U.S. to improve its GNP before their entrance into WWI. Many women wanted to help the cause overseas, but they were not