What was the role of women in wwi?
During the great war in 1924-1918), a great amount of women were recruited into jobs that were vacated by the men who had gone to join the war effort. New jobs were also created as part of the war effort (E.g. weaponries in factories). The high requests for weapons resulted in weaponry factories becoming the biggest single employer of women during 1918. Although there were people against women being hired for what was considered as ‘men’s work’, the new instalment of conscription in 1916 made the need for women workers more urgent. Around the same time, the government started coordinating the employment of women through many different campaigns and recruitment drives.
WHAT WAS THE ROLE OF WOMEN THAT STAYED IN THE COUNTRY COMPARED TO WOMEN THAT WENT AWAY TO HELP IN THE WAR? WHAT DID THEY DO?
Women that stayed back in their countries helped the men by working in munition factories making weaponries, farming for food , taking up positions as tram drivers, postmen, window cleaners, bank clerks, and agricultural workers, which was to prove one of the Great War’s most enduring social changes. DID WOMEN HAVE CERTAIN JOBS THAT THEY COULD NOT DO?
Although some men were against women doing ‘men's work’ , women were encouraged to get out the house and help win the war in any way that they could due to more and more man being vacated to join the war effort. This could be sewing clothes, making weapons, farming foods or joining the red cross. |
What was the role of women that stayed in the country compared to women that went away to help in the war? What did they do?
Women that joined in The Red Cross were also helpful in recruiting men who had not joined the war, they sacrificed their lives to be out in the war zone and helping gather injured troops to safety. Women also went overseas as members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment of the Red Cross. Volunteering brought them out of the house and into the public. Women had no trouble filling the gaps left by men who went to war. The Red Cross continued to encourage many women to join the Red Cross by saying “It’s the patriotic duty of every man, woman, and child to join the Red Cross. Why wait to be asked? Be a volunteer.
SOURCE ANALYSIS
These sources are secondary sources but they are reliable because they are all from educational websites that are historically acurate. It also makes them reliable because they are corroberated by other different sourcess |