Effects of World Wars I and II on the role and status of women

Progress in women's rights before World War I

- Married women had obtained property rights in the 19th century in places like the UK and USA.- Men were no longer legally allowed to beat their wives in places like the USA and the UK.- Divorce was available in most Protestant countries, although it was easier for men to obtain divorces than for women. For instance, men could divorce their wives for adultery, but women could usually only divorce their husbands if they could prove cruelty, incest or rape. Also, if a woman was deemed to be at fault in the divorce, she would not receive alimony.- Women could vote in Norway, Finland, New Zealand and part of Australia. Several other places allowed women to vote in local elections, but not at the national level.

Evidence that the expansion of women's suffrage was not due to World War I

- Much of the credit must go the the pre-war suffrage movements.- Women could vote before the war in Norway, Finland, New Zealand and part of Australia. Several other places allowed women to vote in local elections, but not at the national level.- The Netherlands was neutral in WWI, but they also granted women's suffrage in 1919, suggesting the war was not he only factor.- In several countries the war brought parties to power that had long endorsed women's suffrage. Therefore suffrage for women was part of a platform, not a single issue: i.e. Ebert in Germany and Lloyd George in the UK.- In France, women didn't get the vote until 1944, although French women had given more than most.

Evidence that the expansion of women's suffrage was due to World War I

- The demands of war caused everyone in combatant countries to acknowledge the vital role of women. Propaganda reinforced this message, subtly encouraging support for votes for women.- Women in most countries involved in the war received the vote shortly after the war.- In Canada, the vote was given to women who were wives or mothers of serving soldiers in 1917 in order to bolster support for a conscription law. It was a natural progression to expand the franchise to all women after the war.- There is a direct link between the war and the Russian Revolution and the German Revolution, which brought about women's suffrage.

Effects of World War I on women's clothing

- The need to save material as well as the need for more practical clothing led to shorter women's dresses after the war.- Before the war, it had been considered scandalous for grown women to show their ankles.

Problems faced by women before World War I

- Women were paid much less than men for comparable, or even identical work.- Women were barred from many jobs and professions and supervisory roles were usually reserved for men.- Many school districts would not employ married female teachers. British nurses had to leave the profession when they married until the 1950s.- It was easier for men to obtain divorces than for women. For instance, men could divorce their wives for adultery, but women could usually only divorce their husbands if they could prove cruelty, incest or rape. Also, if a woman was deemed to be at fault in the divorce, she would not receive alimony.- Only four countries allowed women to vote: New Zealand, Finland, Norway and part of Australia, and women were barred from holding public office in most of these places.

Ongoing problems with the role and status of women in the USSR

-There remained a "glass ceiling" as in most countries.-Jobs traditionally considered "men's work" were still paid more than traditionally female jobs, resulting in a persistent wage gap for women, although women and men did at least get the same pay for identical work.-Women were still expected to do the cooking, housework and child care. This was particularly tough in the USSR because industry was prioritized over housing and consumer goods, and there were chronic shortages of food and other necessities. Even in 1953, 2/3 of Russian households had no running water and only 3% had hot water.

Number of civilians who starved to death in Leningrad during World War II

1 million

% female fighters in the Warsaw Uprising

10%

Number of calories allocated in rations for Jews living in German-occupied Poland

184

Countries that passed women's suffrage shortly after World War I

1917: Canada granted the vote to wives and mothers of serving soldiers in a rather flagrant move to get a conscription bill passed. The Russian Provisional Government granted women's suffrage after the March Revolution. This was continued by the Bolsheviks after the November Revolution. 1918: Austria Germany Poland UK (women over 30- equal terms in 1928) Canada (all white women) 1919: Luxembourg Netherlands 1920: Albania Czechoslavakia USA

The US Equal Pay Act was finally passed in this year.

1963

The UK Equal Pay Act was finally passed in this year.

1970

Number of people in British-ruled India who starved to death in the Bengal famine

2.1 million

Proportion of World War II deaths that were civilians

2/3

% of US factory workers who were women by 1918

20%

Number of female snipers in the USSR during WWII

2000 (This is not the answer to the number of calories needed by the average adult)

Number of calories needed to maintain the health of an average adult.

2000 (This is not the answer to the number of female snipers in the USSR during the war.)

% of factory workers who were female in Germany before WWI

22%

% of British women employed outside the home before World War I

23.4% (excluding domestic servants) 3.3 million in industry.

% of the US workforce that was female before WWII

24%

Number of calories allocated in rations for Germans living in German-occupied Poland

2613

% of the US workforce that was female after WWII

28%

% of factory workers who were female in Germany during WWI

33%

% of the US workforce that was female by 1945

37%

Number of Soviet Citizens who starved to death under German occupation during World War II

4.2 million

Number of calories allocated in rations for Poles living in German-occupied Poland

699

Women's Employment between World Wars I and II

Although most women who entered the "male" sectors of the workforce in World War I either left the workforce altogether or returned to "female" sectors after the war, women's overall employment in most countries increased steadily in the inter-war years. Even in Nazi Germany, when women were barred from most good jobs and pay for "female" jobs was cut to half of the average man's wage, women's employment increased. Female workers were also less affected by the Depression than male workers, with the result that many women took on additional burdens to help support the family when husbands were thrown out of work.

Effects of World War I on Women's Employment

At first, everyone expected the war to be over quickly, so this actually fell as consumer industries were sidelined in favour of war-related industries. At the same time, many family incomes fell as men were called up and women had to subsist on meager government allowances. It took until 1915 for women to be hired in significant numbers in non-traditional jobs. Of course, women's participation in teaching, nursing, clerical work and other jobs that had been open to both genders expanded almost immediately. Some women from rich families who would previously not have been encouraged to work moved into these professions. Working women also moved into jobs that had traditionally been done by men within their own factories. For instance, women began piecing and weaving in textile factories where they already worked the spinning machines. As the war dragged on, women were recruited to work in public transportation, munitions factories and in heavy industry jobs. The first to take up such jobs were often women who already worked outside the home in domestic service and textile factories. Although they were not paid the same as their male counterparts, they could make more money in munitions and heavy industry.

Birth Rates Between World Wars I and II

Birth rates in every industrialized country fell steadily. Vaccinations and improved medicine meant that more children were surviving to adulthood, and children were becoming more expensive to raise as child labour laws and mandatory education became the norm. This development caused most couples to take steps to limit their families to three or four children. This freed women from constant pregnancy and child care, but also caused a backlash. Many countries blamed working women for what they saw as a dangerous drop in fertility. The reactions in Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany and Franco's Spain were very strong, but even Nazi Germany didn't succeed in convincing couples to return to pre-WWI family sizes.

Employment of Women after World War II

By and large, women returned to the kinds of jobs they had held before the war or left the workforce, but women's employment was higher than pre-war levels and the roles considered appropriate for women gradually increased. Movements demanding equal pay also gained momentum, although it would take until 1963 (USA) and 1970 (UK) for governments to mandate it.

Key topics to address when assessing the effects of Word War II on the role and status of women.

During the War: Employment Combat Roles Care for Evacuees Hardship - Poverty and Hunger -Bombing -Slave Labour -Rape After the War: Expanded suffrage Expanded employment Roles in the armed forces

Topics to address when discussing the effects of World War I on the role and status of women.

During the War: Voluntary/Charitable Work Paid Employment Armed Forces Propaganda Experience of War Post-War: Employment opportunities Suffrage Clothing Communism

Amy Johnson

English pilot best known for being the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930. During WWII she served as a ferry pilot. She was shot down, possibly by friendly fire, and died in the Thames estuary, probably from being sucked into a ship's propellor.

Hardships for many women during World War I

For many married women, the war brought hardship. They had to deal with rationing, which made it more complicated to shop and cook, they had to worry about husbands, brothers and sons at the front, and they might have to work long hours to make up for the lost income of husbands in the army. Women in Germany, occupied Belgium, and all over Eastern Europe battled starvation by the end of the war.

Benefits for some women during WWI

For single women from wealthy families who might not have allowed their daughters to work, the war brought new opportunities. Married and single women who were already working before the war also benefitted from more and higher-paying opportunities.

Countries that granted suffrage to women after World War II

France, Japan, Italy, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Korea, China, India, Pakistan, Singapore, and Belgium

Employment of Women in Japan and Germany during WWII

Given their insistence on women's being limited to their traditional roles and their unwillingness to pay women a living wage, these countries were both late to begin pressuring women to join the workforce and both had limited success in their recruitment efforts. Women in both countries entered the workforce at lower rates than in Britain and the USA.

Evacuees

In Britain, the government took the extraordinary step of attempting to evacuate all children from British cities to protect them from bombing. This meant that many men and women in the countryside served as foster parents, sometimes for years. Everyone with a spare room was obliged to help. The adjustment of meeting the needs of children, some from very deprived areas, was a major challenge. At the same time, it was very hard for city mothers to send their children away.There were few checks done on the homes families were sent to- some children had a much better experience than others. In addition, this culture mix of rural and urban helped to show just how deprived some areas of society were, and added weight to the arguments for a future 'welfare state'.

Employment of Women in Britain during WWII

In this country in 1941, the government went so far as to conscript women into the workforce. All women between 18 and 60 were interviewed and, if the government determined that they could work - for instance if they didn't have small children - they were given a list of jobs to choose from. Nurseries and canteens were often provided to make it easier for women with children to work. This was an important precedent, but childcare and housework are still major impediments to women's participation in work outside the home today.

Efforts to achieve equal pay for women in the USA during the war.

In this country. unions got behind the call for equal pay for identical and comparable work, and the National War Labour Board endorsed it. In 1945 Congress proposed the Women's Equal Pay Act, but it didn't pass.

Voluntary and Charitable Work undertaken by women during World War I

Many women's rights activists jumped at the chance to work for their countries to prove themselves as full citizens. The women's movement was subsumed in the wider war effort. Many women worked as volunteers for recruitment drives, for the Red Cross, and raising money for various causes. One particularly nasty tactic to encourage men to enlist was to have young women hand white feathers to men of military age who were not in uniform.

Hardship faced by women during WWII

Married women in all combatant countries had to deal with life as single parents when their husbands were conscripted into the armed forces. Many were also obliged to go out to work to compensate for lost income, while continuing to worry about childcare and housework. Rationing made cooking and shopping more complicated everywhere. In many of the countries occupied by Germany, women and their families battled starvation.

Roles of Women in the Armed Forces during World War I

Most combatant countries had women's auxiliary services in the armed forces that recruited single women to serve in non-combat roles other than nursing. In Russia, some female volunteers served in combat, most famously Maria Bochkareva. She managed to get Nicholas II to intervene personally to allow her to enlist in 1914. She was decorated for rescuing 50 wounded soldiers from a battlefield and was promoted to corporal. After the abdication of the Tsar, Kerensky gave her permission to form a "Woman's Death Battalion", the idea being that the bravery of the women would encourage the men to fight harder. It ended up with 300 women. A few similar units were formed in 1917. Russia also had several female pilots who flew reconnaissance missions and served as artillery spotters.

Long Term Effects of World War I on women's employment

Most of the women who had taken on non-traditional jobs in World War I returned to traditional employment or left the workforce after the war. Many munitions factories closed down, and most other women in traditionally male jobs were laid off to make way for returning soldiers. Given when the men had been through, there was little pushback. Everyone acknowledged that they had the right to have jobs on their return. Women continued to work outside the home in traditionally female jobs, and women's employment increased when the economy picked up in the 1920s. The memory of women in "male" roles presumably helped the gradual empowerment of women.

Countries where women could vote before World War I

Norway, Finland, New Zealand and part of Australia.

Efforts to achieve equal pay for women in Britain during World War II

Perhaps as a reaction to being conscripted, and perhaps because of the influence of left-wing activism between the wars, British women immediately began to demand equal pay. Churchill and many other male politicians opposed these demands because he thought they might upset male workers. However, in 1943 Parliament passed a law that women should get equal insurance and benefits, but not equal pay, for equal work (in practice, for identical work). There was then a proposal for equal pay in the British Civil Service, where 57% of posts were held by women. This was narrowed down to equal pay for female teachers, which passed by one vote. Churchill then demanded a re-vote, arguing that voting for it was a sign of lack of confidence in the government's conduct of the war, and it was voted down.

Women's employment outside the home before World War I

REMEMBER: Many jobs, including work outside the home, had long been performed by women. i.e.: Textile factories, Agriculture, cooking, Cleaning, Laundry, Sewing, Prostitution, Child care, Education of girls and women, K-12 Education, Midwifery, Clerical work, Retail work, Nursing, Actresses/Singers/Dancers•Many women had been employed in coal mines in Britain until the government banned the practice in 1842.•Medical schools and universities in most countries had begun admitting women in the 1860s-1880s. (Women had always been able to attend Italian universities.)

Role of Propaganda in improving the status of women in WWI

Single women and soldiers' wives took jobs to make ends meet. Their practical concerns were bolstered by propaganda that praised them for their contributions to the war effort. This had a beneficial effect on women's status because it encouraged the public to take a positive view of female workers.

Problems accompanying changes to women's participation in the workforce during World War I

Some businesses took advantage of the situation. They saved a lot of money by replacing male workers with women. Many unions were dubious for that reason. Mostly they just tried to block women's employment, but there was some discussion of equal pay for equal work.Another common practice was to introduce more machines and break down tasks so that inexperienced women could do jobs formerly done by skilled men. Employers sometimes promised to turn back the clock after the war, but in practice conscription of men and the needs of the war weakened workers' positions while businesses made massive profits.Jobs now undertaken by women suffered a status reduction e.g. 'secretary'.

Positive impacts of the rise of communism on the role and status of women

The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia brought a party to power which believed, at least in theory, in the full equality of men and women. At the same time, communist movements all over the world were empowered by this example and recruited women as well as men into their ranks. In the USSR: - All levels of education and, in theory, all jobs were opened to women. In practice, though, some jobs were very much male dominated and others female dominated. - Women were actively encouraged to work outside the home and propaganda extolled strong capable women working in non-traditional roles. - They were granted equal pay for identical work, maternity leave, and equal rights in marriage and divorce. - Health care provided free abortions from 1920-34. (Stalin made abortion illegal and divorce more difficult in the mid-1930s)

Absurd attempts to keep women out of official combat roles during WWII

The UK used women as ferry pilots to get the 'planes from the factories to the air bases (Air Transport Auxiliary) but wouldn't let them shoot the guns. Similarly, women were employed in the open during air raids to spot enemy 'planes, aim the guns and calculate the length of the fuses needed, but the actual firing of the guns had to be done by men.

Women's Roles in the Armed Forces after Word War II

The Women's Auxiliary forces in the UK, which had been formed in wartime were made permanent. Women in the USSR continued to be allowed to serve in the military. Israel became the first country to conscript women and train them to fight, although they are kept out of close combat roles (not because they perform poorly but because male soldiers reacted badly to women being killed or injured in the battles leading up to 1948). Most countries are only beginning to allow women in combat in the 21st century.

Ostarebeiter

These were men, women and children who were rounded up more-or-less at random from Poland and the German-occupied USSR and shipped to Germany to work as slave labourers. Estimated numbers vary between 3 million and 5.5 million. They lived under guard on short rations, and all their pay, if they received it, was deducted for their keep. Tens of thousands of female slave labourers were raped, although the Nazi government discouraged sexual relations between "Aryans" and "sub-humans". The resulting pregnancies were either aborted or the children were taken away and allowed to die of starvation at Ausländerkinder-Pflegestätte (foreign baby homes).

Article 21 of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

This declared "equal and universal suffrage: to be a human right.

Reasons why more women were involved in combat in WWII than in WWI

This was presumably partly because of the memory of World War I, partly because of left-wing ideas about the full equality of men and women, and partly because the fact that women could no longer be protected from the ravages of war removed the main objection to their participating in combat.

Number of all-female air regiments in the USSR during WWII

Three. Two bomber regiments and a fighter regiment.

Maria Bochkareva

Woman who managed to get Nicholas II to intervene personally to allow her to enlist in 1914. She was decorated for rescuing 50 wounded soldiers from a battlefield and was promoted to corporal. After the abdication of the Tsar, Kerensky gave her permission to form a "Woman's Death Battalion", the idea being that the bravery of the women would encourage the men to fight harder. It ended up with 300 women. A few similar units were formed in 1917. In the Civil War, she sided with the Whites. She was captured by the Bolsheviks in 1917, interrogated for four months, and eventually executed in 1920.

Documented rape victims in World War II

Women were raped by members of every army, taking advantage of the chaos of war, but there were several periods in which rape was sanctioned by the authorities:- Between 100,000 and 200,000 Korean and Chinese women were forced into sexual slavery as "comfort women" for the Japanese army.- Tens of thousands of women were raped during the weeks of the Nanjing Massacre in 1937.- Estimates of the numbers of German women raped by soldiers of the Red Army range from hundreds of thousands to 2 million.

Employment of Women in the USA during WWII

Women's employment was voluntary in this country, but the percentage of the workforce that was female rose from 24% to 37% during the war.

Number of civilians killed in World War II

c.36.6 million

Reasons why the recruitment of women into the workforce was quicker in World War II than in World War I.

•In the case of World War II, everyone expected a prolonged conflict, not a war that would be over by Christmas.•There was the positive precedent of female employment on World War I.•Women were already well integrated into the workforce in the USSR. It was more a matter of retraining than recruitment.•The desperate conditions of "Total War" justified blurring of gender boundaries.