- How useful are Sources D and E in helping you to understand the importance of the work of women in industry during the First World War?
Source D shows two women at work in a munitions factory. The board at the back reads – “When the boys come back we are not going to keep you any longer – girls”. This scene portrays a chauvinistic attitude in which women are the second-class workers who are just ‘standing-in’ until the real workers return from performing more important duties for King and Country. This lowers the importance of female workers and also means that the women employed in such factories will be out of a job when the war ends.
On the other hand, Source E, which is a poster produced by the government to try and get more women involved in the war effort, depicts a scene in which women play a crucial role and are just as important to winning the war at home as the ‘boys’ are to winning the war abroad. Although this poster may be construed as propaganda that’s produced for an increasingly concerned British public to quash fears of an inability to aid in the war effort, it can also represent an idealistic view that the public believes to exist.
On a small, individual scale; such as the one in Source D, which shows the experience of such a minute fraction of the female working population, one may be led to believe that the work of women was considered unimportant. On the other hand, the nationwide view of the woman ‘war-worker’ was one of respect, showing that the general public really did see how much of a helping hand was being given by the women, who up until then had not taken a prominent position in the welfare of the country.
- Use source G and your own knowledge to explain why some men opposed the employment of women in industry during the First World War.
Source G was written by a woman in 1919, this suggests that the war would still be in recent memory and the source should be fairly trustworthy.
The account describes some of the hostilities that were encountered in a male-dominated environment. The woman details instances where she would be given the wrong directions for a certain task so as to create hours more work for her, the woman had her drawer nailed shut by the men and oil poured over her belongings. These events were unfortunately all too common when women were introduced to chauvinistic attitudes in factories and many women found this hectic style of life too much for them and decided to return to their previous jobs as domestic servants.
The reason for this work-place bullying was that many of the men were concerned over the fate of their employment, they may have felt threatened by the women invading the traditional male industries such as engineering and munitions, which at the time were considered to be skilled jobs and so workers were paid at a higher rate. With women joining these industries many could see the dilution of the workforce as a problem; the arrival of women diluted the industry, downgrading the skill level and also the rate of pay associated with it.
A point made in the account relating to wages was that shop stewards told the woman that they had no objection to her working there as long as she received the full men’s rate of pay. The shop stewards would have said this because generally women working in factories would receive a reduced rate of pay due to the belief that they were less skilled. This created a situation in which the men feared that the women would start to become the preferred type of worker; a worker that needed less pay for the same amount of work as the men.
- Without the work of women on the home front, Britain could not have won the First World War. Use the sources and your own knowledge to explain whether you agree with this view.
Women were an important part of the Home Front because they now had to do the tasks of the men who had left. They had to be shown how to do tasks at home but more importantly were encouraged to do important jobs men left behind. Despite some going to work at the Western Front the number of women in employment increased in Britain by 50 percent. Working class women delivered coal and worked as munitionettes in factories making shells and weapons. Middle class women joined the civil service or became teachers and a women police force was formed.
By becoming more independent now that their husbands had left, the women broke many long-running traditions which formed the backbone of the recently departed Victorian Era. A spirit of teamwork was obviously present with women making up the majority of workers in factories; such images can be seen in Source J, although it is a painting and may not be as accurate as one would wish, the scene still evokes thoughts that the women were happy in what they were doing, therefore they would be making more of an effort to achieve high standards.
Without the work of women on the home front, Britain would certainly have had a much tougher time coping with the pressures of war. Maintaining a healthy and prosperous country while trying to bring down the army of another is a major challenge for any country and would be made even harder if you were refused the support of your public. By getting deeply involved with the war effort, women showed that they do care about the welfare of their country and are willing to lend a hand when that welfare is threatened. With Britain losing a large percentage of its’ population to fight on foreign battle fields the amount of able hands on the home front was drastically low. Women felt that it was their duty to help the struggling government event though it was that same system blocking their way to getting the vote, a move like this showed high tolerance of the situation they were in and also how the women dealt with priorities when they knew the importance of safety.
In conclusion I would say that the work of women on the home front did help to swing the final outcome of the war in favour of the Brits. By deciding to join in with the war effort, women doubled the chances that Britain would have had without them; instead of being able to fuel the armed forces with all of the men Britain could provide, we would have had to split the army so that the cogs of society back on home turf would not have stopped turning. The arrival of the female ‘war worker’ we had a fully-functioning home front as well as an armed forces, both effective at the same time.
