Women and Communal Strikes in the Crisis of 1917 - 1922 & The Fascist Solution to the Women Question in Italy and Germany
by
Imedgme75cuvoxde (student)
Women and Communal Strikes in the Crisis of 1917 - 1922 An interesting fact concerning the protests by working class in the period during and succeeding WWI was not initial demands for revolutionary change or worker’s rights, but instead forcing government to provide basic life necessities of food and shelter during times of rationing. Though there were differences in geography and outcomes, the goal was the same in demanding survival over social and economic change. The politicization of these movements did not occur until their male counterparts, who did hold memberships in unions and radical political groups, sympathized with their female equivalents and participated in these marches did violence or government crackdowns occur. It was because of politics that these women avoided the idea in order to elicit sympathy and avoid ferocious reprisals against them. The organization of these marches ties into the community structure of working-class women. Though these events seemed to occur at random, they shared a few common characteristics. The communities these women resided were usually near their or husbands/fathers/brothers/male companions workplaces and also government facilities. Another was the close bonds formed amongst them through interactions in work, markets, churches, and other public areas of gathering Whether it was babysitting for neighbors’ children or each other, working-class omen held more deeper solidarity than women of higher class standings. Though food shortages were frequent occurrences, when women sought to march for better access to feed themselves outside communities gave sympathy that they deserved these privileges. Men did form groups to gain attention on working-class rights and political reform; sometimes they seldom paid much attention to the needs of their female counterparts who upheld community values. An important march was the one in Petrograd on February 1917, in the Julian calendar which corresponds to our Gregorian March, in imperialist Russia during the wave of losses that hindered the nation in the onslaught of WWI. What originally began as a demand for food to feed themselves eventually became a catalyst for the later Russian Revolution. The price of food, housing, and life commodities rose dramatically along with employment layoffs led certain officials to deem the area ripe for mass discontent. Purposely selecting International Women’s Day on February 23 to stage a strike, women rallied around the idea of upholding their role in feeding their loved ones. Not only did they gain support from fellow working class men, but also from students and low-middle class women in order to save their communities
of dying from hunger. Though along the way they freed their politically and union-active men from prisons, political parties withheld from engaging in the strike in fears that women were insufficient to carry out a revolution against the Tsarist regime. Two days after the Czar Nicholas II ordered the military to gun down the strike, yet they were abhorred by this course of action and abstained from it. With continuing defeats on the Eastern Front, many soldiers joined the ranks of the strikers. Eventually male revolutionaries managed to gain hold of the movement and politicized it into forcing the overthrow ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
of dying from hunger. Though along the way they freed their politically and union-active men from prisons, political parties withheld from engaging in the strike in fears that women were insufficient to carry out a revolution against the Tsarist regime. Two days after the Czar Nicholas II ordered the military to gun down the strike, yet they were abhorred by this course of action and abstained from it. With continuing defeats on the Eastern Front, many soldiers joined the ranks of the strikers. Eventually male revolutionaries managed to gain hold of the movement and politicized it into forcing the overthrow of the Tsar and its supporters. Similar strikes in regards of their goals occurred in Turin, Malaga, and Veracruz though the results differed. The events that transpired in Turin during August 1917 were similar to Petrograd in that working-class women seek to gain access to food due to high prices, in particular bread which was a staple in their diet. As with the militarization of the industrial north, members of unions or radical political groups were prohibited from organizing strikes. Since many men were off fighting in WWI, women filled-in their vacancies. Acting on as the author Temma Kaplan termed “female consciousness”, women demanded local authorities to resolve the food shortage crisis that occurred. With difficulties in trying to follow rations for troops along with feeding the local populations, local authorities attempted to bring flour from neighboring areas despite moments of discrediting by national authorities which embittered the women. Finally after days passed and attempts to appease them, women fed up along with male workers managed to put the city on hold due to massive walkouts. The initial goal of obtaining food morphed into anti-war demonstrations that caused the government to send in military to violently subdued the crowd. While it maintained neutrality from the war, Spanish economy still relied on feeding foreign armies which distraught the women of Malaga. They lacked political aspirations and knowledge, yet in January 1918 acted upon “female consciousness” to counter the unfair economic policies on food. Seizing the port, the food stored there was distributed it amongst themselves. These women actually spoke out against the involvement of men due to fears of violent crackdowns. Eventually women of all social classes joined in as they saw the march as a demonstration for women’s right. Like the outcome of the events in Turin, military from different regions of the nation were called in to suppress the strike. The main reason behind it was if local troops were used their familiarity and common cultural background would elicit sympathy for the women. Finally five years later in Veracruz, Mexico, women protested against unfair housing prices, which was already a limited commodity in the coastal port city. A strike was called in and the women unlike the other strikes had conjured up some political conations in wearing red, the color of radical left-wing politics, in these demonstrations. Violence did break out between them and authorities and continued infrequently the rest of the year. Though the high rents were finally renegotiated with tenants unions formed. Yet they lack female membership since they argued by the author, made no attempts to secure themselves in these groups. The Fascist Solution to the Women Question in Italy and Germany Despite the similarities in the political ideologies of Italian Fascism and German Nazism, there were different approaches by each on the perception and treatment of the female population. Not only were the roles of women from different ethnic and political backgrounds marginalized, but also mixed results occurred for women who accepted and followed the totalitarian regimes. Divisions also occurred amongst feminists on regards to the political oversight both Italian Fascism and German Nazism were laid down. Though personal freedoms were strip away, some women saw these ideologies give them more economic freedoms. For the most part, both viewed women as mere contributions to the state. At first the Italian Fascists included on their 1919 platform to enfranchise the female population, but eventually reduced due to low support at first. In regards to women, members of the urban bourgeoisie were the targeted audience. They frowned upon obtaining careers, instead preferring volunteering in community activities. Fascism ironically provided a third way from the equality of feminism or traditional roles. It provided escapism in the form of organized recreational events. Fascists argued they shielded women from the disappointment of the male realm in justifying stripping away access to higher education or professional jobs. Being a predominately Catholic nation, Fascist Italy formed closer ties with the Church in upholding patriarchal society by allowing religious authorities greater involvement in individual’s lives, restriction of birth control, and harsher discipline “corrections” via honor killings. The latter lead to a decrease in murder rates. With the disappointing results of WWI combined with high unemployment and economic recession, Mussolini sought to resolve this by cutting female employment rates whether it was by reduction of wages or blaming them for stealing jobs. Instead he encouraged women to seek motherhood at a young age by increasing social welfare programs. The reasoning was to provide not only future armies and settlers for newly conquered territories, but as an excuse by Mussolini to avert a demographic crisis. Yet women felt they managed to gain the attention by the government. Nazi Germany implemented similar policies with their female population though certain differences occurred. One difference from the beginning was the large support of female voters, which was a guaranteed right after WWI. Though female membership in the Nazi Party was low, half of the vote they gained in the elections during the Great Depression came from women. Since party leaders held indifferent and misogynistic views of women’s roles in the party, it ironically allowed Nazi women to organize without resistance from party higher ups. While male members were the visible faces of the party, female members worked behind the scenes in attempting to gain traction for the party. Unlike their Italian Fascists counterparts, Nazi women were abhorred by feminine ideals. Also in connection with religion, Germany never shared a common religion beside Christianity, yet was divided by northern Protestantism and southern Catholicism. The former immediately accepted Nazi rule while the latter delayed their allegiance until orders came from the Vatican. Finally, though women’s rights took a back seat Nazi Germany allowed women to continue to seek employment and actually faced a temporary backlash when they attempted to reduce their role. The exception came as long as they were loyal to the regime were they provided with jobs and did hold Jewish ancestry. Were as birth control methods were frowned upon in Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany held double standards. Aryan women were disallowed from obtaining an abortion or other forms of birth control, but sterilization programs were implemented towards undesirable elements such as Jews, the handicapped and similar peoples. Also they tried to impose social welfare programs like the Fascists in order to divert a population crisis though it also failed. Finally the regime created physical fitness events to promote racial ideas of German superiority. Young girls actually enjoyed these activities as it emphasized nature, companionship, and had what seemed like strong female leaders. Yet as they grew into young adulthood, older youth groups forced the idea of submission onto women. Though the female followers of these reactionary regimes felt they gained new freedoms, cracks of disillusionment began to surface. Indoctrination programs geared at younger females received less funding and as a result found difficulty in securing resources to brainwash them and relied on older educational material from the previous Weimar government or religious institutions. Returning back to religion, Catholic groups managed to maintain some autonomy from Nazi control and deplored the use of eugenics as it violated traditional beliefs on birth control. Eventually as WWII broke out, Hitler instead of seeking popular support increased his racist policies. Himmler introduced a breeding plan that gave preference towards single, unwed “racially fit” women to have more children without male supervision which distraught many people. Even the violent persecutions of Jews caused feelings of disgust amongst some loyal Nazi women. To the disappointment of female followers, the regime’s attention in regards to women focused on military wives and widows and seeking employment than staying home honing traditional roles. Though it seemed for some segments of the female population felt these regimes gave prominence towards them, vast majorities of women lost civil rights they had only recently gained. In particular with Germany prior to Nazism’s rise to power; the previous government of the Weimar Republic saw a flourishing of not women’s rights, but also a break away for some women from traditional roles. The cultural vibrancy and hedonist attitudes of this era have a connection to the temporary liberation of women’s roles. Not only were the allowed to vote and hold down professional careers in certain fields, women could assume previously masculine roles in clothing and recreational activities like shorten fashions, taking up smoking, and independent living. A specific case is Sylvia von Harden, noted journalist and subject of an Otto Dix painting. It was these generalized stereotypes of “New Women” that Nazi regime justified taking away rights of women and reintroducing traditionalistic female roles of motherhood and submissive attitudes towards men. Finally in connection with the textbook, it does mention the lives of women under Fascist Italy while for German women in the Nazi regime fails to mention their political contributions to the party and focuses only on Nazi economic policies that affected women. Works Cited Kaplan, Temma. "16 - Women and Communal Strikes in the Crisis of 1917 - 1922." Becoming Visible: Women in European History. Ed. Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koonz, and Susan Mosher. Stuard. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 428-49. Print. Koonz, Claudia. "19 - The Fascist Solution to the Women Question in Italy and Germany." Becoming Visible: Women in European History. Ed. Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koonz, and Susan Mosher. Stuard. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 498-533. Print.