In conclusion Source C is the evidence of a factory owner which can support the evidence in Source A who is a worker. Yet Source B shows that women did not always benefit from the war.
3. 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 is a photograph taken in a munition factory during the First World War and shows the reality of the situation. There is a board at the back of the photograph reading “When the boys come back we are not going to keep you any longer - girls”. This therefore suggests that women were not very important in the war effort, and that they were only working due to shortage of men, not because they were skilled workers. As a result, this would discourage women to work in factories like this, which is the complete opposite to what the government would want.
However, Source E, which is a poster produce by the British government in 1916, is the reverse of Source D. It encourages women to work in munitions factories, and suggests that women were important in the war effort. On the poster it says “Learn to make munitions”. This may also persuade women to join the work force to gain a new experience and to learn to make ammunition. The government probably used this as it was positive and would bring in more women than having just a poster asking them to join. This also hints that the government wanted the women to join unlike Source D. It also gives a sense of responsibility and placement in society. This poster proves that there must have been a real need for ammunition on the front line, as the government thought the need was big enough, to have to pay out their own money to advertise - to increase the workforce making ammunition. Moreover, in the poster it also says “These women are doing there bit”. If a woman who has not volunteered walks past this poster, then she may feel uneasy as she has not joined. She may the feel that it is her duty to join now, as other women have already.
Source D was probably used to warn women of the job that they would be facing, and that it wasn’t easy. Source D could have been trying to portray that the work was only a “mans” job and that women would find it hard. Source E does not however mention the truth about working in factories and making ammunition, for example the hard work and poor conditions that the women faced, Source D shows this. Source E though shows the positives of the work that the women faced.
We can tell that Source D is a reliable source as it is a photograph and shows the reality of the situation. The women look sad, and might be thinking twice about the job they volunteered for. Source E is also reliable as it is a British government poster, and it is dated as well.
The fact that Source D is the reality of the situation can be compared to the poster, in an easy way. You can make things up in a poster; you can edit and change things. However, a picture cannot be altered and therefore can give a very accurate account to what was happening.
In conclusion, Source D shows how women were treated whilst working during the war in the form of a picture, and Source E shows the need for women during the war in the form of a poster. The propaganda used by the government (to get a women to work) shows the importance of them
4. 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 is part of an account of woman’s experiences while working during the First World War; it was written in 1919. When the First World War broke out, and extra workers were needed to supply ammunition and other war materials, women found themselves with a perfect opportunity. A perfect opportunity to get work and earn as much money as a man would per hour. Before the war, women found it very difficult to find work due to the fact that men took up most of the jobs as they were thought to be more reliable and stronger. This was the scenario in the First World War, when women were needed in the industry; to make ammunition and other was supplies. Men thought that they women would be incapable and too weak to lift and carry all the heavy objects that they had to. This stereotype of women – not being able to cope with the hard working conditions of the industrial jobs was obvious throughout England. Women were expected to work in the domestic services and to help and tend to their husband back at home. However, things changed during the war as women actually had other useful skills that they could use to help in the war effort, not to mention the women who were in fact stronger than some of the men. Maybe some of the men were just jealous of the women, who got these jobs with ease and with no interview. Whatever it was, the majority of the men were angry and solemn. The reliability of this source is good as it states the date when it was written and it was only a year after the war had ended. On the other hand this source could be unreliable as the women writing this could be a little bias towards her and other women, as she is clearly angry with the men. She could have over exaggerated her experiences with the men.
Some men in 1919 didn't see women as important as people do today. As I mentioned before, men in the 1919’s saw women as inferior and their only use was to cook, wash and clean. Some even thought that they were useless and that there only use was to tend to there every need. In source G it says, “Over and over again the foreman gave me the wrong or incomplete directions and altered them in such a way as to give me hours more work.” This shows that the women were treated unfairly, and that men perceived the woman as just a joke. I feel that this is out of order as women volunteered for this work, for King and Country, and probably didn't think that they would be treated in this way – as they were actually helping their country.
Many men despised the women and turned to discrimination against them. This then triggered the response from the women, who fought for women rights. These women were called suffragettes. The examples of what these women did ranged from chaining themselves to railings or fences and storming into political meetings. When arrested, they would be beaten and would have painful cuts and bruises. The women would also go on hunger strikes whilst in prison, so prison governors were ordered to force feed the women, which caused outrage. This shows the lack of respect the men had for the women.
The reason that I think men felt this way was because they may have felt that they would loose pay, they were just frightened of the women and maybe thought that they would take over. I know that the men were frightened of loosing pay as it says in the account, “Two shops stewards informed me on the first day that they had no objection to my working there provided I received the full men’s rate of pay. But after this none of the men spoke to me for a long time, and would give me no help as to where to find things.” This also backs up my idea that they were also frightened.
To men in the 1900s, they thought that they were the far more superior being and that anyone or anything was far less powerful and significant than them. I think that the men would have thought that the women would lower the high standards that the men had already set themselves, and that they would make things worse. Maybe that is why the men didn't tell the woman where to find things, and why they told her the wrong directions.
In conclusion, I think that the men were just generally frightened at the fact that they thought the women were going to take over all of their jobs, and that the women were going to be the superior of the two races. This however was, as I’ve explained before, a perfect opportunity for women to work in industry. This then provided the backbone for more work opportunities for women in the years after.
5. ‘Without the work of women on the Home Front, Britain could have not won the First World War.’
Use The sources and your own knowledge to explain whether you agree with this view.
Women did help during the First World War – making ammunition and working in the place of men who had to fight throughout the war. If the women did not put in all the effort into their jobs, then Britain may not have won the war. Women though did gain from the whole experience on a whole. They had good pay – as much as a man would, and they seemed to be enjoying working in a factory. Source C states this, “They like the freedom, the spirit of independence fostered by their newfound earning power, the social life”. Maybe all of this spurred on the women to achieve more at their work, and work more efficiently, so that Britain had more of a chance in winning this war.
From Source F we can see that the effect that women had on different industries was enormous. There were 792,000 more women working in the manufacturing industry in 1918 than in 1914 and in Domestic Service, there was a decrease of workers. In fact there was a drop of 400,000 women workers in 1918. However it wasn’t just in the industry that women worked during the war. They also helped in manning all of the transport systems whilst also driving trains, trams and busses. They also found work in the Women's Royal Air Force where they worked on planes as mechanics. Other jobs that women could choose between were nursing which included the VAD’s (Voluntary Aid Detachment) and FANY’s (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry). They could work in the Women Land Army which involved looking after the farms as so many men were away fighting. All of these jobs before the First World War were only open to men, with the exception of nursing.
On the other hand, it wasn’t the women who won the war; it was the men on the front line. The men were the ones who finally defeated the Central Powers in France. The sources suggest that the women were important, but not influential. The sources all imply that their work was helpful, but that they didn't win the war. Even the male workers who worked with the women seemed to think that they were just cover for the men fighting the war. Source D is a photograph taken in a munition factory during the First World War. On a board at the back it says, “When the boys come back we are not going to keep you any longer – girls”. This is why I believe that the male workers thought that the women were just cover for the men fighting in the war, and that after the war, the women would be back at home as a housewife again.
Sources A, B and C all talk about the actual conditions the women had to endure whilst working in the factories. Sources A and C talk positively about the women, which therefore might suggest that they were being treated well as they were so valuable. However, B talks about how women were discriminated against by the people who paid them, ”It was common they told me for six or more of the thirty dope painters to be lying ill on the stones outside the workshop”.
In conclusion, I near enough agree with the statement, ‘Without the work of women on the Home Front, Britain could have not won the First World War’. I think that the women were helpful in the fact that they worked in the Land Army, and worked in the manufacturing industry etc but it wasn’t them who won the war. If the men thought that the women were thought of as crucial then why did they have to endure harsh conations? Why were they treated unfairly? This backs the idea that they were not vital although I still agree that they were in fact important but not decisive. It was the courage and power of the men on the front line who finally defeated the Central Powers and it is them who should get all the credit.
