Source B contains negative information about women working at a London aircraft works, painting aircraft wings. It creates a bad impression of the fact the wage was 15 shillings a week for 9 and a half hours work a day and overtime. However, this source could prove to be biased due to the fact Sylvia Pankhurst was the daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst; who founded the Suffragette movement.
Source C is a very positive source and creates a good impression to show the advantages of working in a factory. It paints a picture of a new found confidence for women and that they were more financially able to look after their children and families. It shows that women really liked there new self worth and spirit of independence fostered by their newfound earning power and social life. Therefore, I can conclude that Source A supports Source C very positively and Source B does not support Source C in any way. This is maybe because Source B was written by Sylvia and she wanted to create a bad impression, whereas Source C and was written by a factory owner and he will have wanted to create a very nice impression of the effect of war work to get more workers in his factory.
Therefore I can conclude that Source C supports the evidence of Source A because they are both positive sources for the effect of war work on women. However, Source B does not because it is a negative source creating a bad impression of war work on women.
Question 03:
Study Sources D and E
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 munitions factory during the First World War. It is a possible Government source that was staged by the Factory owner due to the fact that in the photo, at the back a board on the wall reads, ‘when the boys come back we are not going to need you any longer – girls.’ It suggests that women were regarded as important during in the war but won’t be of any use afterwards. However, since this source is probably staged to show this sign, it becomes not 100% reliable. The source does not show you lots of women, only part of the factory and leaves out the fact conditions were hazardous, low paying and working long hours.
Source E is a Government Propaganda poster produced in 1916. It is useful because it shows the methods the Government used to get women to work. It also shows the fact that women were considered important by the Government towards the war effort. However, due to the fact that this propaganda; not all women would have been regarded as important during the First World War. This propaganda poster relies on women’s guilt because on the poster there is a man waving his wife goodbye as he goes off to war. The women in the poster is putting on her overalls and going to work in munitions factories. This makes women feel they should do their bit for the war effort and help support their own country. Although this source is Government Propaganda and can be considered unreliable, it is still useful to show what propaganda during the First World War was like and how effective it was.
Question 4:
Study Source G
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 women’s experiences whilst working during the First World War. It was written in 1919, after the war. This source tells you that there were accounts of extreme prejudice within the workplace by other men. It mentions things that men did to make women look incompetent and the fact they can’t do the job very well. It mentions the shop assistants agreeing to women working in the factory, provided they get full pay. Women were given no correct tools and the men would not speak to her, give her no help, and they would frequently nail her drawer up. Men tried to physically force the women to leave their jobs in the factories, probably because they posed such a huge threat on the men to lose their jobs.
Attitudes towards women in the 19th and 20th century were that a women’s place was in the home, and work was heavily male dominated. Men felt threatened towards the prospect that they may lose their jobs and those women to take over after the war. Men were also worried that women may lower the standards of training due to the fact women were working men’s jobs without lengthy processes of training. They were particularly anxious that women may lower the men’s wages because the women were doing the work and being paid so much less.
The Government and male employers held this prejudice towards women in 1915. When the Women’s War Register was drawn and of 100,000 women that registered, only 5,000 of them were given jobs initially. They solved this problem in 1915 as the Government and Unions came to an agreement. The ‘Treasury Agreement’ was the rule that women worker were to be paid the same as men. However, women were only allowed to take over men’s work for; the duration of the war or until sufficient male labour should again be available. This particular women’s account: Source G, is a fairly common case as I know from my own knowledge and that I have seen many other sources with these circumstances. This source could prove somewhat unreliable because it is only one women’s account experience, however I do know from my own knowledge that women did experience these conditions.
Question 5:
Study all of the Sources
‘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 or disagree with this statement;
The work women did in the First World War on the Home Front was beneficial to the fact Britain won the war. Women supplied ammunition, food and shelter, medicine and health care to the sick soldiers. They also created the ‘Land Girls’, providing food for the population of Britain, in case Germany blocked our food supplies, which may have forced Britain to surrender. This prediction can be backed up by the fact that Germany was forced to surrender because its country was starving, as we blocked their food supplies. This may have been because they had no Land Girls in Germany.
Source B explains the fact that women worked in the London Aircraft works, painting aircraft wings. This aided Britain’s air warfare and the RAF in dropping bombs on targets etc. This shows that there is a probable fact that no munitions would have been made for the Western Front if women had not taken over and played their part in the First World War. Up to 117,200 women worked within the Transport industry and trade, this figure shows the fact that Transport played a big part in aiding Britain to win the First World War.
Source D is a picture showing women in a munitions factory. They look initially happy and this shows us that women were very useful in the factories, doing skilled, and men’s work during the First World War. The sheer number of women that worked in the munitions factories (2,970,600 approx.) shows that there was a great demand for them as the war went on. This demonstrates that munitions made by women were put to good use and assisted production and later victory on the Western Front.
Articles in the ‘Engineer’ clarify the fact that women, after such short periods of training, could ‘handle much heavier pieces of metal than had been previously dreamt of.’ This goes to show that in August 1915, employers had an underrated opinion of women in the workplace. However, once there was such a great demand for ammunition on the Western Front, employers took kindly to women workers. Evidence of the fact that women enjoyed taking part in a role in the workforce to help war on the Western Front, is present in Source J. The painting shows that hundreds and hundreds of women worked in the munitions factories, and they all were happy. Millions of women working to support the war will have ultimately helped the war effort without doubt and also, World War One was the first of its kind: Total War. From the factory girls, to the farmers, to the soldiers and allies fighting on the Western Front, everyone was noticed and expected to do their bit for their King and Country.
However, you could argue this statement and say that the women’s role was undoubtedly important, yet the fighting in France was the decisive factor (where the Germans were defeated). I believe that without the work of women on the Home Front and because of the simple fact WWI was ‘total war,’ Britain could not have won the First World War on the Western Front.
