Revision notes - History of First World War and the Role of Women

• Emperor in 1888, 29 years old

• Germany felt threatened = decided to build 4 Dreadnoughts

• Middle + upper classes of Germany wanted big empire

• Working class Germans wanted better standard of living

• Germany came into being in 1871

• Germany used new technology to help armed forces

Outbreak of War

• Germany & USA were at forefront of technology at beginning of 20th century
• 3 new technologies: electricity, motor vehicles, aircrafts

• 1906: Britain launched new, fast + heavily armed battle ship ‘Dreadnought’

• 5 major European powers: Britain, France & Russia, Germany & Austria-Hungary

• Germany & Russia alliance lapsed

Franz Ferdinand

• Germany felt threatened of Serbia because with the support of Russia, it had doubled in size

• Black Hand: secret Serbian society

• Black hand wanted to force Austria from Balkans

• Franz Ferdinand (archduke of Austria) visited Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina

• At 11 o’clock, he was shot while in a carriage with his pregnant wife by Cavrilo Princip

• His father, emperor of Austria, Franz Josef = very upset, ordered investigation

• Germany promised to back Austria in the investigation, they began to form an alliance

• Russia’s emperor Tzar Nicholas, was advised by his military advisers to back / help their ally Serbia

• Tzar Nicholas, Wilhelm II & George V were cousins

Causes of the War

• Assassination of Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand led to outbreak of war

• The alliance system was one of the reasons of the war: a number of countries signed alliances between 1879 and 1914

• Some countries had no choice but also declare war on countries their allies declared war on first

• Imperialism: when a country takes over new lands or countries and makes them subject to their rule

• British empire extended to 5 continents

• France were in control of much of Africa

• The amount of land ‘owned’ by Britain & France increased the rivalry with Germany

• Militarism: the army and military forces are given a high profile by their government

• The armies of France and Germany had more than doubled bet. 1870 & 1914

• Nationalism: being a strong supporter of the rights and interests of one’s country (people wanting independence)

• Congress of Vienna left Germany & Italy as divided states

• Moroccan Crisis: in 1904 Britain gave Morocco to France, the Moroccans wanted independence and were supported by Germany

• War was avoided and Britain & France supported one another

• In 1911, Germany was persuaded to back down if they were given part of French Congo

• Bosnian Crisis: in 1908, Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia

• The Serbians were angry, they felt Bosnia should be theirs, so they mobilised their forces

•  Germany, who were allied to Austria-Hungary also mobilised their forces in aid of their ally and prepared to threaten Russia

• War was avoided, Russia backed down

• The assassination of Franz Ferdinand sparked the war

Events leading up to the War

• 28 June- the heir to Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand, is assassinated in Bosnia

• 23 July- Austria blames Serbia for killing the Archduke

• 28 July- Austria declares war on Serbia. Belgrade (a city in Serbia) is shelled

• 29 July- Russian army gets ready to help Serbia defend itself from Austro-Hungarian attack

• 29 July- Germany, Austria’s ally, sends a demand to Russia ordering it to hold back from helping Serbia

• 1 August- Germany declares war on Russia. Germany also begins to move its army towards France, Russia’s ally

• 2 August- the French army is put on a war footing, ready to fight a German invasion

• 3 August- Germany declares war on France and invades through the neutral Belgium. Britain orders Germany to withdraw from Belgium.

• 4 August- the Germans are still in Belgium, Britain declares war on Germany.

• 6 August- to complete the ‘picture’, Austria declares war on Russia

Start of War

• Mobilising: a country or its government prepare and organize (troops) for active service 

• Germany’s excuse for mobilising: said they were being threatened by Russia’s mobilisation

•  August 1st: Germany declares war on Russia

• August 3rd: Germany declares war on France, invading through the neutral Belgium 

• August 4th: Britain declared war on Germany

Life in the trenches

• It was:-cramped –dusty -many rats -lice & frog infestation –muddy -smelly

• Many soldiers spent their time in the trenches writing letters to loved ones and keeping diaries

• Soldiers spent most of their time on guard, repairing trenches or sleeping

• Trench warfare changed the role of infantry

• The days were very boring on the western front, the soldiers could spend weeks waiting for fighting to break out

• Men and horses lived very close together

• For most of the war, everyday, artillery would pound the enemy’s trenches with hundreds of shells

• Soldiers in the trenches rarely went over the ‘top’ and attacking enemy trenches

• The Western Front was a term used to describe the zone of fighting in WWI to Germany’s West

• Fighting on the western front was very disciplined

• The mood of the soldiers changed significantly throughout the war

• At first, the soldiers were excited about fighting and defending their country, soon after they realised how scary and fatal it all was, they were terrified

• There were many illnesses & diseases in the trenches -typhoid-depression -trench foot-lice -gun wounds

• The mood on the western front was unhappy and depressing

Votes for Women

• In 1800’s, women’s had very little rights:

-To get a divorce, you had to have an ‘act’ of parliament

-Women could not enter professions

-Women could go to university but could not get a degree

-Women couldn’t own property or have a bank account

-Women couldn’t vote

-After 1839, women could gain custody of their kids

-Women would get paid less for the same jobs as men

Pressure For Change in Vote

- By 1900, there had been slow improvement in women’s legal position → 1870, Married Women’s Property Act (women could keep their earned money from their husbands)

-1875→ law allowed women to go to university

-Middle class women highly educated → but excluded from medicine, law

-1907→ law allowed women to be elected as local counsillors

-1900→New Zealand, Australia, Finland had equal men + women voting rights

- Old arguments against women now seemed unreasonable

-Beginning of C20, 2/3 of men had vote→politicians focused on men’s vote

-Conservatives didn’t want change

-Liberals supporting women BUT LIBERAL prime minister, Asquith →AGAINST

- Labour wanted vote for all → but priority for men.

Women in the war

• When war broke out in 1914, Suffragists and Suffragettes suspended campaign for vote

• Suffragists persuaded men to join army

• Emmeline Pankhurst protested all women should be allowed to work in munitions factories during war

• All suffragettes released from prison

• Women were employed in place of male clerks in war

• By end of war, 500,000 women had replaced men in their jobs

• Many employers were persuaded to accept female workers

• By end of war, almost 800,000 women had jobs in engineering

• Women stepped up and took men’s jobs

• They gained access to jobs previously only for men

• Worked as conductors, postal workers, farm labourers…

• 1.6 million women took part in war work: grave digging, road layers, welders & steel workers

• By helping in the war by stepping up for the absentee men, they gained popularity and respect

• They showed they could do the men’s jobs successfully and support their country in their time of need

Why did women get the vote?

• The prime minister Herbert Asquith, changed his mind in favour of women’s suffrage

• The patriotic stand of women during the war showed they could be civilized, they fought and did good for their country, they could help by having the vote and helping in Parliament.

• Newspapers began to be in favour of votes for women, and the newspapers influenced a lot of people

• Women had done dangerous jobs in the war, proving women were strong and independent

• The new wartime government had new MPs who were keen to give women the vote

• Men who were against women suffrage were away fighting, they could therefore not organise opposition

• Women wouldn’t let go, give up, they wouldn’t let people forget “Persistence is the turn of excellence”

Emily Davison’s Death

• On June 5th 1913, it was the day of the famous Epsom Derby horse racing, which the Kings Horse would be competing in

• A suffragette, Emily Davison, was there, she had been in prison 9 times due to her campaigning

• As the horses rounded Tattenham Corner, Emily rushed out and tried to take hold of the Kings Horse

• The kings horse (Anmer) kicked her in the head with his hoof

• At the time people thought Emily had purposely killed herself (suicide)

• It was later found out, she was just trying to attach a Suffragette banner onto the King’s horse, Anmer.

• She was seen as a martyr who died for her cause, her funeral was attended by thousands (not just suffragettes)

• The first articles after her death portrayed her as a fool who almost killed the kings horse along with herself

• Then just 10 days later, after her ‘amazing’ funeral, the newspapers portrayed her as a fearless hero and martyr

• Women over 21 got the vote in 1928 and same for men

• 1918, women over 30 get the vote

• Nancy Astor elected first MP in 1918