On the western front casualties were very high and more people were needed to take care of the injured soldiers. By 1917, there were hundreds of women doctors and thousands of nurses treating wounded service men on the front.
The increasing demand in war economy lead to the employment of women in large numbers and made the government realize the importance of the contribution that women could make to the war effort.
The results of the rising female employment due to several factors changed the views of society and government. They became more helpful and positive towards female employment. Women fought their rights in the ' Right to work march' in July 1915. It was led by Christabel Pankhurst and thirty thousand women were involved. The ' Right to work march' and the Great Shell Shortage brought an end to Asquith's policy of ' business as usual' and a coalition government was set up. Those two events also lead to government encouragement of female employment. David Lloyd George wanted to increase the production of weapons and ammunitions and he used women to help him achieve in expanding the industry. Society also started to accept women in different occupations. Girls joined the Land Army and took the places of farm workers. Women also began to be accepted in professions. In 1916, for the first time, women began to serve in the armed forces.
Views of society and government changed and became more helpful towards female employment. The government encouraged female employment and this was a big opportunity for women. In 1915, millions of women grabbed this opportunity and there was a rapid increase in female employment.
The increasing number of men going to the front, the increasing demands of war economy and the changes of attitudes towards women were the factors behind rising female employment. However, if the casualties at the western front weren't so high and there was no increase in the number of men going to the front, then, the rise in female employment wouldn't have taken place in 1915. This is because there wouldn't be an increasing demand of war economy if there wasn't an increase in the number of men going to the front. So many men wouldn't have gone to the front if the casualties weren't so high.
Q3)
We know that before the war, women were mainly employed in Domestic Service, Textiles and the Sweated trades. Those were the three areas where women were employed in large numbers. These were the jobs that did not require a high level of education. Most of the work was manual. By 1914, there were women working in the professions, but there was considerable resistance to their employment. Although women were able to qualify for degrees at some universities, they were unable to use them. The First World War was the first real opportunity for qualified women and also, for women to work in different types of jobs. During the war, women worked in industries such as: weapons and ammunition, car manufacturing and airplane construction. Hundreds of thousands of women worked in these factories. By 1917, women worked in a wide range of jobs, this included: brick makers, bus drivers and conductresses, welders, ticket inspectors, carpenters, porters, van drivers, theatre managers, electricians and foresters. Many girls also joined the land army. Although these jobs as well did not require a high level of education, conditions were better and the wages were higher.
World War 1 gave women the opportunity to work in a wider range of jobs. Before the war, the type of jobs that was available for women were very limited. However, many women had worked as primary teachers before 1914, but by 1919, they occupied more than half of all posts. Women also began to be accepted in the legal professions. In 1916, banks began to use women to collect money from branches in the city and Reuters used women as messengers. By 1917, there were hundreds of women doctors and thousands of nurses. For the first time, women began to serve in the armed forces in 1916. World War 1 has made the employment opportunity for women higher. However, after the war, there was a big campaign to persuade women to give up their jobs and go back to being housewives. By 1918, the number of women working as domestic servants had risen to 1,845,000, well above its pre-war level. These results lead us to think that World War 1 did not change the employment opportunities of women in Britain. However, women now have ' one foot on the ladder, towards equal rights right for women. Women also have a wider range of skills they could later use. Also, several professions began to accept women much more readily. Women doctors were needed in large numbers due to the vast number of casualties during the First World War. The effects of World War One raised the level of female employment opportunities because it takes a lot of times for attitudes to change.
Before the war, women were normally paid two thirds of a man's wage and they were rarely promoted above men. Women often work in very bad conditions and it was almost impossible for them to do anything about them. Before the war, women needed to earn money but they also had to take care of their children. They were in a very desperate position and they were an easy target for employers. However, during the war, it was the government that needed women to work in the jobs that men left. Even during the war, conditions were still bad for the women who worked in the factories. They did a lot of dangerous work and many became ill from inhaling poisonous gases and the explosive powder caused lung diseases. Some women became unable to have children. However, hundreds of thousands of women worked in these factories for the high wages of £3 a week. The number of working hours was less than before the war, where women had to work very long hours as domestic servants. After the war, women went back to being domestic servants because there was a big campaign to persuade women to give up their jobs and go back to being housewives. Moral blackmail was used to persuade them to give up their jobs and they were sometimes attacked. These events lead us to think that everything went back to zero for women's employment opportunities. However, World War 1 acted, if nothing else as a way of improving the long term move towards equal rights for women. 1975...
World War1 might have not directly changed female employment opportunities, but it changed the ' Victorian' attitudes at the time. Then in turn, it broadened opportunities for female employment in the long term. Before the war, many people simply thought that women were less capable than men. One reason for this was that women were often not as well educated as men. Many families educated their sons but not their daughters. It was assumed that women would get married and have children. Women grabbed their chance during World War 1 to prove their worth. During the war, women fought their rights for the first time in the ' Right to Work March' in which 30,000 women took part. When women made a big contribution to the war effort, it changed the government's attitudes towards female employment and they even encouraged this through propaganda. However, the employment of women was not always popular. In 1915, there were strikes against women workers and the government was forced to sign agreements with unions to the effect that women would not keep their jobs at the end of the war. Although the government attitudes started to change, the population of Britain didn't. Male workers showed their disapproval by refusing to help women workers and land girls faced very stiff resistance from many farmers who did not like land girls. The attitudes of society started to change but very slowly. Clearly, World War 1 proved women's worth. Even though men re-took their jobs in 1918, the Victorian attitudes were now abandoned. Whilst it was a long road to equality, it starts with World War 1. The changing of attitudes, lead to women getting the vote in 1918. (Get info on role of women in ww2)
Although men re-took their jobs in 1918 using harsh methods, the 'Victorian' attitudes were now abandoned because World War 1 proved women's worth. Also, World War 1 acted, if nothing else, as a way of improving the long term move towards equal rights for women. Only then, would women be employed on the same terms as men.
Therefore, in conclusion, World War 1 did not give any immediate results on the level of change of employment opportunities for women. However, one stage for women was now competed, which was getting rid of the 'Victorian' attitudes. After the war, women could then move on to the second stage with the wide range of skills that they learnt in World War One.
Assignment Two
Q1)
Source A suggests that women were not equal to men. Even women from the middle class would not get the vote whilst jobless men would be able to get it. This source shows that although women managed to get in the higher ranks of society, they were yet not awarded for this by getting the vote. This shows that it is not enough for a woman to get a highly paid and highly respected job to be equal to a man.
If a woman with a good job cannot get the vote whilst a jobless man can, then the source suggests that the system of the votes needs changing. The source is suggesting what more should a women do to get the vote. It shows that it is not the women that need to change, but rather, the system of the vote. However, the source might also be a message for women that being well placed in society is not enough to acquire the vote but they will have to fight for it.
Q2)
Source C suggests that the suffragette activity does not help women getting the vote. Rather, they show a negative image of women. The suffragette's violent protests are actually harming the suffrage female campaign. The message of the cartoon drawing in source C is that in order for women to get the vote they need to get the government's or society's support. The source shows that violent protests are certainly not the solution for women getting the vote.
Bernard Partridge shows in the drawing his views on what the suffrage campaign should or should not do. This shows that Partridge thinks that women should get the vote.
Source B does not suggest that the suffragette activity harms the vote, but it suggests that the violent protests of suffragettes are not ladylike. Marie Correly is showing that women are not acting like themselves and so they do not deserve to get the vote. Source B does support source C in that women should get the vote, but the suffragettes are not helpful. Source B suggests that women should act like themselves and look respectful like the suffragist drawn on source C. However, source b has a very vague message. At first, it suggests that women should get the vote but then it says ' women are destined to make voters rather than to be voters themselves.' At the end of the source it suggests that women are to blame for the situation they are in. The reason is because of the way women brought up their sons.
The two sources differ in some ways because the motive behind each is different. Source C has a political message on the women suffrage campaign, whilst source B has no political message. From the text we can see that it is about women in society (source B), but it crosses over with source C when it talks about the votes for women.
Q3)
Suffragette activity has not helped women in gaining the vote. The suffragette activity and its violent protests have only managed to get themselves noticed by the public and the government. The reason behind why women had not gained the vote by the outbreak of World War 1 was because of the suffragette activity, the ' Victorian' attitudes that people had towards women, and the political reasons.
Suffragette activity did not help women in gaining the vote. As a matter of fact suffragette actions were actually counter productive. The violent protests only managed to get themselves noticed by the government and the public. Source D says that the 'violent campaigning' has become a 'matter of news' which means that it has done any help. Source D also mentions that it is not the suffragette activity that will help women in gaining the vote, but the government and public opinion that will change whether or not women will be given the vote. The extension of suffragette attacks finally convinced many politicians that they should not give in to such tactics. Although a majority of MPs supported the right of women to vote, there was a strong feeling that the government should not be seen to submit to what amounted to terrorism. In 1912, the violence became more extreme. The damage to churches, property and art eventually turned many people against suffragette activity and their cause.
The second reason of why women had not gained the votes is because of the 'Victorian' attitudes that people had towards women in 1900. The idea of paternalism assumed that it was a duty for men to make decisions and provide for both their wives and their children. The women's duty was to raise the children and nothing else. The role of women in the working classes was to run the household and go out to work. Women in the wealthier classes are definitely to be ' seen but not to be heard,' they are to act as a support to their husbands. Before the war, women were discriminated against work, property rights, and education and politics. At this situation, women were in no shape in managing to get the vote unless the 'Victorian' attitudes of the people were abandoned. Then, at this point, women would be seen as equal to men.
The 1906 general election results gave the Liberals complete control of the House of Commons. They also had the support of the Irish, Labour and Trade Unions. The WSPU expected that the result would lead to an act of Parliament giving the vote to women. However, Labour and Liberal Mps were afraid that giving the vote to women would simply create more conservative voters. Although there was a lot of substantial majority of MP in favor for votes for women, when it came to agreeing on how the vote was to be extended to women, there was plenty of disagreement. The most important reason why the Liberals were reluctant to give the vote to women was because it was not politically important. Few people in Britain regarded women's suffrage as a major issue. Before World War 1 there were a number of problems that the Liberals had to deal with, like the number of mass demonstrations in Britain, some to do with trade union disputes and others with anarchists. There were also the Irish who wanted a Home Rule Bill for Ireland. This led to unrest in Ulster (Northern Ireland) and the creation of two armed forces, the Ulster volunteers and the Irish volunteers. In 1914, major violence was only prevented by the outbreak of World War One. So the Liberals had quite to think off, quite apart from the suffragettes. Votes for women appeared to be a minor issue compared with others that the Liberal Government had to deal with. The last reason on why women had not been given the vote by 1914 was because of the different opinions on what votes for women meant. Source E is part of a speech given by a member of Parliament in 1913. The members think that giving the votes to women 'will ultimately put the control of the government into female hands.'
Q4)
Source F is a poster of a woman in front of a cannon. At the bottom right is written 'Women munition workers.' On the poster the woman is presented as a hero, 'On her, their lives depend.' This poster is a piece of propaganda produced by the government in 1916. The target was to convince women to contribute to the war effort in the munitions factory. This shows that the government is desperate for women's help. However, the poster does not show us if women did contribute to the war effort, but in most cases, there is a positive response to the propaganda and women would employ. Also, seeing how well the poster looks with a beautiful woman on it looking proud and happy suggests that there would have been a positive response. Source F, however, remains a piece of propaganda which means that it is biased and does not show any strong evidence for the contribution of women o the war effort.
Source G is statistics from a school text book published in 1980. It shows the number of women employed in some industries in July 1914 compared to the number of women employed in 1918. From the source, we can see that the number of women employed increased a lot from 1914 to 1918. However, the source only shows the statistics for 4 different areas: Metal industries, Chemical industries, Government offices, and food, drink and tobacco. Therefore, we do not know if these areas were specifically a contribution to the war effort. The metal industries might have been connected to the munition industry, and the chemical industries might have provided chemicals for chemical bombs. The food, drink and tobacco industries were maybe providing food, drink and tobacco for soldiers on the front. However, the source does not prove if that was the case. Therefore, source G is not a strong piece of evidence for the contribution of women in the war effort. The statistics were taken from a school textbook in the 1980's, we can think that these statistics are fairly accurate. Therefore it is a reliable piece of information. If we take in consideration that the employment of women raised during the war, then we can conclude that they were employed to contribute to the war effort. However, the employment of women might as well have risen after 1916 which means that the source would not have been evidence for the contribution of women to the war effort. Source G alone is not a strong piece of evidence, even though it is not a piece of propaganda.
Only when sources F and G are looked at together, we can see a direct and supported evidence of the contribution of women to the war effort. Source G shows the rise of female employment between 1914 and 1918 and source F shows the reason for this. Source F suggests that the government wanted to employ women to contribute to the war effort and they used propaganda. We can say that the statistics of source G is a response to the propaganda. If we link the two sources we can see that there was a rise of women in employment because the government wanted them to contribute to the war effort.
5)
An important reason of why women earned the votes in 1918 is because of the work that women did during the war. However, this was not the only reason; there was also a change of attitudes during the war and there were also political reasons of why women earned the vote.
During the First World War, 10,000 British people joined the armed forces. This left many jobs to be done t home. For this reason, 1,200,000 women began to work for the first time. During the war, more factories opened employing more women. In 1916, the government finally realized the importance of the contribution that women could make to the war effort. The significance of the role of women was appreciated everywhere. In 1916, Herbert Asquith who had tried to put off giving the vote to women before 1914, admitted that women had proved that they were responsible enough to vote. He even admitted that the war could not have been won without the efforts of women. Women 'had preformed a service for the government which could be rewarded by giving the vote to such loyal citizens.' The text from source H suggests that there is a big chance that women would get the vote because of the hard work that women did during the war.
The work that women did during World War One managed to change the attitudes of the government, however, it was even harder to change the attitudes of men in general. Throughout the war, women proved their capabilities and they were able to show that they were as worthy as men. For the first time, women demonstrated their true worth during the war and that is when attitudes of society began to change. Therefore, the hard work that women did changed several things which eventually led them to getting the vote in 1918.
In the 19th century, attitudes towards women were very strict. Women had few rights. During the war, there were many people still following the idea of paternalism which assumed that it was both a right and duty on the part of men to make decisions and provide for both wives and children. There was a strong notion of the mental and physical 'inferiority of women.' The role of a woman was to run the house and bring up the family. In the wealthier classes, women were only to be 'seen but not to be heard.' Women were also not to be involved in politics. Women were discriminated against work, property rights, education and politics. This obviously means that they were also discriminated against the votes. During the war, society was slowly moving away from the 'Victorian values.' Women played a vital role during the war and this changed many people's attitudes. However, even though women were playing a vital role, they were 'greatly resented' in farms, hospitals and factories. During the war, women had for the first time a more challenging role. By accomplishing this role, men began to think that women were responsible enough to vote. The changing of attitudes of society and government in general was an important factor that earned women the vote. However, attitudes wouldn't have changed if women did not show their capabilities during the war. Also, the changing of attitudes alone is not enough for women to earn the vote, political changes were also needed.
Certainly during the war there were many political changes. At the outbreak of World War One, Emmeline Pankhurst called off suffragette actions. However, after the war there was nothing stopping them from starting again. It may have not been a serious threat to the government, but it was one that was better avoided. By 1918, there were in fact few politicians who were against women's suffrage. Women had played a vital and responsible role during the war and most of the arguments against women's suffrage were no longer valid. The Representation of the People Act in 1918, gave the government the opportunity to give women the vote without fear off appearing to be giving in to women. Political changes were the cause of women getting the vote. However, some of these political changes wouldn't have occurred if women didn't work hard during the war. I agree with the statement that 'It was the work that women did during the war that earned them the vote.' However, the cause of women earning the vote 'must not be isolated from the great social and political changes.' It is true that these changes led to women getting the vote in 1918, however, these changes wouldn't have occurred if women hadn't shown their capabilities by working hard during the war.
