However during the Great War 1914-1918 women’s expectations and the expectations of women changed. As men were expected to go off and fight in the war it meant there were few left to make the munitions and equipment needed by the soldiers. The government therefore enlisted the help of women who had been left on the Home Front. This decision faced opposion from industrialists and trade unionists, who didn’t want unskilled women to hold jobs traditionally held by men. However in 1915 the ‘Ministry of Munitions’ was established with its primary aim being to enrol women in munitions factories. This was successful as by June 1917 80% of all weapons and shells being produced were being done so by women. The ‘Ministry of Munitions’ was proceeded in 1916 by the ‘Universal Military Conscription for Men’, which broke down previous prejudice concerning women taking on men’s jobs. In 1914 the number of employed women was 3 224 600, a considerable increase from the number before the war. The women tended to work part time in smaller firms, however they gained a lot from this work. The conditions were better, women now had enhanced independence and the wages were higher than the domestic service. The war didn’t however inflate women’s wages, as it would have men’s. This is because women were still not being treated equally although it can be said that their roles had changed. Several women were employed to replace a single man. This meant employers could say that the women were not directly replacing the men and thus could pay lower wages.
Women became indispensable in industries such as nursing, welfare services, offices, agriculture, and factories. In January 1918 the number of employed women had increased again to 4 814 600. By working in “men’s” jobs women were changing the balance of society. Although many women were taking on new roles, the domestic roles still ad to be filled, thus those working pre-war continued in their current roles.
The British women of WW1 wanted to help in more ways than simply working in factories and staying at home. Hence they set up a number of organisations to help on the Front Line. At first the authorities were unhappy about this and refused to let women work for the British. But for the British women there was a way around this, for example the “Women’s Hospital Corps” worked with the French Red Cross until the British war office allowed them to work for them. A Russian said of the ‘Scottish Women’s Unit’, “No wonder England is a great country if women are like that.” To the British women it seemed that every other country except their own appreciated their efforts. The British government did eventually realise the women’s efforts. This showed that during the war, the attitudes towards women changed, which meant they could change their roles in society. The organisations women established in the war, were not only to do with nursing, for example the ‘Women’s Royal Air Force’ formed in 1918 employed women to work as fitters and drivers, as did the ‘First Aid Nursing Yeomanry’.
With there being few men at home in Britain, women set up organisations on the Home Front to control situations there. The ‘Women’s Police Service’ was established in 1914 to control the behaviour of young girls. The government was reluctant, as they had always opposed female police officers, however due to the high numbers of men joining the British Army, they had little choice in the matter. The ‘WPS’ worked closely with ‘Women’s Patrols’ and together they replaced the police force during the war effort.
During the war British women made a unanimous decision to stop campaigning for the vote and focus on supporting the war effort instead. They did however still try and be part of British politics. They worked together with women form other countries as part of the ‘Women’s Peace Party’. These women discussed ways to prevent any future wars from occurring. However the British government was as ever not prepared to let their women participate in such an activity. They thus refused to permit over 180 of British women to travel to the meeting being held in Amsterdam. This action highlights that during World War One although some aspects of British women’s lives did change, they still were unable to have anything to do with politics. They also continued to have much of their lives dominated by men.
By 1918, the end of WW1, women’s roles in British society had changed significantly from 1914 and the beginning of the First World War. However when the soldiers began to return home, women’s roles were challenged and it seemed as though their lives were going to how they had previously been in 1914. The women now knew they were capable of doing any job as effectively as a man. They were not prepared to have their freedom taken form them. The government decided that a gesture would perhaps stop British women from opposing them. As a way of thanking the women for their help in the war effort, the British government announced in February 1918 that all women over the age of thirty would have the right to vote. This pleased the Suffragettes to an extent however they still wanted more and were now even more determined, as they knew that they could get it. Not everybody was happy with the gesture made by the government. It upset the majority of women between eighteen and thirty, as they had been the ones to help the most in the war effort but they were not the ones reaping the benefits.
There were several other blows to come to British women. There was mass unemployment due to the number of soldiers who had returned from the war. Meaning that women had to give up their jobs so men could have them. Although the male dominance in women’s lives had not been prominent in WW1, it was now after the war beginning to show more again. Women were allowed to retain ‘soft’ jobs such as government clerks and other administrative roles. This sparked a feud between women, because single women and those widowed by the war, felt it was their right to have first refusal of these jobs. This was because married women had an income from their husbands but the other women needed jobs to care for themselves and their families. Before WW1 the majority of British women were content with their lives and did not expect any more than they had. During and after the war not only the roles of women in society changed, but so to did women’s attitude to society. Women knew that they had the same rights as men. They also knew they could any job just as well as a man.
Although women over thirty now had the right to vote, it was such a small percentage that it didn’t really have an effect on society. Women therefore still had a limited political influence, however the Suffragettes were still determined to gain more influence. They now knew that because the government had given a minority of women the vote it would be easier to push them to their advantage and win the vote for more women. The Suffragettes did not neglect to forget that it was a step in the right direction and was an important stepping-stone for the change of women’s role in society.
Another stepping stone for women was the new found respect men now had for them. Although they were still not treated as equals, women were given more time by men. The government had no problem with now employing women to work for them, portraying a change in attitude from before 1914 when women only usually worked in the domestic service. This was another significant change in the role of women in British society, as the British looked up to the government for direction.
There were some men who still agreed with the preconceptions that women were not able to do some jobs, for example the head of the police force, Sir Nevil Macready who refused to make women a permanent feature of his force as they would “irritate” male members of the force.
The First World War had some long-term effects on women’s role in British society. Women now had a political influence, however limited it may have been. This was a big concession for the government to make, and had an even bigger impact on women’s role. They now had a say in the way they lived, even though it was a very small contribution. This action from the government was a symbol of their realisation of how much of a necessity women were and will be to them.
Women now were being given a lot more respect from British men. Before the war men had viewed women as either their employees, or something almost materialistic. However in 1918 and even now women were given much more respect from men – so much so that they were given jobs as government clerks.
As well as the long term changes there were also short-term changes made to women’s role. There was a still a stigma concerning women’s place in society. Although the government allowed women to work for them, they were still excluded from many professions, including teaching – in the 1920’s there was a campaign against the employment of female teachers – and medicine – although during the war female students were accepted in the 1920’s they were dismissed on the grounds of modesty. This exclusion meant that women as pre-WW1 were now either usually found in the domestic service or at home looking after their families.
The First World War undoubtedly had an impact on women’s role in British society and significantly changed their roles. This does not mean to say that this change was to last, nor either was it only temporary. Most of the immediate changes made were temporary, however they marked the beginning of change. They provided the first vital steps towards long term change, for example, the 1928 Reform Act which gave all women over twenty-one the vote. Without the commitment and determination of the women of WW1, who could say what women’s roles in British society would be today?
