The impact of WWI on the roles of women was a drastic change for women, men and governments at that time. Women’s jobs changed, from cleaning up after people, staying at home and taking care of the kids to nursing, engineering, factory workers, truck drivers etc. Their usefulness, as well as their value and role to society saw an upwards transformation, the government was asking women for help after years of thinking that they were useless nuisances in the workforce. Seeing them as unable to do jobs that required strength or brains. The introduction of women through WW1 highlighted the fact that Women could do men’s work as well, in fact maybe even better than the men themselves. Therefore, the governments encouraged women, watching their progress and began to value their input with pride.
All countries involved in WWI excluding Germany felt the need for help and support from women. During WWI, Germany refused to involve women in the war, which could be seen as a reason why they lost the war. Germany saw the entry of women into the workforce not as support, but as a way of undercutting men’s jobs. German philosophy of women has been summarized in 3 words, “Kinder, Kuche, Kirche” (children, kitchen, church). A few members of the German High Command believed that it was necessary to include women into the workforce due to the necessities of war, however those with this belief were in the minority and could not prevail against the other members. However, despite their resistance against including women in the workforce, a few women volunteered. Poor encouragement from the government, lead to a smaller number of female volunteers in the workforce than Germany’s opponents. Germany lacked large support from their industries at home due to lower number in their workforce, especially as all men and young boys between the age 17 and 60 who worked in the factories were taken to the front. Production of machines and replacement parts etc was in decline because they neglected to utilize women in their industry. Germany therefore lacked manpower on the home front with production. Although they didn’t utilize the female workforce at home unlike Britain, Russia, France, and Austria, Germany used women in their occupied territories.
In contrast to Germany’s lack of belief in their women, Britain as well as Russia, France, and Austria did not hesitate to encourage and welcome their women going from being housewives, household helpers, unemployed or child care givers to loading and unloading coal, driving trucks and trolley cars, working in the factories to make ammunition, bombs, gases etc. It was such a huge opportunity for women, such a preeminent chance that most women weren’t hesitant to make themselves available. In Britain two million women volunteered and started doing men’s jobs, in Russia the amount of women working in factories went from 26% to 43%, in France, the percentage of working women increased by 20%, and in Austria one million women started working. It goes without say that women volunteering varied by country and within the countries by regions, as well.
Despite the skill shown by women while the men were away, when the war was over women were expected to leave their jobs and return to care for their families and resume their "rightful “place in society. For that reason, when the men returned, thousands of women voluntarily left their jobs, to care for demobilized husbands and sons, even if they didn’t want to. Women during that short period of time, working felt independent, acquired confidence this could be seen in their changed behavior such as going out un-chaperoned or drinking in public. This newly gained confidence lead to women everywhere demanding for their rights to vote, rights to divorce, rights to be educated further than primary education, rights to own property and the right to keep their children after divorcing. Slowly governments decided they would accept a couple of their demands. Even though Germany didn’t involve women in the workforce, the women’s right movements reached them. In Germany women were breaking the Kinder, Kuche, Kirche philosophy and they succeeded during the Weimar Republic. They ended up achieving secondary education rights, the right for women over 21 to vote, women were allowed to become nurses, teachers and civil servants. Sadly, the rights German women acquired were quickly overturned by the rise of the Nazi party. In Britain, their government gave women over 30 the right to vote, they also gave the right for married women to work. Even with the effort the government attempted to put forth, women who lost their husbands were furious with the outcome of married women only being allowed to work. They believed that since those women were married, they shouldn’t be given that right because they need to care for their wounded husbands and children. The act of banning married women from jobs open to female civil servants was passed in 1921 but didn’t last long. Alongside the rights for women to vote, in 1919 the Sex Disqualification Act, a law stating that it was technically illegal to refuse employment to women who applied to do men’s jobs was enforced, however it wasn’t fully implemented. Britain’s government also gave women the right to work in higher professions than before; doctors, dentists, own their own properties and study at universities.
The way women were looked at after the war, changed. Women were no longer seen as window dressing, adornments or homemakers but were seen as capable supports to their men and the society in which they lived. Without their volunteering in the workforce, giving into women’s demands would have been seen as ridiculous and would have been avoided. However, because of World War 1 and their need of women, the changes were aloud and women’s roles kept improving, leading up to now.
