The Supporting Role of Women in the First World War
Topic #74: What Role did Women Play in the First World War

Name: Nicole Terry
Student Number: 0523481
Professor: Keith Walden
Teacher Assistant: Alison Perry
Date: March 12, 2014
Course: History 1500
The Great War began in August 1914 as a result of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. With the initiation of the war the call for citizens to bravely fight for their county was shortly followed. But the call for action did not only signify male participation, but it required the mobilization of women as well. “Thus from the very start, wartime media … called upon women specifically” to support their country. During The Great War propaganda is essential to the mobilization of women. Women play a significant role in the First World War in providing a support system that help to reinforce their military. Women’s support is displayed in a variety of ways. The brave and the qualified women work alongside their male counterparts on the war front, as nurses and espionage members. While others provide support from the home front through the participation of females in the workplace and continuing to be the primary caregiver for the households and children. The importance of female involvement in The Great War lies in the significant consequences women’s participation has had subsequently. Without women’s involvement the story of the war would differ greatly.
Women roles as nurses in the Great War is crucial to the support of the any nation’s militia. “During the Great War, the call for women to work for victory grew enthusiastic support.” Women felt their participation as nurses was their “contribution to the war effort.” “Nearly 80 000 nurses…” and women with first aid experience sign up to help, and those of which qualify are sent to work on the war front. The enthusiastic support is a result of “several motivating factors” according to Henriette Donner. Some of which include, nationalism, and the “appeal of traditional feminine work [and also] the impulse of emancipation from traditional gender roles” in the medical field.
As a result of the female doctors, gender roles begin to change. Prior to the war, and the need for female doctors, “doctors …were expected to be men.” This causes tension in the war time as female doctors and nurse have to begin to fight for their professional role on the warfront. Resulting from the rejection of female medical staff, “women established their own voluntary organizations” such as “the Women’s Hospital Corps” and “V.A.D. (Voluntary Aid Detachment).” Such organizations gain recognition and praise through the overwhelming amount of injured soldiers they are able to treat. Despite the fact that female nurses and doctors struggle to be seen as professionals their role is vital to the survival of soldiers. An example of this important role is told by Nurse Elisabeth Courtauld. Nurse Coutauld bravely serves at a medical camp in France and recalls a particular night where:
Between 10.30 and 4 a.m. we had to amputate six thighs and one leg, mostly by the light of bits of candle… and as for me giving anaesthetic, I did it more or less in the dark… air raids were over us nearly all night and sometimes we had to blow out the candles for a few minutes and stop when one heard the Boche right over…
Elisabeth Coutauld’s story describes the true reliance the militias has on the female medical workers. It can be made clear that the female nurses and doctor’s determination and bravery is key to the support of the army. On the warfront women do not only work as medicinal workers, but also as espionage members. Spies are used for “gathering and passing along information.” Both the Allies and the Central Powers utilize women for the purpose of gaining vital information about their enemy. An example of female Allie spies is Louise de Bettugnies and Edith Cavell. Louise and Edith assists “Allied soldiers escape capture” from the troops that occupy France, and other high tension areas, at the time. But the use of females as espionage goes much deeper than simply helping soldiers escape capture. In the case of another Allie spy Marthe Richer, her mission is to get close to German officials. Marthe “worked as a double-agent… and passed along secrets obtained from her laision with a German Officer.” The vital role of female espionage is extremely valuable to a given alliance as it allows them to prepare for what was to come and also help in saving captive soldiers. Though espionage is not an overly common role for women to do, it is important in terms of how women participate in various aspects of the war. Part of the reason female espionage was successful is because of the promiscuous and innocent behaviour of the women. In the case of a famous German spy Mata Hari, she is a “well-known dancer” and she uses her flirtatious behaviour to “seduce men into betraying their country’s secrets.” Mata then relay’s the key information to her Officials. Here espionage is yet another profound example of how female volunteers support their country’s soldiers on the warfront. As for on the home front women’s roles take a different position. Propaganda is essential to the women’s war effort at home as posters yielded women to be the crucial element to supporting the militia and encouraged them to assist. The women on the home front are assisting the military indirectly versus their direct assistance they have on the warfront. This was accomplished by replacing the male role in the workplace and by continuing to care for the household and children. When the men eagerly departed to war “to demonstrate their patriotism”women are left to fill their positions in the workplace and to carry on with daily jobs and activities. This results in women being introduced to “a wide range of occupations, some of which had never before included women.” Females are quickly replacing male roles in “factories… banks and places of business and government [and also work] running trams and buses, delivering milk… and sustaining agriculture.” With the introduction of females to the workplace, men were able to enlist in the military knowing they had support from home. It was essential that the militia has support from the women at home not only to continue with the work and replace the absent men, but to supply the army with food, equipment, ammunition, and other resources required for war. In terms of “food production, forage and timber the help of … women was urgent and indispensable.” Though this support is necessary to war, women working in male fields is concerning. For example women working in munition factories often experience “prolonged exposure to various chemicals” which ultimately “jeopardize the health of their future mothers.” Another concern evolved around the “little opportunity for training” women receive entering the workforce. Despite these factors there was a “rush of women into engineering and explosives” in the beginning stages of the war. Without the women’s support at home in the workplace such fundamental duties would fail to be done.
Women not only replace males in the workplace but continue to provide support from their household. This is achieved by the mothers and married women who help in continuing to tend to the house, and children. From the governments point of view, during the war, women are fundamental to “the very survival of the race…” The government sought women’s function as a caregiver to be vital, as they must “save every saveable child” in order to protect their race and nation. The main fear in this period is that with the war the population of the youth is perishing and with that so is the future number of male soldiers. Overall the contribution of women at home is a “fundamental need of the nation from it’s the women, [whom] keep its homelife sound and. . .guard.”
Women participation in The Great War as medical staff, espionage, factory workers and caregivers is not only important to the direct effect it had in supporting their troops and country, but is significant in the effects it had proceeding the war. Contrasting to the mobilization at the beginning of the war, after the war there is a “demobilization of troops and women war workers.” This poses a problem for the women on the home front because they were now being replaced by the returning males. The women’s participation during the war has had a strong impact on political, and social women’s rights.
The first major impact of female participation after the war was the “changes in women’s political rights.” Following the war, in numerous countries, women suffrage movements grow and continue to fight for the right for women to federally vote. Women “sought to use their war service … as evidence of their qualifications for the full rights of citizenship.” Women feel that their role in war is important and they deserve an input of federal matters, and it is through this continuous pressure that political rights are slowly beginning to change for women. The “war service performed by women provided a rationale and an excuse for male legislators to grant women the vote.” This is the first political recognition women received as they now had the ability to impact the government’s decisions. The political changes are a direct result of the female war efforts in the First World War.
In terms of women employment after The Great War there was not only a termination of women in the workplace but also a newfound role outside of the household. While the men are fighting over seas, the women fill their position in the workplace, learning a new role and gaining experience outside of being a caregiver. In this sense the war shifted “the kind of work performed by women,” but “the process of demobilization … thrust many women out of the workplace” again. This results in the unemployment of many women creating a tough situation as some women did not want to return to household work. In some situations the government offered Civil Service jobs to upper-class women. But a large proportion of workplaces, like factories, “were reluctant to keep… the women they employed.” The extent of women employment depends “on nation, class, education, age and other factors” because of various post war needs, for different nations. Whether the nation or occupation The Great War has had a tremendous impact on female employment.
The Great War was the start of shifting attitudes of women in the workplace. The war mobilizes and introduces females to a variety of jobs. In hope of changing the social norms of the current societies “. . . women contributed to the war . . . on a voluntary basis.” Various female’s volunteer on the warfront working alongside the men, as nurses and doctors caring for the injured despite their difficulty working in a male dominated field. Women also play a vital role in providing secret intel as espionage members. In some cases women help captured soldiers to escape, but in others cases women deceive their enemy to gather information. As for on the home front women’s roles involve replacing the men’s positions in the workplace, but women also play an important role in continuing to raise children and run the household. They provided “material production and good morale.” All of these roles are “undeniably important” to the support of the army during The Great War, whether it was a direct assistance, such as on the warfront, or support from home.
With evolving roles during the wartime, the public perception of gender begins to shift. The involvement of women after the war had significant consequences that have influenced our world today. Women’s involvement in the war helped to push female political rights and also changes the women’s role as strictly being a stay at home mom. Overall The Great War has had dramatic effects ranging from the recruitment, participation, and evolution of women’s roles in society.

Bibliography
Braybon: Gail. Women Workers in the First World War. Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Books, (1981).
Donner, Henriette. 1997. "Under the cross--why V.A.D.s performed the filthiest task in the dirtiest war: Red Cross women.” Journal of Social History 30, no. 3: 687. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed March 6, 2014).
Glassford, Sarah, Amy Shaw, Alison Norman, Margot I. Duley, Terry Wilde, Linda J. Quiney, Terry Bishop Stirling, Kori Street, Kristin Alexander, Desmond Morton, Suzanne Evans, Vicki S. Hallett, Lynn Kennedy, Amy Tector. A sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War. Vancouver: UBC Press, (2012).
Grayzel: Susan. Women and the First World War. Harlow England: Pearson Education Limited, (2002).
Richelson: Jeffrey. A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, (1995).
Watson, Janet S.K. 2002. "Wars in the Wards: The Social Construction of Medical Work in First World War Britain." Journal of British Studies 41, no. 4: 484. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed March 6, 2014).
Whitehead: Ian. Doctors in the Great War. Great Britain: Lee Cooper, (1999).

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[ 1 ]. Susan Grayzel, Women and the First World War. (Harlow England: Pearson Education Limited, 2002), xiii.
[ 2 ]. Grayzel, Women and the First World War, 3.
[ 3 ]. Ibid., 10.
[ 4 ]. Henriette, Donner. "Under the cross--why V.A.D.s performed the filthiest task in the dirtiest war: Red Cross women" Journal of Social History 30, no. 3: 687. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed March 6, 2014), 687.
[ 5 ]. Watson, Janet S.K. "Wars in the Wards: The Social Construction of Medical Work in First World War Britain." Journal of British Studies 41, no. 4: 484. Historical Abstracts, EBSCOhost (accessed March 6, 2014), 486.
[ 6 ]. Donner, “Under the cross”, 687.
[ 7 ]. Glassford, A sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War 103.
[ 8 ]. Donner, “Under the cross”, 687.
[ 9 ]. Donner, “Under the cross”, 687-688.
[ 10 ]. Watson, "Wars in the Wards: The Social Construction of Medical Work in First World War Britain." 487.
[ 11 ]. Watson, "Wars in the Wards: The Social Construction of Medical Work in First World War Britain." 487.
[ 12 ]. Whitehead: Ian. Doctors in the Great War. (Great Britain: Lee Cooper, 1999), 107.
[ 13 ]. Ibid., 107.
[ 14 ]. Ibid., 122.
[ 15 ]. Ibid., 109.
[ 16 ]. Grayzel, Women and the First World War 43.
[ 17 ]. Ibib., 43.
[ 18 ]. Ibib., 44.
[ 19 ]. Ibib., 44.
[ 20 ]. Ibib., 44.
[ 21 ]. Richelson, Jeffrey. A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century. (New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 1995), 26.
[ 22 ]. Ibib., 26.
[ 23 ]. Ibib., 44.
[ 24 ]. Grayzel, Women and the First World War 15.
[ 25 ]. Glassford, A sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War 103.
[ 26 ]. Grayzel, Women and the First World War 27.
[ 27 ]. Ibib., 27.
[ 28 ]. Glassford, A sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War 149.
[ 29 ]. Grayzel, Women and the First World War 15.
[ 30 ]. Glassford, A sisterhood of Suffering and Service: Women and Girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War 160.
[ 31 ]. Ibid., 161.
[ 32 ]. Gail Braybon, Women Workers in the First World War. (Totowa, New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Books, 1981) 45.
[ 33 ]. Ibib., 45.
[ 34 ]. Ibib., 112.
[ 35 ]. Ibib., 112.
[ 36 ]. Ibib., 112.
[ 37 ]. Ibib., 120.
[ 38 ]. Braybon, Women Workers in the First World War 173.
[ 39 ]. Grayzel, Women and the First World War, 101.
[ 40 ]. Ibid., 101.
[ 41 ]. Ibid., 102.
[ 42 ]. Ibid., 106.
[ 43 ]. Ibid., 102.
[ 44 ]. Grayzel, Women and the First World War 102.
[ 45 ]. Ibid.,106.
[ 46 ]. Ibid.,106.
[ 47 ]. Braybon, Women Workers in the First World War 181.
[ 48 ]. Grayzel, Women and the First World War 106.
[ 49 ]. Braybon, Women Workers in the First World War 184.
[ 50 ]. Grayzel, Women and the First World War 109.
[ 51 ]. Ibid., 118.
[ 52 ]. Ibid., 118.
[ 53 ]. Ibid., 118.