The Effects of First World War on British Women

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The Effects of First World War on British Women

In this assignment, I have been asked whether the First World War

liberated British women. To obtain a definite answer to this question

I intend to study the roles that women were viewed to have and analyse

how these roles changed over time. I also need to find what impact

other peoples attitudes had on the course of liberation for women, and

will do so by studying a wide array of information from a selection of

primary and secondary sources. I will need to study these sources

carefully and in the process investigate their utility and

reliability. My main areas of study for this assignment are; the

movements of the Women’s Social and Political Union (also know as the

suffragette’s) and whether they were the cause of the liberation,

attitudes of women throughout history, (I.E. The typical male point of

view) and the importance the war effort held as a major cause of

Women’s Liberation. This will aid me in answering the aforesaid

question.

To begin with, I will look at the women’s lives prior to the First

World War and how they were and how they were bound to the home.

Along with the industrial revolution and the abolition of child labour

in 1819, women were increasingly restricted to the home. In source A1

Ann Oakley, in her book “Housewife” suggests just that. She says that

in pre-industrial Britain women’s involvement in the agricultural and

textiles industry was essential, as the family unit was Britain’s

“basic unit of production.” Women were the equal counterparts of men,

as they played and equal part in the survival of the family. Women

worked alongside the men spin...

... middle of paper ...

...at they wanted, not so much deserved.

Although the way women were viewed by others certainly changed at this

time, probably not in a good way.

On a whole, thinking as a historian, I believe that that the First

World War did not fully liberate British women. Women even up to the

1960’s and 70’s were not even close to becoming equal to men. I feel

the events mentioned in my essay were important triggers to

liberation, but they did not cause it. The Suffragettes played a

crucial role in women’s liberation but the biggest trigger for it was

the outbreak of War and efforts of British women and their

contribution to victory. The War brought opportunities that would

never have been made available otherwise. These opportunities

ultimately allowed women to prove themselves worthy of equal rights to

the men of Britain.

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