Introduction
World War I (WWI), also referred to as the Great War, was a major conflict event that started with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914. The murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand launched a war all over Europe that lasted for 4 years until 1918 (Wrinn, 2020). The war involved the Central Powers, including the major nations like Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Germany, and Bulgaria, which fought against the Allied Powers, including France, Russia, Great Britain, Canada, Japan, Romania, Italy, and America. Particularly, the United States of America played a key role in the event due to the direct involvement of its military that began in 1917 and its trade with the Allied Powers. America’s involvement in WWI had a significant impact on the country’s home front as well as the lives of its citizens. This was specifically seen among the American women who witnessed significant positive change in their lives and roles over the years of WWI.
How WWI Changed Women’s Role in America After the War
In the United States of America, women’s role before the Great War was limited to being just within the home. Public life in the country, including activities such as politics, was considered to be for men only. It was understood that women would neglect their home responsibilities if they were at all involved in politics (U.S. Department of Interior, 2022). However, throughout the Great War, great progress towards a shift of this attitude in American women was seen. Moreover, to improve their standing in society, several laws had to be implemented. Due to this, women gained increased rights over children and property in their marriages and divorce. Additionally, American women started getting more education opportunities and were allowed to participate in politics. Furthermore, the women were more able to work in blue-collar jobs. As a result, all the newly established laws opened ways for reform and were directed toward improving women’s roles and positions in society.
Besides the improvements made above on American women’s position in society, the first world war allowed American women to take direct roles in the military and gain their independence. Some of the women were assigned to roles at the forefront of the war, including providing support for the soldiers as doctors, translators, ambulance drivers, and nurses. About 20,000 American women were given nursing roles in the Army Nurse Corps and the Navy Nurse Corps (Nash & McNamara, 2018). However, they were denied the rank of the military despite their valued skills restricting their power and influence in the military command hierarchy.
In addition, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army relied on female volunteers that would help take care of the wounded soldiers. Moreover, since the automobile era was just beginning around the time of the Great War, organizations opted to use motorized ambulances to support medical treatment during the war. For this reason, American women that knew how to drive were called to help work as ambulance drivers and truck drivers (Beck, 2020). With automobiles, they were able to easily retrieve wounded soldiers, deliver medical supplies to the war, and transport patients to hospitals to receive healthcare services. Moreover, the truck drivers were able to easily supply the war with the resources required to run the war, such as food and ammunition.
Moreover, other American women joined the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) to help provide vast morale programs and welfare services for military soldiers. The women would operate in canteens to provide the soldiers with modest entertainment, and refreshments, and supervised female companionship to help boost their morale. The canteens were aimed at deflecting the men from prostitutes and bars by providing them with opportunities to interact and chat with decent American women (Nash & McNamara, 2018). Even though media narratives described these women as tender and with nurturing qualities, they were adventuresome and willing to serve their country at the near front of the war (“Women in WWI”, 2022). Therefore, these activities helped prove that the modern military machine needed more than combat skills to successfully conduct and win a war which strengthened their social standing.
In addition, other American women joined the United States Navy and took roles as Yeoman F or Yeomanettes and worked to receive the same pay as their male colleagues as radio operators, mechanics, radio presenters, and translators. The women that worked under the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit helped enhance communications on the western front of the war (Nash & McNamara, 2018). Then again, the women under this unit were denied formal recognition for their wartime contribution, similar to the ones that served as nurses and doctors but were able to present their significance. The American women’s contributions to WWI enabled the country’s military to direct its available resources and men to fight the war (Johnson, 2017). Following this reasoning, the women were able to enhance their influence and standing in American society and developed the foundation for today’s women’s participation in the military. In addition, their contributions motivated the women’s suffrage movement, which was later used to fight for women’s right to vote
Another way the Great War impacted the American women’s lives and roles was their part in aiding to supply the United States of America and other countries within the allied powers for the war. After the United States of America joined the Great War in 1917, it then became necessary for women to participate in the war effort. The women were then heavily recruited into the Great War using the press in propaganda efforts which would enable them to change their image as patriotic mothers from being recognized as good mothers (Johnson, 2017). The women were able to find employment in industries as switchboard operators and technicians to help produce ammunition, weapons, and other resources that would help supplement the continuing war. The available opportunities were a result of vacated spots by men who had been recruited to fight in the war or were created in support of the continuing war, such as munition factories. This provided a great opportunity for positive change in their societal roles, considering they could work beyond their home responsibilities before the start of World War I.
For this reason, many American women got the opportunity to work for the first time and under the employment of men. In addition, some women were able to work in manufacturing and heavy industry and as police officers and firefighters. Furthermore, the American women that continued with their traditional roles made their contributions to the Great War by taking part in Liberty Bond, food conservation as well as general community activities to help maintain morale and promote patriotism (Beck, 2020). With most of the men away from home, other American women had to fill agricultural positions in the country. This marked the first time in America for women to work in these jobs and with great numbers.
Moreover, participation in these jobs enabled American women to gain valuable skills that would help change their societal roles in the future. Therefore, the contributions of these women helped uphold American society through the challenging period in the country while supplementing the military with the required resources for the success of the war (Beck, 2020). In addition, without their participation in the war, many men would have been tied to their daily jobs on the home front, such as in agriculture and industries. As a result, the war would have been greatly affected as there would not be enough men available to fight the war.
Additionally, the American women had to take responsibility for maintaining and caring for their in the absence of the men as they were all deployed as soldiers in the Great War. This was an important step for the women as they were required to take care of their homes and children during a major global war. Moreover, American women had to face the difficulties of dealing with rationing responsibilities. This follows the fact that there was a country-wide emphasis on fuel and food consumption as well as production during WWI (Beck, 2020). This is because fuel and food were both important resources needed to supplement the war and promote its victory against the Central Powers.
Therefore, the U.S. government decided to ration the consumption of American civilians during the Great War on the home front. This step was supported by the establishment of the Federal Fuel Administration as well as the United States Food Administration. The administrations aimed to introduce particular measures and conduct different public campaigns to help limit the consumption of their resources (Beck, 2020). The food administration made the housewives in the country carry with them a signed pledge card that displayed their acceptance to execute the directions as well as advice provided on rationing. This would help them prepare more nutritious meals without waste while optimizing the available foods. This meant that they would be expected to grow vegetables in their backyards, can food for future consumption, and limit the consumption of fats, wheat, and meat when advised. This created significant challenges for the American women on the home front as they had to take great responsibility in handling these issues to ensure that their homes were well maintained and taken care of.
With all the contributions the women made during WWI, they started to discover more as active society members as well as an evolving group that strives to be more than the labeled housewives, which had been inhibiting their success. In addition, towards the end of the war, gender beliefs had started to shift to a less male-dominated setting since women had begun taking part in other sections besides the workforce (Beck, 2020). Moreover, as women participated more in social events, converted to be less polished, and stopped getting into marriages, the typical agrarian style of a woman continued to weaken. It was then replaced by the perception of working-class women and the growing involvement in this fast-changing cultural and work scene which creates a disposable income. As a result, the accumulated extra money enabled the women to partake in activities away from home and foster heterosexual trends that allowed them to make friends with the opposite sex without having any romantic relations. Therefore, this notion helped alter the genders to have a form of social interaction that is less segregated.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Great War initiated significant changes in the societal roles of American women. This was largely contributed to the contributions that they made during the war. Most of the women were called to join the army and take roles as nurses, doctors, and ambulance drivers. The nurses and doctors helped care for the wounded soldiers, ambulance drivers delivered medical supplies and patients to hospitals, and truck drivers supplied the war with ammunition and food. Other women joined as canteen workers through the YMCA to help boost the morale of soldiers using entertainment and refreshments. Moreover, some women contributed their efforts as radio operators and translators, while others worked in ammunition and agricultural industries that would supply the war. Furthermore, other American women that continued with their traditional roles helped in food conservation activities and helped maintain and care for their children and home while their men were away fighting the Great War. In addition, these women helped maintain American society through the difficult period in the country.
All the contributions made by taking roles in industries and war made it possible for the country to secure adequate men to help fight the war to victory. Moreover, their contributions made it possible for them to announce their significance in the community and to be recognized as active members of society. Their participation in the war laid the foundation for today’s women’s participation in the military. In addition, they were able to participate more in social events and mark their place in society.
References
Beck, E. (2020). American women in World War I. History Crunch – History Articles, Biographies, Infographics, Resources and More. Web.
Johnson, R. (2017). Women’s roles in America: Wartime expansion, post-war backlash, and contraction [Ebook]. Web.
Nash, R., & McNamara, J. (2018). American women and World War I [Ebook]. Web.
U.S. Department of Interior. (2022). Women in World War I (U.S. National Park Service). Nps.gov. Web.
Women in WWI. National WWI Museum and Memorial. (2022). Web.
Wrinn, D. (2020). WWI tales from the trenches (1st ed.). War History Journals.