Term Paper On Working Women During World War I

Working Women during World War I
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The role of women in World War I is perhaps one of the most researched and studied topics of all time. These days, many great scholars and historian have been digging deeper and deeper to understand how women contributed to each and every economy’s rebuilding process (1). Not only this, but it has also been a point of interest for scholars that how governments reacted to women’s service during and after the war and what moved them to do so.
In a long discussion below, five sections have been created to distinguish roles played by women in countries like the United Kingdom, America, Canada, and Germany. The first section talks about women in general in which various aspects of their service are covered in a reasonable manner followed by country-specific sections.
Due to certain constraints, it is not possible to present an outline of the women’s service in every country that was in the war. Also, careful consideration is given in documenting these historical facts below, and no biases are exercised.
Women in General during WWI
During World War I, when the western countries were being torn apart, the infrastructure was demolished. The streets and buildings and everything around presented a horrific image with bodies lying here and there and crying children walking down the roads. During these disastrous years of WWI women sitting at home felt extreme pressure and desire to get out of their homes and earn sustenance to support their families while men were at the front line. This is when several women came forward and made their name.
It was not only desired but also was the demand and a call from the governments that women should come out and fill the spaces left behind by the men. Women came out from their houses in huge numbers in a response to this national call, and they filled in the spaces in factories, offices, local shops. They also joined the family businesses, garment factories, and even the munition factories. It will not be wrong to say here that women of that era did not really have any choice but not to work. They had to feed their children and members of the family. But, no matter what kind of work there was, they all contributed with utmost dedication.
The lifestyle completely changed for women. From being the housewives, they suddenly found themselves working and helping the economy cycle run. One could see that this had the potential for upcoming change in the world.
If we talk about specifically about the women working in munition factories, we come to know that they must have faced a really hard time. As their job was to produce munitions for the soldiers to use on the front line they were forced to work in poor conditions (2). The safety was at most risk as there was a constant danger looming on the heads of the workers. TNT plant in East London is one of many examples of this kind when an explosion resulted in the death of 73 workers.
Women in the United Kingdom
Working in these factories also gave birth to many health conditions. For instance, the munition factories were using chemicals like the Canaries that caused the workers’ skin to go yellow. Nobody really knew at that time what ...