women and the war
Historians still have diverse opinions about women and the war; historians such as Arthur Marwick support the reward theory, which states that women were rewarded with the vote after their vital impact on the war effort. Evidence promoting this point like the “Women’s Land Army” shows that the government wanted to honour the women taking up jobs even though these were just woman farmers. For women the war sparked a social revolution.
On the other hand historians such as Paula Bartley and Martin Pugh oppose the reward theory seeming as the vote was a strange reward as most war work was done by young women in early 20s but they were not given the vote, only the women over thirty that didn’t do nearly as much work did. They argue suffragists not given enough credit for having shaped attitudes before WWI.
Before the war only a third of women were employed and the majority of them worked in domestic service. Women were only allowed to work in occupations deemed “fit for women” such as nurses teachers and secretaries. Women and men lived in “separate spheres” and men were considered as more important members of society. However there were many women campaigning against inequality. The Suffragists, led by Millicent Fawcett negotiated and gave speeches, whilst their opposites the Suffragettes used violence to get their way. To control this militant band of women the Government put into place the Cat and Mouse Act.
When war broke out in 1914, thousands of women were sacked from their jobs. They wanted work and they wanted to help the war effort. Suffragettes promised to stop all militant action because they realised the war was more important. However the trade unions opposed the idea of working with women so they went on strike. This led to Christabel Pankhurst organising the “Right To Work” march in July 1915. After, the Government did a deal with the trade unions known as the Treasury Agreements. The unions agreed to accept female labour in place on men during the
On the other hand historians such as Paula Bartley and Martin Pugh oppose the reward theory seeming as the vote was a strange reward as most war work was done by young women in early 20s but they were not given the vote, only the women over thirty that didn’t do nearly as much work did. They argue suffragists not given enough credit for having shaped attitudes before WWI.
Before the war only a third of women were employed and the majority of them worked in domestic service. Women were only allowed to work in occupations deemed “fit for women” such as nurses teachers and secretaries. Women and men lived in “separate spheres” and men were considered as more important members of society. However there were many women campaigning against inequality. The Suffragists, led by Millicent Fawcett negotiated and gave speeches, whilst their opposites the Suffragettes used violence to get their way. To control this militant band of women the Government put into place the Cat and Mouse Act.
When war broke out in 1914, thousands of women were sacked from their jobs. They wanted work and they wanted to help the war effort. Suffragettes promised to stop all militant action because they realised the war was more important. However the trade unions opposed the idea of working with women so they went on strike. This led to Christabel Pankhurst organising the “Right To Work” march in July 1915. After, the Government did a deal with the trade unions known as the Treasury Agreements. The unions agreed to accept female labour in place on men during the