Women in World War I

Overview

• During WWI, most women were barred from voting or military combat roles.
• Women saw the war as an opportunity to serve and gain rights and independence.
• Women took roles in manufacturing, agriculture, and support positions like nurses, doctors, and translators.

On The Homefront

• The war required full population mobilization; women filled roles in war production and agriculture.
  • German company Krupp: ~30% women workers by 1917.
  • Britain increased female employment from 3.3 million (1914) to 4.7 million (1917).
  • African American women shifted from domestic work to offices and factories in the U.S.
• Women worked as ammunition testers, switchboard operators, and in munitions plants.
  • U.S. housewives contributed by canning, growing vegetables, and conserving food.

Medical Roles

• Organizations like the Salvation Army and Red Cross relied on female volunteers.
• Thousands served as nurses in the Army and Navy Nurse Corps.
  • By June 1918, 3,000 American nurses were in British-run hospitals in France.
• Women doctors faced barriers but worked with organizations like Red Cross.
  • Medical Women's National Association sent nearly 80 doctors overseas.

Ambulance Drivers

• Women volunteered as ambulance and truck drivers.
• Marie Curie contributed by creating mobile X-ray units, training 150 women operators.

Edith Cavell

• British nurse aiding soldiers escape German-occupied Belgium.

Female Yeoman

• U.S. Navy allowed women as Yeomen due to Naval Act loophole.
  • 12,000 women enlisted, performing various duties.

The Hello Girls

• Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit improved Western front communications.
  • Bilingual women served near the front lines.
  • Not recognized as veterans until 1977.

Women Soldiers

• Countries like Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia allowed women in combat.
  • Notable: Maria Bochkareva's Russian Women's Battalion of Death.
  • Formed to shame men into fighting, participated in the Kerensky Offensive.