How Far Did British Women Contribute to the War Effort Between 1914 and 1918?

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Between 1914 and 1918, British women made significant contributions to the war effort in many ways. Most notably they emancipated more men to the front-lines, so their home country would have a greater chance of success in the First World War. British women did this through many ways. Firstly, they encouraged recruitment, which led more men to participate in the war. Secondly, the women kept the country going by sustaining the country’s labor needs. Thirdly, they provided munitions that were essential for the soldiers in the battlefield. Lastly, during war time, some British women chose to volunteer as nurses, cooks and helpers to assist male soldiers in the army. It is through these ways that British women held crucial roles during the war even though they did not directly participate in it. As soon as the war broke out, the women of Britain suspended their campaign for the franchise, and boosted recruitment among the country. For example, suffragists with their publicity machine, worked to persuade young men to join the army. Meanwhile, some women’s organizations, such as Mothers’ Union and the Active Service League also tried to encourage men to join the army. One method consisted of giving out white feathers that symbolized cowardice to those men not enlisted. (Walsh,76) The war also posed serious problems to the British economy and labor industry. This is because men were needed on the front-line. In turn the industries that required male workers suffered a desperate shortage of labor. As a result, women began to take on the role of traditional male occupations; they worked in offices as well as in different industries. Employment statistics from 1914 to 1918 shows a large number of women who worked to replace men’s occupation in different areas. For example, in the metal industry, around two thousand hundred women obtained jobs in place of the male

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