His mother, who was caring mother who had protected the young Hitler from brutal father, influenced Hitler’s views about women. Because of his mother, Hitler thought that the only role for woman was domestic; these views were expressed in “Mein Kampf”. Women in Nazi Germany after marriage were expected to leave their job, however in 1937 as Germany prepared for war, women were needed to supplement the male workforce. Hitler believes that women were kinder, gentler than men. Slogan for woman in Nazi was: Kinder, Kirche, Kuche (children, church and cooking) .
A wider range of jobs became available to them, they gained more independence and weren’t viewed as second citizens but most importantly, World War One lead to women in Britain gaining the vote. Before the First World War, The majority of women stayed at home and their priorities were looking after the family and the house. Women were seen as the property of their husband. The variety of women’s jobs was very narrow and most women had never had a proper job in their lives. During the war, asso many men were involved in fighting, countless women had a job whether it was working in a munition factory, driving an ambulance or working for the transport of London.
Women wanted the same working rights as men, and they fought hard for it. Suffragettes stoped their campaign of violence and supported the government and its war effort in every way. The work done by women in the First World War was to be vital for Britain's war effort. Even though women gained the right to vote shortly after the war, its argued that the war wasn’t really the cause of giving women this right. After all, in countries such as New Zealand (1893), Australia (1901), Finland (1906) or Norway (1913) women got the vote before the war began, whereas others such as Denmark (1915), Iceland (1915), Holland (1917) or Sweden (1919) gave it to women during the war without being involved in it.
Abigail Adams reminded her husband to not forget the women in the constitution which is significant because it was the beginning of women’s rights. Women also became more involved and interested in politics, to the distaste of most men. Many women followed their soldiers while at war and took care of the men. There were some women who acted in radical ways (ex. the New York City fire, riots, and letters), which hadn’t previously been so.
The Nazi’s were fixed on the idea that a woman’s role was at home, being a mother and a wife. They wanted women to have plenty of children so the birth rates would go up and Germany could form a large army and become a more powerful nation. Working class women were removed from factories and encouraged to stay at home, and middle class women were removed from their professions. They were urged to wear traditional clothing, and behave in a much less liberal way than was allowed during Weimar times. Many middle class women were unhappy about this, and after the freedoms and empowerment of women during Weimar they did not like the new constrictions – it seemed almost like a step back for them.
World War Two required women in the munitions factories and as land girls which due to the shortage of men gave, women a definite place in the working environment, and the argument of women being incapable was now of no consequence. Another huge landmark in feminism was the abolition of the property law that stated that women could not own property; all property would be their husband's or father's. Previous to this in the 60s the birth control pill helped liberate women by giving them highly effective control over their own fertility. As the 60s progressed, the women's liberation movement gained momentum. Later in the 60s the sex discrimination act was put in place, making it illegal to discriminate against someone on the grounds of their gender.
In WWII women played an enormously tremendous role in Canada’s victory both on the home front and the war front. As men went off into war, their jobs back in Canada were left empty and therefore the women had to fill their spots. Having women work the men’s jobs during WWII make it possible for men to leave their working posts and go to war. If woman had not taken over the jobs, there would be production of munitions or other every day supplies (John D Clare). Men would have not been able to go to war in the woman had not been there to take their posts.
Using my own research i will discover whether the World War One had a positive effect on the role of women. After the immediate rise in female unemployment at the beginning of the war due to the ‘middle-classes wish to economise’ (first world war, accessed 07/01/09), the only option to replace the volunteers gone to front was to employ women in the jobs they had left behind. This was supported by all the major feminist groups, who suddenly ‘became avid patriots and organisers of the women in support of the war effort’ (war and gender, accessed 22/01/09). Overall women’s employment increased from ‘three million in 1914 to five million in 1918’ (Murphy, p373, 2000). For many of the women the war was ‘a genuinely liberating experience’ (first world war, accessed 07/01/09), and made the women feel useful as citizens.
The Role of Women in WWII World War II involved a global conflict on a unique scale. Male soldiers were needed, so who was there to run the country back home? All that would be left, would be the women. The hard work of women was represented in the United States by the image of “Rosie the Riveter”, a woman factory laborer performing what was previously considered a man’s job during peace times. Different opportunities, confidence and skill level, now allowed many women to start getting paid.
And over the years there have laws passed and regulations written, all to prevent women from serving their country as equals to the men; just to keep women out of combat (Sheppard 2). Both political parties agree and encourage the advancement of women in the military, but one party draws the line when it comes to front line combat (Hodge). On August 27 of this year the Republican platform, also known as the Grand Old Party (GOP) says, “We support the advancement of women in the military, which has not only opened doors of opportunity for individuals but has also made possibly the devoted, often heroic, services of additional members of every branch of the Armed Forces. We support military women’s exemption from direct ground combat units and infantry battalions”(Redden). The reason this is