Summary:
World War I sources about what women went through during the war.
1.What can you learn from source A about women's work during the First World War"
Source A informs the reader, that "when war broke out", women were in the domestic service and "hated every minute of it." Women saw war work as a new opportunity (this woman in particular said that her "chance came out") and left domestic service when there was a need for women "war workers" in work such as munitions. They also changed jobs because in the domestic service women worked 15 hours day's and earned "£2 a month" which improved when they started war work, in this case "12 hour day's" and "£5 a week." From the source we can see that the jobs women had, had been low paid and had longer hours before war broke out. Women also enjoyed their new role and freedom that came with war work.
The source's origin was of a lady who lived and worked in the Great War, the nature of the source is a personal letter, the source does not have any alternative motive as the purpose is just to inform a friend about the war. Though the women who wrote the source had first hand experience of war work, she may be the minority of people who preferred war work and the majority did not, though we know this was not the case as in 1918 most women were disappointed and did not want to go back to pre-war work.
2.Does the evidence of source C support the evidence of sources A and B about women's work in the First World War."
Source C supports source A but does not support B. Sources A and C are positive sources and show that "women prefer factory life." Both sources indicate that one of the main reasons for women preferring factory life was because of their "new-found earning power" as they received higher wages than in their previous jobs. Both sources imply that not only did they like the pay but the "social life" and "independence." Though, sources A and C support each other, there is no information in source A which supports the fact that the children were "better off" although we might assume that the higher wages could support this. Also source A has no indication that one of the reasons why women prefer war work was freedom, although in many cases it was, as they had been oppressed by men before the war and were not allowed to do many things that they were now able to do. Source C gives no information about what it was like to work and hours they did unlike source A and B.
Source B does not support C as it looks at the negatives of women's war work and how it affects their health. The source is initially about working conditions for women and it states how the work was extremely dangerous and how they were expected to work "overtime" for "normal rates" of pay. Unlike both sources A and C the source suggests that the pay was poor for the work that was done, whereas A and C portrait the pay as good compared to before like "the glass is half full not half empty." Also the conditions that are described in source B are not very common as not many people painted "dope varnish" onto air craft so probably it will only apply to a minority. There is no mention of a social life or the freedom that the women had now acquired and which was the strong evidence linking A and C.
The nature of source C was a book written in 1917, it was written by a factory owner, who may have embellished the truth. Source A is an extract from a letter, written by a woman who preferred war work. This directly links sources C and A, but source A was written in 1976 and possibly her opinions could have been distorted by time and vital information forgotten. Source B is written by Sylvia Pankhurst a suffragette leader who unlike her mother and sister was against war work also she could also be bitter about the past and how women were treated thus creating negative opinion.
3.How useful are sources D and E in helping you to understand the importance of the work of women in industry during the First World War?
Source D is a photograph of two women working in munitions factory during World War One, with a notice in the back ground on which a message is written "when the boys come back we won't need you any longer girls." The two women who are old and miserable they both look considerably tired with large bags under there eyes. The picture shows that women's war work was only needed for a period of time, that women worked long hours and was not particularly fun. The source also gives useful information about what was made i.e. munitions, what tools they had at their disposal and what physical conditions (area) they worked in.
The source is not particularly reliable as it looks to have been staged so when the photographer takes his picture, it is placed in his opinion. The source is also to make the men feel secure that women won't take over. The source is useful in the fact it indicates the political view of women in the Great War from men and the government, the working conditions and that people took pictures to represent their opinion. Though the source does not have much useful information about the importance of women's war work. It implies that the fact that women were working though there was this much prejudice, means the job of munitions manufacturing was very important in winning the war that had consumed so much of the male workforce. Source E is poster issued by the British government in 1916 to encourage women to enrol and do war work in munitions factories. It is a picture of a woman putting on a work jacket in the background, men waving getting on a train bound for the war. The caption at the top of the poster states "these women are doing their bit" and at the bottom it reads "learn to make munitions." This is a useful source as it shows techniques used to get women to work by trying to create a good public image, with a good looking, healthy women helping to do war work. The background of men going to war implies working was as important as fighting and that by working they would help their men win the war.
Source E is "government propaganda", but the source has important uses as it gives a message that women's war work was important because it shows it could be a deceive factor in winning the total war and that not enough women worked as they needed to recruit. Many propaganda recruitment posters were made. Historians might want to study sources relating to the total effect on the war that women's war work had to support source E's uses.
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