WOMEN IN

WORLD WAR I
Andjelija Stakovic III10
 Women in World War I
◦ During the World War I, nationalism was the current ideology that influenced all
people’s lives at that time. The enemy side was portrayed as an evil force, a monster that
threatens one country. People must fight heroically for their fatherland, the embodiment
of goodness, hope and motivation. The totalitarian, very strategical philosophy targeted
the entire nations, including both men and women. The propaganda that grew out of this
regime forced a huge number of men to go to war and leave behind women and children.

◦ Women, on the other hand, held together, tied by the sacrifice they made – letting go off
their men. ‘Like other mothers throughout the Empire, the Queen has bravely sent her
sons to strive for the cause of Justice.’, this sentence, engraved on the portrait of Queen
Mary from The Women of the Empire in War Time, exemplifies well the idea that was
implemented among women then.

◦ Their lives were always in the shadow of battles, contracts, politics, technology, etc. of
the World War I. They were overlooked because of their mostly passive role in the
whole event, regardless of the struggles that were not less hard than others’.
Domestic labor

◦ Knitting and sewing soldiers’ uniforms

◦ Giving off their own properties for the sake
of men in the war and betterment in the
country
◦ Germany - hair
Propaganda poster to
collect women's hair
Germany
JOBS
• Dangerous conditions
• Transport: conductresses,
ticket collectors, porters,
carriage cleaners and bus
drivers; railway
• Teachers
• Police
• Football
• Factory – strong economic
force, especially in Italy
JOBS
WAR OUTSIDE THE BATTLEFIELD

◦ Air power and chemical weapons

◦ Gas masks
◦ Air raids in London and Paris
HEROIC WOMEN

◦ Marie Curie
◦ Flora Sandes
◦ Women's Army Auxiliary Corps
◦ Medicine and first aid
◦ Russian Women’s Battalions of Death
HEROIC
WOMEN
WOMEN IN WORLD WAR I

◦ WWI was an excellent chance for women to prove themselves ang claim their equality to men,
as human beings.
◦ Many sacrifices and contributions in the war, helped women later in their fight for their rights .
SOURCES DOCUMENTARY

◦ https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/wo
men-at-home
◦ https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/12-things-you
-didnt-know-about-women-in-the-first-world-
war
◦ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zqhyb9q
/articles/znhvwty
THANK YOU FOR
YOUR TIME