Women’s Contribution to the War Effort and Its Effects

Women’s Contribution to the War Effort and Its Effects

I agree that the main reason women over 30 got the vote in 1918 was

because of their contribution to the war however I think there were

many other reasons as well.

Women helped a lot in the war effort in the First World War and this

played a big part in why women over 30 got the vote in 1918. When war

broke out in 1914 the Pankhursts called an end to the Suffragette

campaign and urged all their members and supporters to help with the

war effort. Because the war was only expected to be short, at the

start women were often turned down when they offered to help the war

effort. They weren’t expected to do more than make clothes for

soldiers.

In 1915 when in became apparent the war wasn’t going to be short and

it was discovered the army didn’t have enough shells to fight properly

women stepped in to help. Because so many of the men whose jobs it

was to make ammunition had left for war, their places had to be filled

and women did this.

Suffragettes helped as much as they could and even organised a march

through London to try and persuade men to let them work for the war

effort. Men didn’t want to give their jobs to women because they

thought when they came back from the war the may not be able to get

their jobs back and also they thought they might be paid less if they

did get their jobs back because women were being paid less.

Women were used in the armed forces by setting up a women nursing

group and driving men and weapons to where they needed to be. They

also formed the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, the Women’s Royal Navy

Service and Women’s Royal Air Force. These were all a great help to

the army and if women hadn’t helped, men would have had to do these

jobs so there would have been less to be in the army, fighting.