Civilians, Gender, and the War

The true character of a nation often shines through in a time of war. Qualities like masculinity, work ethic and unity become essential in order for the nation to ultimately succeed. Governments glorified the act of enlisting as an ultimate sign of masculinity, as well as convincing men of their duties. Yet, war itself for the men was different than portrayed. WW1 propaganda posters also informed women of their duties. Women were needed to work for the enlisted men in their lives. Citizens who were not directly an element of the war involuntarily became part of it. War calls men to display their manhood, women to step up in society, and an overall cooperation and commitment by all.
Throughout World War One, gender played a large role in determining one’s responsibility. For men, the task was to fight in the war. War has always symbolized manhood, and there is nothing more masculine than fighting in the war. To help recruit men, many posters were displayed everywhere, emphasizing masculinity. In Britain, enlistment posters called for men to enlist, and made the posters appealing by focusing on manliness. In one recruiting poster in Britain, lions are roaring to show the calling for men.

The lion that is roaring is a strong, powerful looking male lion, and is standing on the British flag. His glorious mane shows his valor. Around him are other lions, which are female, yet still well-built. These lions represent the other countries allied to Great Britain. They are shown as female to show how the male one (British) is overpowering the other countries, and this causes a sense of nationalism. Nationalism was used as propaganda in many other posters. For example, the poster that portrays a soldier in front of the British flag gives off a sense of nationalism, and its goal is to show how soldiers represent the nation. Also in that picture is the incorporation of heroism. Those who fight in the war, as well as those who die in the war, are seen as heroes, and it is propagandized that anyone who participates in the war will become a hero. By being a hero, it gives one a sense of patriotism and reverence. This appealed specifically to men, for they wanted to follow in the footsteps of the heroes that are fighting to protect their country. However, the war and the battles were different than the propaganda used to recruit soldiers.
War, specifically the front, was exceedingly brutal, and it was not what the men expected. One soldier describes the violence. “This style of warfare is extremely modern and for the artillerymen is doubtless very interesting, but for the poor common soldier it is anything but romantic. His rôle is simply to dig himself a hole in the ground and to keep hidden in it as tightly as possible. Continually under the fire of the opposing batteries, he is yet never allowed to get a glimpse of the enemy. Exposed to all the dangers of war, but with none of its enthusiasms or splendid élan, he is condemned to sit like an animal in its burrow and hear the shells whistle over his head and take their little daily toll from his comrades. Cramped quarters breed ill temper and disputes. The impossibility of the simplest kind of personal cleanliness makes vermin a universal ill, against which there is no remedy. Cold, dirt, discomfort, are the ever present conditions, and the soldier's life comes to mean to him simply the test of the most misery that the human organism can support. He longs for an attack, to face the barbed wire and the mitrailleuse, anything for a little”[1] This describes he role of the common soldier as well as the discomforts and misery of life in the trenches. It illustrates the continual struggle of the artillery. Only the men have to do this, for this was their role and what they have to put up with. Showing how awful the front in this memoir relates to All Quiet on the Western Front, as it displays the horrors and suffering the war caused. Men’s role in the war required them to prove their masculinity. However, they were not the only gender that played a role throughout the war.

Prior to the First World War, stereotypes had depicted men as being the war heroes while their women took care of matters back home. World War I gave rise to a new role for women, as they became more and more useful in the productivity of the war effort. During the war, women were able to carry out tasks that were previously taken care of by male workers, which allowed more men to fight on the front. Women thus assumed a new image as the “behind the scenes” heroines of the war.
The first instance of female assistance in Britain was the establishment of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, also known as FANY. Nurses in FANY were known to drive ambulances, as well as to set up field hospitals and soupt kitchens for the troops. Similar to FANY, the Women’s Royal Navy Service (WRNS) and the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) provided direct services for the soldiers who were fighting on the front. The women who worked in these divisions were able to provide their services by doing domestic services such as cooking, cleaning, and mechanical work. Women were recruited heavily, as there services freed up more men to participate in combat on the front. Women of the WRNS and WAAC were praised in Britain for their patriotism and their hard work, however, the roles other women played, were not looked upon as highly by men in the community.
In the absense of several male domestic workers during the first world war, there was a great need for help in the workforce. This need provided a new role for women during the First World War. While initially there was a rise in female unemployment, as middle-class citizens couldn’t afford to pay for servants, maids, etc. many factory jobs were left unattended to in the absense of the male soldiers. As a result, many of the jobs that were previously held by men, were given to women during the war. The women who held these jobs were motivated by freedom and increased wages, although on most accounts they only received half the amount that men received. The “Munitionettes” were the most important of the female factory workers as they produced 80% of the weapons and shells used by the British Army during the war. The jobs they held were often extremely hazardous, as the worked with poisonous materials, but their dedication to improving the reputation of women was enough to motivate them to continue. Although it may have improved the image of females at the time, there efforts were not given much reward. When the men who had fought in the war returned, women were dismissed back to their homes to make room. Despite the fact that they were given little recognition for their dedication, the women of Britain played a large part in the communal effort in fighting the war.
In World War One, a country’s involvement in the war, meant the participation of every citizen, regardless of age or gender. It was inevitable that each citizen became involved (unfortunately this national wartime unification does not exist in present day U.S.A). He or she has an obligation to help their country in this time of need, whether it means losing one’s job and going to the front lines, or taking up a new job in an assembly line in a factory. The success of the war effort by the Allied powers was as much, or more of a result of the efforts of the men, women, and children on the home front.
Women played a huge role in WW1, more than in any previous war. Women produced most of the supplies that were use by the soldiers fighting in the war. Many women took factory jobs, and for the first time, large amounts of women were out working instead of filling their usual role of staying at home. This threw a huge curve-ball at the idea of women’s role in society. The inspiration for these hard-working women was the fact that the majority of them had husbands, boyfriends, and brothers that enlisted. They were also working for their children. Children may not seem like they had much affect on the war, but they actually did (Most likely unintentionally). Children, along with women provided the inspiration for many men to enlist. They were what the men were fighting for. In big enlistment rallies, men who did not enlist would be approached by children who gave them white feathers, symbolizing their lack of manhood. Men who were not fighting in the war were not a complete disgrace. Many Men who did not enlist worked in factories making supplies or helped to supply the army with food .
Food was in short supply because of the war. Certain items like sugar had to be rationed. However, rationing didn't always leave enough food to keep the troops properly fed. In order for there to be more food for the army, the government urged the people at home to help solve this problem by growing their own gardens at home and making their own food. This way, more food could go to the soldiers on the front lines rather than to the people at home. If something like this were to be proposed today, there would be outrage. Many people today lack that all for on and one for all mentality. Today I feel that the media is causing the American people to loose confidence in their nation by shining a bad light on our military involvements and our way of life while focusing on what other countries think of us. The patriotism and commitment-to-countries seen in WWI is admirable. These days we need something to bring our deeply divided country together.
World War I set a new precedent for the stereotypical ideals of war. Not only were men important for their physical contributions on the front and in the trenches, but the contributions of women and the support of the community played a large role as well. Thanks to the strides made during the First World War, the burden of warfare is no longer solely carried on the shoulders of men, nor are women simply dismissed to taking care of the home. The efficiency of today’s armies can thus be attributed to the progress of World War I and the effect it had on our views of gender, community, and war.

By Ben Reynolds, Conor Buckley, and Will Huff

Sources
· http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/wrns.asp
· http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/womenww1_four.htm
· http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/focuson/womeninuniform/default.htm
· Goldstein, Joshua S. War and Gender: How Gender Shapes the War System and Vice Versa. Cambridge University Press, 2001
· Seeger, Alan. http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/memoir/Seeger/Alan1.htm#II
[1] Seeger, Alan. http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/memoir/Seeger/Alan1.htm#II

WWI Britain

World War I - The Great War, as contemporaries identified it -was the earliest man-made catastrophe of the twentieth century. The underlying causes of this warfare are shrouded in skepticism and controversy and are still in debate among scholars and historians alike. A fact that is recognized by all is the truth that the war constituted the death and mourning of many valiant men. Regardless, the course of the war involved the participation of all civilians. This included the involvement of men as well as that of women, which in itself brought about a feminizing of home front society. The conventional view that the men on the front held the most responsibility was greatly altered as civilians began to acquire equal accountabilities and role in the war. For example women were encouraged to enlist in medical care and textile factories. Additionally, farmers and factory workers aided by increasing their work efforts in order to appease the demand of supplies required for the men n the front, which aided to confirm the role of civilians in the war.

The effect that World War I had upon civilians was devastating. The Great World War was a war that affected civilians on an extraordinary scale. Residents became a military target to the enemy. The economic impact of World War I meant that there were shortages of all produce. Living standards plunged, and the post-war economic state of Europe was at mid 19th century levels. During the war, eight to ten million soldiers were killed in battle, and twenty-two million were injured. This meant that nearly every person lost a family member, the population losses were enormous. In 1918, immediately after the war, there was an epidemic of influenza. The total amount of deaths from the disease after a year was on the same scale as the number of casualties as the "Black death" epidemic in the middle ages. Propaganda at the time also gave the false impression to the public that everything was reasonable, when in reality so many people were dying. World War I also had a large impact upon the role of women in a family.

With all the men at war as soldiers, women began working for a living. Although Women’s wages were not as high as the men’s were, they still took control and were a big benefit toward the war. The life for the civilians in the war was hectic, being a primary target of attack. When the war ended this caused a large conflict, but nevertheless, the role of women in society had gone through a radical change. This war caused a feminist movement and led to women being able to vote. The war gave the women an opportunity to prove themselves as valuable in society. Previously thought as someone who stays inside tending the house and family, women gained more respect. Feminist women were to be found in all classes but always as a minority; working-class feminists, besides, would often combine feminism and trade-unionism much to the dismay of their upper-class sisters. These included women in key positions such as administrators in government organizations and home front political unions.

In the war, children were left without fathers, and other family members. It was the women’s obligations to take over the “home front”. Experience for civilians in the war was all different. Although, it was hectic and frightening being under attack, the children could not do much to help with the war. All they could do was to attempt small tasks with their mothers. Unlike the male and female civilians who filled in the roles of the men and women that left for war. Jobs such as knitting socks and other articles of clothing or working in factories such as making ammunition were helpful in the time of war. During the war, the civilians were all anxious, and everyone wanted the war to be over as soon as possible. Because so many people perished, mourning and longing for a spouse or family member was a big part of civilian life. Overall the work force during the First World War from the civilians left at home left a major impact for women in society, feminism, and toward the victory of the war.

American agriculture boomed in World War I when the United States in essence fed the allied nations as well as its own wartime armed forces. Farmers increased their production through purchase of gasoline‐powered machinery and the cultivation of additional land. When the wartime foreign and military demands declined after the war, export markets collapsed, and American agriculture, already heavily in debt from the wartime expansion, plunged into a severe economic depression. More than ever, the war effort depended on the support and willingness to sacrifice of whole peoples. Women and children often took over the jobs of men in industry and agriculture.

A French politician, Albert Thomas, had a wartime job at the munitions ministry led to significantly increased output of munitions throughout WWI.[1] He immediately set about reorganizing France's method of munitions production. He acted to retrieve a half million men already serving with the army to aid in munitions production. He also introduced a policy of military exemptions for munitions personnel, in addition to encouraging a greater working role for women. Refugees and prisoners of war were similarly recruited to aid in the French war effort.

In Germany and Austria food became so scarce that famines occurred. To support more than four years of industrialized warfare, national governments almost everywhere faced tasks of an unexpected magnitude. They had to ensure industrial production for the fighting while millions of able-bodied men served in the military; they had to organize the food supply and keep up morale at home and in the front lines. Soon after the outbreak of the First World War the German Navy attempted to halt the flow of imports to Britain by introducing unrestricted submarine warfare. Panic buying led to shortages and so in January 1918, the Ministry of Food decided to introduce rationing. Sugar was the first to be rationed and this was later followed by butchers' meat. The idea of rationing food was ultimately to guarantee supplies, rather than to reduce consumption.

World War I was a global military conflict which involved the majority of the current world’s great powers. In a state of total war, the major combatants placed their scientific and industrial capabilities at the service of the war effort. Civilians during this war were an essential aspect in overall victory. With the help of women, injured men were able to be treated quickly and effectively, and were also useful for completing tasks that men “left behind”. A novel by Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, accurately depicts this. In the novel the men on the front face heavy adversity from their enemy. Consequently, they are intensely dependent on the help of the support of people such as industrialists, farmers, and nurses. Moreover, men that chose not to head to the front, still proved useful for towards the cause of the war. Produce and munitions were supplied due to the patriotism that is displayed through increased work efforts. Ultimately, despite the large number of men who perished during the course of the war, the effort placed by all the civilians proved to make worthy their sacrifice.

-Oladeji Odewade, Noah Joachim, Cameron Macaulay

[1] http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/thomas.htm