Analyze and assess the extent to which the First World War accelerated European social change in

such areas as work, sex roles, and government involvement in everyday life.

Caitlin Passino, Riana Ilango, Jessica Wang

Introduction

After World War I, many social changes took place in the area of work, sex roles, and government involvement in everyday life. The war was a major factor in the increased role of the government. All aspects of the economy became regulated to support the war effort. The war brought about greater emancipation for women and left many laborers in search for work due to instable economies.

Sex Roles Post WWI

Background Info• In Germany, England, & France, women began to work in white collar jobs as

soon as 6 months into the war• Suffrage associations became wartime service organizations

-English National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies -> Women’s Active Service Corps

- League of German Women’s Association-->National Women’s Service • Privileged women engaged in more hands-on/risky wartime participation,

such as frontline nursing• Wartime efforts proved female competency in jobs traditionally held by men

Sex Roles Post WWI

Employment• Post WWI, upper/middle class women said the war freed them from traditional roles

while working-class women were actually more exploited-White collar jobs in the city grew post-war & many women kept those jobs due to wartime casualties-For those not in the city, they returned to traditional roles after the war

• Men began to oppose women because some did their job better than them and earned similar pay

• Women’s industrial wages rose; but despite equal pay laws, they earned considerably less than men

• Postwar governments created legislation to return jobs to men-England- Women forcibly removed from jobs-France- Bonus payment to women who vacated jobs-Germany: Government mandated that women leave their job only if a man

needed it• By 1921, fewer English/French women worked industrial jobs than had pre-war

Sex Roles Post WWI

Women’s Rights• Shortly after WWI, women in many Western European

countries gained the right to vote-Great Britain: 1918 (restricted); 1929 (unrestricted)-USSR: 1917-Weimar Republic: 1919-France did not extend suffrage to women after WWI

• Treaty of Versailles demanded that women be paid the same as men for the same job, but this was largely ignored

Government Involvement In Everyday Life

• Governments expanded powers over their economies and people in order to fight the war.

• All governments used propaganda and censorship to promote fear of all enemies and to promote support of their home countries.

• They also experimented with price controls, wages, rationing, regulation of imports, and industries.

Government Involvement In Everyday Life

Propaganda and Public Opinion• Facts of the pre-war crises were

largely unknown by the public.• Civilians, deprived of their usual

liberties, working harder, eating less, seeing no victory, had to be kept motivated.

• Placards, posters, diplomatic whitepapers, schoolbooks, letters, public lectures, and newspapers were censored and altered to steer the direction of popular thinking.– In Britain, the government censored

letters soldiers sent home so they would not reveal the true nature of the war and reduce the number of soldiers who wanted to fight.

Government Involvement In Everyday Life

Propaganda and Public Opinion Continued…• Propaganda offices created films and posters to

boost morale and manipulate public opinion. Ex) Hitler claimed that Germany lost

because they were "stabbed in the back" by Jews and other "enemies", not because of their loss on the battlefield.

• In the Allied countries, the Kaiser was portrayed as a demon bent on conquest of the world.

• Every nation used propaganda posters to rally public support, recruit soldiers, and show the evil actions of the enemy.

• Governments sought funds from the general public via war posters encouraging war bond purchases by appealing to patriotism and nationalism.

Government Involvement In Everyday Life

Economic Involvement• Capitalism was replaced with a

"planned" economy where all the wealth, resources, and moral purpose of their societies to a single end.

• Those who exploited shortages to make profits were denounced as profiteers.

• Production for luxury purposes was cut to a minimum.

• It became unpatriotic for upper and middle classes to show their comforts openly, instead they were encouraged to eat meagerly and to wear old clothes.

Government Involvement In Everyday Life

Economic Involvement• Governments printed paper money, sold huge bond issues, and obliged

banks to grant it credit in order to raise funds for the war. As a result, there was a rapid inflation of prices and prices and wages became regulated by the government.

• This heavily affected the salary-paid laborers and government employees, those who were the most stable before the war.

• German "war socialism"• Germany was denied access to the sea and also to Russia and Western

Europe, so they adopted measures of self-sufficiency. The Germans consumed less food than any other countries in the war.

Social Change In Work• Intro: The First World War was a total war in which

no segment of the population within any of the participating nations could avoid its impact. Unfortunately, this impact was negative throughout Europe for labor and generally resulted in high levels of unemployment.

• England, France, Russia, and Italy are some countries in which labor was effected by the First World War

Social Change In WorkEngland

• David Lloyd George was a major figure in the Labour Party, this party voiced the concerns of the working man-In 1920, 7000,000 unemployed jumped to 2 million by the end of 1921-Tax increases and overproduction resulted in a severe recession by the end of 1921

• Until Depression unemployment averaged 12% annually

• Unemployment Insurance Acts (1920, 1922)• 1924, Stanley Baldwin, head of the Labour Party,

became prime minister-the return to the gold standard made the pound worth too much, affected British trade-May 1926, general strike of miners who feared a drop in wages-Baldwin broke strike-1927, Trade Union Acts outlawed such labor action

Social Changes In Work

France• tremendous social and economic tensions• 1936, Socialist leader Leon Blum was to solve labor issues• Matignon Agreement-allowed workers to collectively bargain with

employers, reducing the work week to forty hours, and granting the right to fully vacation

Russia• Stalin’s Five-Year Plan

-adopted the policy of the left opposition and its program to rapidly turn Russia into an industrialized nation- The collectivization of agriculture, forcing peasants to work on kulaks (collective farms, was part of this plan; it was intended to solve the food distribution crisis as well as increase supplies for industry- The social effects of this collectivization were enormous, and it is still debated whether this policy actually benefited the USSR and its ability to distribute agricultural products

Social Change In WorkFascist Italy

• corportism-an association of employers and workers within each industry that would iron out all contentious issues regarding production and wages (Mussolini)

• Italian fascism emerged out of deep national dissatisfaction with participation on the First World War

• With the rise of fascism, angry workers seemed to convey the advent of a Bolshevik state-landowners and businessman turned against democratic politics

ConclusionOverall, the First World War accelerated the roles of

women by giving them the right to vote in many Western European countries. Additionally, women were beginning to be integrated into the workforce but mostly they returned to traditional domestic duties after the war. The government became involved in everyday life by molding public opinion through the use of propaganda and regulating the economy. Due to the staggering economy after war, many people were left unemployed. Also, strikes were put down for any workers demanding better working conditions.

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