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Subject: History
9 September 20012
How did the Canadian women contributions in the war effort in World War 1 affect social
change in Canada?
Women during those times were forced to encounter all sorts of difficulties they were not
accustomed to by that time. They worried about their loved ones and experienced a
psychological stress in terms of what they could possibly do to help their homeland. Some
women made a decision to work at the home fronts, while others, wanting to be nearer to the
battle ground, chose to follow their men to another country. Besides such psychological
conflicts, families had to be supported, and Canada's economic climate needed to be kept secure,
making women replace their men on the homeland. Thus, one could argue, that women's lives
underwent substantial changes under the impact of World War 1, leading to significant social
changes in the country.
According to Lengert (2006),
“All the Canadian men that went overseas, not only left behind their families but also an
economy that wanted to be maintained. However, this is where women stepped in. As the
women`s movement was starting to see efforts right before the Great War, they now
could prove that they were able to replace men in the working world.” (p.2)
During World War 1, while some women tried to support their country by doing work in
charitable organizations and gave mental support to their husbands, brothers and sons at the
front, others served as nurses and volunteers at the front, and many others becoming well
established in the Canadian labor force.
What is more, the First World War had important implications for the manner in which
women happened to be viewed by their contemporary society. With the shortage of quite a few
men, adult females were compelled to accept the majority of the roles that used to be customarily
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performed by men. They produced remarkable social advances by being able to vote for the first
time. For many women, this seemed to be an chance to convince a patriarchal society that ladies
were competent at performing "male work" and thereby move forward the cause of female
suffrage. Therefore, “World War 1 was a turning point for Canada as a nation. The Canada of
1919 was profoundly different from the Canada of 1914 in several fundamental aspects -
demographic, economic, political and social.” (Prentice,p.213).
Summing up, it could be argued that WW1 brought changes to any country involved in
the conflict, and specifically accommodated for necessary changes in the social life of Canada,
by having women step in for the typical men’s roles in the Canadian society.
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Works Cited
Prentice, Alison: Canadian Women - A history. Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988.
Lengert, Vanessa: How World War 1 changed the lives of Canadian women, Munich: GRIN
Publishing GmbH, 2006.