The Role of Women in World Wars | Daily Writeups | Opinions
The following article, “The Role of Women in World Wars“, is written by Safina Naz, a student of Sir Syed Kazim Ali. Moreover, the article is written on the same pattern, taught by Sir to his students, scoring the highest marks in compulsory subjects for years. Sir Kazim has uploaded his students’ solved past paper questions so other thousands of aspirants can understand how to crack a topic or question, how to write relevantly, what coherence is, and how to include and connect ideas, opinions, and suggestions to score the maximum.
Warfare is a brutal and destructive phenomenon that causes significant loss of human lives, economic instability, and social disintegration. Despite these catastrophic impacts, wars can also unveil the hidden potential of a nation, ultimately serving as a valuable asset during and after the conflicts. Men have traditionally been at the forefront of wars, fighting for their nations and demonstrating loyalty. However, women, who are often perceived as fragile, have also played a crucial role in wars and can significantly impact a country’s war efforts. During World War I and World War II, women provided essential services that proved to be valuable assets for the warring countries. They actively participated in providing nursing services to the wounded armed forces, worked in munition factories, and provided farming services. These contributions changed the dynamics of the wars, bringing them closer to victory. For example, the United States utilized women’s power on all fronts during World War II, leading to a win-win situation for the country. Conversely, Germany ignored women’s contributions by restricting them to their homes, which ultimately weakened their war efforts. Therefore, to win the war, it is essential to utilize all the strengths, including women’s and men’s capabilities. This article highlights the tireless role of women in World War I and World War II.
Before delving deep into the role of women in wars, it is crucial to understand the relationship between women and wars. To begin with, World War I and World War II are the deadliest wars of the twentieth century, causing massive damage to the nations. World War I, a battle between Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, with Britain and allies, claimed the lives of millions of people; however, at the same time, it familiarized the world with the power of women as it was the first time when women stepped out of their comfort zone and started working in factories, replacing the men in the major sectors. Similarly, World War II, a war between Britain and its allies with Germany and its allies, brought destruction to Europe in the form of flattened cities and towns, destroyed bridges, and scorched countryside and brought women workers to the limelight. In the 2nd World War, more than 7.5 million women performed wartime jobs, resulting in victory for the Americans. Therefore, despite destroying the nations’ economies, one factor that twentieth-century wars highlighted was the exposure of women to the outer world and the utilization of their skills in all areas of life.
Turning over the history papers reveals that women started working in factories and ammunition factories during World War I and World War II to overcome the labour shortages. It is evident from the figures that the number of employed women increased from 23.6 per cent in 1914 to 46.7 per cent in 1918. And at the end of World War I, the number of women workers in munition factories reached one million. However, women were appointed on lower wages than men. Further, though prone to health hazards, women continued working in the factories and supplied weapons to the army. Thus, despite exposure to hazardous chemicals, such as trinitrotoluene, women continued working in factories to serve the war-torn nation and effectively played their role.
Moreover, one significant role women played was nursing the wounded soldiers. Initially, in World War II, nurses used to work in distant places; however, as the war intensified, women started working closer to the battlefield, even serving under fire, resulting in the death of some nurses. With the onset of World War II, an increasing number of nurses, approximately 75,000 nurses served in America. Nurses performed their services, ranging from dealing with chest wounds and massive haemorrhages to amputation and severe burns. Along with dealing with the scars of troops, women treated the troops with compassion, courage, and humour. Further, they worked on building morale and healed overburdened minds. Therefore, women played a crucial role in helping wounded military troops on the battlefield.
In addition, with the outbreak of World War II, women started working in farmlands to overcome the shortage of farm workers. A Women’s Land Army (WLA) was formed in which women were recruited. The number of women in WLA increased rapidly and reached 00 women land girls at the end of 1944. Hence, irrespective of their fragile figure, women performed a variety of jobs in all weathers to provide continuous food supplies to the armed forces. Thus, women provided their services in the agricultural sector, preventing food shortages during the war.
Further, women’s paramount role during World War II was decoding the enemy’s secret codes. Women acted as code girls, serving multiple purposes, such as listening to the coded radio messages of other countries, collecting names of enemy ships and commanders, and reading long strings of letters and names to reveal hidden messages in a sentence. In World War II, America employed 10,000 women as code girls to fight the battle on all grounds. Consequently, it became one of the reasons why America won the Second World War. Thus, women crossed cultural boundaries and outperformed in almost all domains during wars, leading to the victory of the home country.
Further, women were also recruited into the military, displaying their dedication and skills in the military. The US formed a Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and initially appointed 200 women out of a pool of 1500 women, resulting in an increasing number of women as the war proceeded. Women were appointed to Army Air Forces, Army Ground Forces, and Army Services Forces. They performed dynamic roles, such as electrical specialists and sheet metal workers and repaired and installed radios in tanks and aeroplane mechanics. Moreover, they provided their services in the administrative block, finance department, and chemical warfare services, allowing more men to fight on the battlefront. As the war was all about the maximum utilization of power and assets, women thus provided their services, utilized their hidden potential, and played their due role in the battle.
Moreover, women acted as spying agents to get important information about the opponent. Through this, they busted the myth about their abilities and provided services in all sectors. Julia McWilliams was one of the renowned members of the Office of Strategic Services of the United States of America. She started work as a secretary and later secured the post of senior intelligence officer. Similarly, the British appointed a female for espionage, who used to collect information while working as a courier and wireless operator in France. In this way, women proved their uncanny skills and helped the USA win the Second World War.
Another prominent role that women played was working as pilots. The US was facing a shortage of pilots. Hence, women stepped forward and filled the void. A female pilot group named Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) was devised by a pioneer aviator, Jacqueline Cochran. Females used to ferry planes from factories to military bases. And female pilots worked in an exemplary manner, got injured, and even lost their lives. Thus, women broke the barriers and delivered their services by flying sky-high.
To evaluate critically, World War I and World War II are two prominent phenomena of the twentieth century. Though women played their roles to the fullest, utilized their skills, and worked for the good of nations, they faced discrimination in terms of wages. It is evident from World War I that when women worked for long hours in ammunition factories, they were paid half the wages of men. Despite stepping out of their comfort zone and serving the nation, societal discrimination prevailed. These wars made it clear that women were considered a fragile gender, faced gender inequality, and their rights were subdued even in the twentieth century. Still, they continued to play a miraculous role in that century and moved ahead with an excellent saviour passion using their wings. To sum up, women played a crucial role in World War I and II. They provided their services in all domains, from working in factories and flying planes to working as intelligence agents. The dynamic roles of women changed the misconception about fragile gender. Moreover, women’s active participation led to the US’s victory in the Second World War, as the US utilized its resources and women’s services to the full extent. Hence, despite the massive destruction, world wars familiarized the world with women’s hidden potential. Therefore, the role of women in the previous wars set a precedent that in the contemporary era, women can similarly play a significant role.
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