From factory floors to the ballot box: Women's WWI revolution

"During the First World War (1914-18), as governments sought to field the largest armies possible and so conscripted millions of men to the fighting fronts, the role of women in society was greatly expanded. Women worked as nurses and medical staff, performed support duties in the armed services, and replaced men in factories and public services. The new freedoms were mostly curbed again after the war, but one lasting development was women gaining, for the first time, the right to vote in several countries, notably in Russia, Germany, the United States, and Great Britain."

"When the Provisional Government took power following the tsar's abdication in March 1917, Bochkareva was tasked with forming the first Women's Death Battalion. The main idea was that the well-drilled and disciplined 300 women of this battalion (who all shaved their heads) would shame male soldiers into being more disciplined themselves and inspire more men to join the armed forces. Bochkareva's battalion inflicted a serious defeat on a German army on the South-West Front in July, a victory which included the capture of 2,000 prisoners. Several other women's battalions were created in the summer of 1917, including a naval detachment."

During the First World War governments conscripted millions of men, which produced a large expansion of women's roles across society. Women served as nurses and medical staff, performed support duties in the armed services, and replaced men in factories and public services. Some wartime freedoms were later curtailed, but women gained the vote for the first time in several countries including Russia, Germany, the United States, and Great Britain. Russia permitted women in combat roles; Maria 'Yashka' Bochkareva formed a Women's Death Battalion that achieved battlefield success. Women in medical services also performed tasks such as driving ambulances. In Britain women could not serve as combatants but served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (later Queen Mary's Army Auxiliary Corps).

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