Was WW1 a turning point in women’s life?
During WW1 many women took over jobs that had been vacated by men. In the UK, women worked in farming, forestry, on the buses, as chauffeurs, and joined the police force, and the women’s auxiliary services (the women’s army, navy and airforce. many single women who were already working left their old jobs to go and work in better-paid jobs in munitions factories. Some women went overseas as nurses, doctors, and ambulance drivers. One London hospital had an entirely female medical staff. The work done by women during the war helped to convince the government to pass legislation enabling women to vote (women over 30 got the vote in 1918 in the UK, in the USA all women got the vote in 1920). However, after the war and women getting the vote, there was actually a sharp decline in interest among women in following careers or taking an interest in social reform. The number of women entering the professions went into decline. One woman doctor in the USA commented sadly that female doctors had
