How Did World War One Effect The British Civilian Population?

Due to the First World War women were able to get a vast amount of new jobs which they were not able to get before. Before 1914 upper-class women did not work and few worked after it, however working-class women had to work to help keep their families. There was a drastic change in jobs, as most women worked in factories and in domestic service as maids. The most long-lasting change came about for the middle-class women. Before the war these women found job opportunities as teachers, nurses, telephonists, typists and as sale assistants in upmarket department stores. After the war had finished there were better prospects for careers in the higher professions i.e. lawyers, accountants and doctors. In 1919 Oxford University allowed women to study for degrees for the first time. In 1915 sixty thousand women joined “ The Right to Serve” procession, this forced the government to allow women into industry and other traditionally male jobs. An example of the difference that this made can be seen as the number of women involved in the munitions industry increased from two hundred thousand in 1914 to nine hundred thousand in 1918.

Many think that the war created huge numbers of jobs for women in industry and that women took the places of their men who were at the front. But according to the statistics the women do not bear this out. Despite this, women did emerge from the war with more confidence in their own abilities. The social and economic changes, which women experienced during the war have been exaggerated. But the boost in their self-confidence for the middle-class women could not be easily taken away. Because of the First World War many women challenged traditional ideas about feminine behaviour. These women socialised with men on equal terms. Due to these actions it helped the progress on the road to equality.

World War 1 affected the British civilians in many ways. These changed their lives, for example women’s lives were changed due to the increase of selection of jobs. World War 1 also affected Britain greatly due to the bombings, which killed many people.