Samantha K. - QRS European Women in World War II.
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Transcript of Samantha K. - QRS European Women in World War II.
Samantha K. - QRS
European Women in World War II
European Women in World War II
What roles did European women play in World War
II combat?
What roles did European women play in World War
II combat?
Many went into civil defense and the Women’s Land Army, but it began to change during World War IIConscription began in 1941 for women 21 years of age, which required them to join the armed forces
BritainBritain
Although women were recruited into the military, they were not allowed to fill active combat rolesSeveral non-combat units existed• Women’s Royal Naval
Service (WRNS)• Auxiliary Territorial
Service (ATS)• Air Transport Auxiliary• Special Operations
Executive (SOE)♀ Women as agents♀ Women as radio
operators in areas of Nazi occupation
In 1949 women were officially recognized as part of the British military
BritainBritain
British SpiesBritish SpiesAmong the most notorious British spies, are Lillian Rolfe, Denise Bloch, and Violette Szabo• Members of British Paratrooper Unit (FANY)
♀ Worked as underground spies in France after being arrested by the S.S
“All three were very brace and I was deeply moved. Suhren was also impressed by the bearing of these women…” – Johannes Schwarzhuber (March 12, 1946, at the Hamburg trials in which they were executed.)
British SuffrageBritish
SuffrageJohn Stuart Mill wrote The Subjection of Women which proposed for women’s suffrage• Petitioned Parliament in the Reform Bill of
1867Lydia Becker founded the first women’s suffrage committee, also in 1867In 1897 all women’s suffrages committees united to form the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Socialites At the start of World War I, women joined the war effort and temporarily halted women’s suffrage effortsIn February 1918 women over the age of 30 received the right to vote• In 1928 suffrage rights were equalized for men and
women
Cecily Margot Lefort
Cecily Margot Lefort
April 30, 1900 – May 1, 1945With husband Alex Lefort, opened their home for underground resistanceJoined the British Auxiliary Air Force in 1941
• Was sent to Special Operatoins Executive in London to translate French• Was arrested by the Gestapo
♀ Sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany♀ Was held prisoner from 1943 – 1945♀ Was gassed May 1, 1945 when she was considered useless to the
Nazi’s
Heroine of World War II
Similar roles to the British women• Nursing, air raid signaling, hospitalization,
rationing
Lotta Svard organization• Auxiliary work of armed forces• Largest voluntary organization in WW2• Helped Finland hold off Soviet forces
Did not typically engage in combatWas the first nation to allow women as candidates
FinlandFinland
Suffrage in Finland
Suffrage in Finland
The first major European country to permit women’s suffrageGranted in 1906Was also the first country to allow females to run in elections• 19 females were elected in 1907 to the
Parliament of Finland
Extensive role in the resistance movementWorked as couriers delivering messages from the cells of the movement to the printing pressesTook part in the actual combat• Warsaw Rising (1944) participated in the
Home Army♀ Wanda Gertz – commanded DYSK
- Women’s Sabotage Unit♀ Over 2,000 female pow’s held under the
German army
Women over 30 were granted suffrage in 1918
PolandPoland
Wanda GertzWanda GertzApril 13, 1896 – November 10, 1958Polish major and solider of the Armia Krajowa Polish defensive war of 1939• Participated in defensive
of Warsaw• Was a member of the
SZP (Polish Victory Service)
Organized and commanded the DYSK• “Women’s sabatoge
unit”
Was a prisoner of war in several campsAfter U.S army liberated Poland she became a member of the Polish I corps in the West
Third Reich offered positions to many womenAuxiliary units in the navy, army and air force• Auxiliary called
Aufseherin• Majority of women at
Ravensbruck (Concentration camp)
♀ Female Soviet POW’s placed in Ravensbruck
♀ Began arriving February 27, 1943
GermanyGermany
Suffrage in Germany
Suffrage in Germany
Was granted in 1918 after World War IWas revoked from 1935 – 1945• Under Nuremburg Laws
Female voting restrictions were also applied to all territories that were occupied by the Nazi’s during World War IIFull voting rights restored at the end of the war
Carrie Chapman Catt spoke of the women’s conference for suffrage that was held in Berlin.
“Twenty-five years ago a small group of women met in Berlin, Germany, for the purpose of organizing an international women’s suffrage alliance. At that time there was a law in Germany which forbade any woman to go to a political meeting. Yet the organization was effective. “
Therese Elisabeth Alexandra Förster-Nietzsche • Sister of Friedrich Nietzsche
♀ Distorted his work “The Will to Power” after his death
• In 1933 Elisabeth became a prominent supporter of the Nazi party
♀ Gave large funds to the party
Irma Grese supervised Ravensbruck, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen• Was nicknamed the “bitch of Belsen”
♀ Notorious war criminal ♀ Executed in 1945
Hundreds of female Nazi’s were executed for war crimes at the end of the war
Female Nazi’sFemale Nazi’s
Thea RascheThea Rasche1899 - 1971First female pilot in Germany• As a member of the 99’s
Was the only woman in the air show in BerlinWas awarded “wings around the world for peace”
Melitta Schenk Gräfin von
Stauffenberg Melitta Schenk Gräfin von
Stauffenberg January 9, 1903 – April 8, 1945German aviatorHer professional aviation abilities saved her and her family from being sent to concentration campsAwarded the Iron Class 2nd Class in 1943On April 8, 1945 she was shot down and later died from injuries
Was invaded by Germany on April 9, 1940• Called Operation Weserbung• Germany took over the economy
Women involved in the armed forces since 1934• Ground Observer Corps
Danish Women Army and Naval Corps as of 1946 Suffrage for women in 1908 in local elections• 1915 women received full voting privileges
DenmarkDenmark
Women have been serving in the military since 1938Women were allowed to serve in any branch desired• Including direct involvement in combat• Many women were involved in the resistance
movement against Germany
Directly after World War II (1947) limitations were placed on women in the military• As a result of injuries sustained by females in
the war
NorwayNorway
Women as aviators• Marina Raskova, known as the Russian Amelia
Earhart♀ First woman pilot in the Soviet Air Force
First nation to allow female pilots
The three divisions that women could participate in were• 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment• 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment• 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regiment
Women as snipers• Nina Alexayevna Lobkovskaya and Lyudmila
Pavlichenko killed over 300 German soldiers
Women as machine gunners, medics, political officers, tank drivers and communication personnel
Soviet UnionSoviet Union
Suffrage in the Soviet Union
Suffrage in the Soviet Union
Since women played a large roll in the war, they felt they particularly deserved voting rights• Many organizations petitioned the Soviet
government for female suffrage
Granted by the 1918 Soviet Constitution• However there were many restrictions• No direct voting by females
Direct voting was not granted until the 1936 Soviet constitution
Soviet and Russian Militias
Soviet and Russian Militias
Played a greater role in the military than women of any other countryOver 800,000 women served on the front line• 89 of which
eventually received the highest military honor, the Hero of the Soviet Union
Sexism still persisted however• Very few women
were ever promoted to officers
Russian AviatorsRussian Aviators
Marina Raskova was the first female aviator• First to become a navigator in Soviet Air Force,
in 1933• She convinced Stalin to create female sectors
of the air force♀ 586th Fighter Aviation Regime♀ 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation
Regime♀ 125th Guards Bomber Aviation Regime
Women flew over 30,000 missions• Several were named Hero’s of the Soviet
Union♀ Raskova included
Russian Land Forces
Russian Land Forces
Women were especially talented as snipers• Excellent hand-eye coordination required• Nina Lobkovskaya and Lyudmila Pavlichenko
killed over 300 German’s as snipers
Served as machine gunners, medics, tank drivers, political officers, communication workersWomen aided resistance movements again Germany • Zinaida Portnova – was awarded Hero of the
Soviet Union • Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya – awarded Hero of
the Soviet Union for work as a Partisan
Natalya MyeklinNatalya Myeklin
Born September 8, 1922 in RussiaCombat pilot in one of the three women-only Russian air units• Unit named the Night Witches by the Germans• Joined in 1942, at 19 years old• Flew 980 millions in total by the end of the war
In the years following the war, she worked as a translatorCurrently is a member of the Union of Soviet Writers
Lilya Vladimirovan Litvyak
Lilya Vladimirovan Litvyak
August 18, 1921 – August 1, 1943Known as the “white rose of Stalingrad”1943, awarded the Order of the Red Banner• Promoted to Lieutenant, then Senior
Lieutenant• 296th IAP was renamed the 73 Guards
Shot down and killed on August 1, 1943Completed 168 millions and had 12 victories
Frieda Belinfante
Frieda Belinfante
May 10, 1904 – April 26, 1995Leader of the Dutch Resistance movement• Mainly contributed by
forging documents for Jews to hide their identities
• Helped to organize the bombing of the population registry in Amsterdam
♀ Destroyed thousands of documents which helped many conceal their identities
Pursued a music career in the U.S, but was fired for being a lesbian.
“Quoi qu’il arrive, la flamme de la résistance française ne doit pas s’éteindre et ne s’éteindra pas” [Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished] – Charles de GaulleMovement against German occupation of FranceResistance groups consisted of armed men and women, underground newspaper writers and those that facilitated the escape networksCooperation with Allied secret services helped defeat the Nazi’s
French Resistance
French Resistance
French Resistance
French Resistance
Notable women from the movement include• Abbe Pierre• Lucie Aubrac• Jacqueline Auriol • Josephine Baker• Denise Bloch• Martha Desrumeaux• Marie Fourcade• Eilane Plewman• Suzanne Spaak• Evelyn Sullerot
Women as Spies
Women as Spies
French women served as spies for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) after the invasion of Southern France• Became a part of the 36trh Infantry Division
Women were mainly used for short-range intelligence workOdette and Simone, resistance fighters and intelligence workers were went to Germany• Forced the surrender of several German’s • Discovered information vital to France’s
resistance movement
French SuffrageFrench
SuffrageLouis Napoleon proposed universal suffrage in the Constitution of 1851• Democratic
caeserism, which was the policy used by his uncle Napoleon Bonaparte
1871 Paris Commune granted female suffrage• Suffrage revoked with
the fall of the commune
Was not extended to females until 1944• By Charles de Gaulle
♀ A French military and statesman
Tiny Mudler, a 19 year old Dutch citizen was a prominent leader of the underground resistance movement• “The German’s treated the Dutch very well at
first, to gain our trust. Then we began to see what was coming”
• Worked in the government office, distributing clothing, food and oil
• Rescued Allied airmen from the Germans
The movement destroyed German war industries and lifted Dutch morale
Dutch Resistance
Dutch Resistance
The Other SideThe Other SideMany countries and individuals tried to prevent or limit the amount of women involved with actual combat• Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway
the Soviet Union and Switzerland were the only countries in which women could participate in combat
Romantic relationships and friendships could potentially disrupt the unit’s capabilitiesFor many it was just because of tradition, which typically excluded women from combat• Virtually no women were involved in combat in
World War I
The possible subjection of women to sexual and physical abuse
The Other SideThe Other SideIt was believed that females did not possess the physical strength of their male counterpartsExcerpts from With the Armies of the Tsar: A Nurse at the Russian Front in War and Revolution• “Some remained in the trenches, fainting and
hysterical; others ran or crawled back to the rear.”
• “Bachkarova retreated with her decimated battalion; she was wrathful, heartbroken, but she had learnt a great truth: women were quite unfit to be soldiers.”
Effects of Women in the Military
Effects of Women in the Military
Female involvement in the military, especially in live combat helped progress women’s rights significantlyPrior to World War II, there were very few women actually involved in combat• By the end of the war women proved that they
were highly capable of fulfilling combative positions
Different countries allowed varying degrees of female involvement in the military• Soviet Union had the greatest amount of female
military involvement• In the majority of countries women lead resistance
movements
Lead to greater rights for women, and in many countries, namely France, universal suffrage for the first time
The EndThe End