Women of Europe in the Great War (1914-1918)

The relevance of this topic was primarily conditioned upon the need to cover women's experience during combat operations, both on and off the front lines. The importance of highlighting such experiences was the insufficient level of study of the relevant issue, as a result – the unsatisfactory level of awareness among the population of the importance of women during military operations. The purpose of the study was to investigate and clarify the issue of the participation and role of European women in the First World War. The following methods were used to conduct the study: comparative, statistical, historical, systematic, terminological, etc. The findings revealed the place of women during the World War in 1914-1918, and identified the main changes observed among the female population in the corresponding time intervals, in particular, the issue of women's emancipation and the feminist movement. On the example of a number of countries, including France, Romania, and Ukraine, statistics on women's employment in jobs that belonged to men before the war were presented. A comparative analysis of the involvement of women in direct military operations during 1914-1918 was carried out. Some changes in the political, social, and economic environment of European countries in relation to women are presented as the main results of emancipation and feminist movements during the First World War, in particular, the Ukrainian women's movement of 1914-1918 is considered. The results of this study can be used to further clarify women's experience during military operations by historians and researchers, as well as public figures to highlight the participation of women in the First World War among the population