Understanding Western Society
Printed Page 786
| > | In what ways did the war transform life on the home front? |
TTHE WAR’S IMPACT ON CIVILIANS was no less massive than it was on the men crouched in the trenches. Total war encouraged the growth of state bureaucracies, transformed the lives of ordinary women and men, and by the end inspired mass antiwar protest movements.
Women Factory Workers Building a Truck, London, 1917Millions of men on all sides were drafted to fight in the war, creating a serious labor shortage. When women left home to fill jobs formerly reserved for men, they challenged traditional gender roles. (© Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis)