Nurse Tending Wounded Man
The Crimean War exposed the backward, and lethal, sanitary conditions of warfare—conditions that became intolerable to nation-states concerned with the well-being of their citizen soldiers. Women’s contribution as nurses during both the Crimean War (shown in this photograph) and the U.S. Civil War helped rectify the situation, but voluntary assistance was not enough to prevent horrific death rates from disease and lack of coordinated medical attention. (Private Collection / The Bridgeman Art Library International.)