Women On The Western Front Essay

The nature of the Second World War blurred the line between the conventional and unconventional roles for women. As the war progress, the idea of total war, where all people are mobilized behind the war effort, even if they cannot hold a rifle or fire artillery, became regnant. Women left the home and were thrust into roles which were previously held by men and with which they were not familiar, but nonetheless contributed substantially to the war. In the west, women took a more auxiliary role than in the USSR. The departure of men from the factories and to the front lines created a vacuum, which women were sucked into. In the United States and Great Britain, women were charged with “doing their part” to ensure that the men on front lines were

They took many covert and intelligence roles in these areas, but did not shy away from a combat role it is was called for them to do so. Though the Soviet Union cannot be qualified as a liberal regime, women in the USSR did play large combat as well as auxiliary role during the war. Women in the USSR fought on the front lines on the eastern front and took their fair share of losses. The Night Witches, a female bombing squadron, utilized Polikarpov PO-2s and bombed german encampments. Once they were close enough to their target, the Night Witches would idle their engines, glide towards the target, drop their bombs, and then progress backwards on the previous steps. The squadron earned their name because the only sound that the Germans could here was the whistling of the wind across their wings as they approached. Another notable Soviet Hero was Lyudmila Pavlichenko. Pavlichenko was a sniper on the eastern front and had over 300 kills confirmed kills. It is also important to note that Soviet women did also play a large part in the war industries, but their combat roles sets them apart from the western liberal