In the 1920s, gender politics in Europe continued to change following the transitions of the 1910s. During WWI, many European women had had their traditional roles abruptly changed because it became necessary for them to work in order to provide essentials for the men who were serving in the military and for their families. For this reason, in the second decade of the century, the feminist idea that women deserve equal pay and a greater say in the realm of politics (the right to vote) had become very popular.
In the 1920’s, however, European women’s roles changed little and in some countries became more limited. While socially in the 1920s European women were looked on in art, film, fashion, as more akin to men, economically, women’s income compared to men’s was still significantly lower and in some countries (such as Nazi Germany) educational reforms were rolled back for women. This was because many traditionalists were offended by the social changes that challenged their world views, and many thus voted conservative party leaders to counteract this trend (this happened in Italy and, later, in Germany). So countries like “France, Belgium, Italy, and Spain” outlawed contraceptives (pg. 832). In the United States and Britain, however, women were able to achieve greater education and the use of contraceptives was not outlawed. Also, the new policy of Eugenics among nations confirmed or dis-confirmed the already standing dislike of persons different from one another depending on “class” and “race” factors (pg. 832). Eugenics encouraged or discouraged women from producing children.
Regardless, overall, society changed, though more slowly, in favor of women’s independence. For instance, in the 1920s European women were able to practice “family limitation” in countries (such as England and the United States), which allowed for the improvement of standards of living for women (pg. 831). One of the unique countries that was able to legalize divorce and civil marriages was Russia, after the Bolshevik revolution took place. Also, a fundamental change in women’s roles took place, solely in Russia, and that was the removal of household chores for women by providing “child care centers, laundries, and dining rooms” for working mothers (a practice common in France to this day). It was the growing awareness of women’s conditions in the sense that they were previously expected to only bear children and perform simple tasks in the home that led to these comparatively abrupt changes.
In the 1920’s in terms of the reconstruction of national politics, many European nations underwent tremendous, revolutionary change while others went to the brink of upheaval. In Russia, the Bolshevik revolution took place, which wasn’t really a Marxist revolution; it was Lenin’s belief that an authoritarian rule of the proletariat was needed because workers would otherwise be unable to fight for their own rights, as had been predicted by Karl Marx. Germany, which had undergone a civil war right after World War I, had a shaky political foundation for its Weimar Republic, and regrettably the politics of Germany gradually shifted to the extreme right. The Treaty of Versailles further weakened the Weimar Republic due to the fact that Germany had to pay reparations, which led to widespread discontent at home. This problem wasn’t addressed until 1924 by the Dawes Plan, but hyperinflation never was solved. On February 24, 1924, the Beer Hall Putsch (led by Hitler), whose sole purpose was the overthrow of the waning Weimar Republic, failed miserably (pg. 829). Unfortunately for Germany and for Europe, Hitler’s punishment was trivial, the trial was public, and the publication of his book led to further promulgation of Hitler’s view on Jews as enemies of the state and of democracy as a failed institution. In Eastern Europe, with the exception of Czechoslovakia, all the democracies that had been set up earlier had turned into authoritarian governments (pg. 825). Europe was once again sent into a state of bleak hopelessness.
