Women and the War Effort in the Ottoman Empire

Chris Gratien, Georgetown University

In our last post, we heard about the expectations of Ottoman men regarding women and the importance of their education. In this post, we will explore the expectations upon women from the angle of their contribution to the war effort during the First World War.

World War I created a state of all out war in the Ottoman Empire where seemingly every facet of life was affected. While women did not serve as combatants, they were involved in the war effort through their roles as nurses as well as more broadly through their participation in the industrial and agricultural economies. This announcement addressed to "Ottoman ladies" reflects another important role played by women. With their husbands and sons away at war, women were placed at the head of households, giving them even more control over the family's finances.

This announcement is an appeal to Ottoman women by a government claiming to be in a life or death struggle against enemies that having defeated the Ottomans elsewhere were poised to take Anatolia. In order to make this appeal, the announcement evokes the role of women in caring for the boys and men serving as soldiers in this fight. And what better way to show one's care than to lend the government money? It appears that Ottoman statesmen were aware of the role of women in making financial decisions for families during the war, and thus addressed a call for citizens to buy bonds directly at the empire's mothers.

While the importance of bonds is emphasized by their vitality to the war effort, the announcement emphasizes the profitability of lending the family's money to the government in service of the war. Thus, women would not only help their husbands, sons, and brothers in offering the family's savings up to the war effort but also could increase the family fortune with this sound financial decision. In this way, this document simultaneously embodies the financial pressures facing the Ottoman government as well as Ottoman families while also pointing to the ways in which women were expected to contribute to what would become a national struggle.

Source: BOA, MF-VRK 50/147

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