World System since 1500: Women in Italy, Germany, and Japan in the 1930's - Research Paper Example

Research Paper Women in Italy, Germany, and Japan in the 1930s Introduction The twentieth century has always been considered as one of the most sinister, yet vibrant and eventful century throughout the world’s history. It is in this century that two world wars unfolded that redefines the course of history and divided the world. In this timeline, 1930s, the fourth decade of the century, has been regarded as one of the landmarks of the century. It is in this period that the world has witness devastating economic downfall in what is now called as the Great Depression. An economic sag that led to the reconstruction of the world’s political and economic structures not only in the US and Europe but of the globe in general, the 1930s has always been remembered in somber yet critically by historians, especially by women historians. The period of 1930s falls in between two world wars. It can be said that the economic saturation of this decade was the effect of the First World War. And yet, this economic turbulence also caused the second as powerful nations battle for supremacy and hegemony of the world to resolve the crisis. In the war mongering positions of the countries such as Germany, Italy and Japan, women who were perceived to be less dependable or less beneficial for their “cause”, were oppressed and repressed. In the Context of the Fascist Regimes The worldwide depression brought significant yet extreme political changes as nations strived not only to survive and surpass the crisis but also to gain more power and outmaneuver each other. Powerful countries saw it as an opportunity to conquer nations to expand their economic and political agenda and thus resorted to authoritarian rule. Fascism and totalitarianism has been the name of the game. Countries such as Germany, Italy and Japan were to become three of the most fascist governments in history. Suffice it to say, fascism is always associated or described with brutality, violence and dictatorship (Pane). Germany and Japan both resorted in regressive foreign policies and geared in dividing the world by conquering nations to expand their territories. Nazi Fascist Regime in Germany Germany was plagued with tremendous lost in World War I led to the country’s devastation both in politics and economy. The terrible post-war economic condition made it difficult for the Weimar government to consolidate its rule and threats of revolts from all aspects of the political spectrum became a glaring reality. The awful inflation in the 1920s and the mass unemployment in the 1930s had further isolated the government from the people. At the same time, the Nazi party, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, was gaining popularity amongst the people as an alternative to the existing party. The Nazi party held the banner of being a nationalistic political party and rallied on the anti-communist and anti-Semitic line. Hitler popularized the demagogue tenet that the German people were ordained to rule the world for they belonged to the great Aryan race. He blamed the Jews for the fate of Germany in World War I. In desperation, the people saw a savior in Hitler. In 1933, Hitler capitalized on his growing popularity among the people and used the threat of the communism to set up a fascist state in Germany. Subsequently, in 1935, the infamous Reich Citizenship Law which redefines German citizenship was passed. Through this law, German citizenship was limited to “German and related blood who through their behavior make it evident that they are willing and able faithfully to serve the German people and nations.” Other non-Germans, specially the Jews reclassified and denied citizenship. The Reich Citizenship Law is twinned by the Blood Protection Law that prohibited all sexual relations between Germans and non-Germans. Subsequently, the Nazis instigated an all-out attack against the Jews. Who could ever forget the Schindler’s list, the prisons and the concentration camps where Jews were either held up or massacred? Hitler’s campaign against the Jews was annihilation. To justify the goal, the Nazis used the media, education and even religion. To quell public dissent, Nazis used the Gestapo or secret police. On the basis of mere suspicion, anyone can be arrested, detained or even killed for opposing the Nazi rule. Hitler launched a seemingly comprehensive economic program to improve Germany’s economy. The economic program, though, is not based on the premise of improving the lives of the German people, but to pursue Hitler’s ultimate dream of expanding the German territory, a step towards ruling the world. Improvement of Germany’s economy, can guarantee that Germany’s financial stability while his military is occupying the world. Mussolini Fascist Regime in Italy Like Germany, Italy faced economic and political problems after World War I. A socialist revolution was at the offspring as landless peasants have dared to occupy the land of the big landlord in the countryside; workers in the urban communities went on strike demanding just compensation. In the midst of this social unrest, Benito Mussolini, founder of the Fascist party, took advantage of the situation and consolidated his political power. Under the banner of aggressive nationalism while propagating opposition against communism in defense of private property, Mussolini and the Fascists attacked democracy and calls for the unity of the state. Mussolini, together with his followers called the Black Shirts launched simultaneous attacks against communists and socialists. This had earned them the popular support of the middle class strata in the early 1920s. In 1922, Mussolini led the “March of Rome” in the guise of preventing a communist revolution. This endeavor was, in fact, a way to terrorize the Italian community to assure Mussolini that he would be named as the prime minister. After which, Mussolini immediately consolidated his political power by appointing Fascists to the top positions of the bureaucracy. He personally took control of the military and set up secret police. Government controlled the press and the education system. Italians were pushed to accept the slogan: "Everything in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state." Imperial Military Rule in Japan Economically and politically speaking, Japan was in a relatively stable situation after the World War I, unlike its western counterparts. This can be attributed to the Meiji period of reforms and restoration. During this time, the government was centralized and was ruled by a small group of leaders who coordinate the whole ruling system from the parliament to the military. This small group of leaders is dominated by men in the military. However, the Great Depression also wrecked Japan’s economy as a new industrial country, principally because it depends much on foreign trade. Japan’s economy stagnated worsened by bad harvests affected by natural calamities. The people suffering from mass unemployment, rural begging and near-starvation had to turn on to the military. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, an act autonomously decided upon by the military, paved the way for the totalitarian rule. Military dictatorship had full control over Japan by 1932. Unlike Italy and Germany, Japan had no single dictator. The ideological tool used by the dictators then was the military government was divinely led by the descendant of the sun god. Japan asserted its superiority as a country and geared towards conquering Asia under the slogan: Asia for Asians. Japan government also ruled by force and violence, consistent with its fascist characteristics. Government critics were apprehended, incarcerated or murdered by secret police while glorification to war and empire was indoctrinated to the people. Women Repression during the Fascist Era In the chauvinist system of fascism, to say that women were discriminated is an understatement. Women’s rights suppression during under fascist ideology is systematic designed to contain women inside the home and have children as a state obligation. In a war footing environment, the fascist governments politicized and trivialized the given physical difference between men and women and made this the foundation that defines women’s role as citizens. Worse, every aspect of womanhood was held up to the discretion of the state’s interests, interpreted in the light of the dictatorships’ strategies in nation building (Garcia). Political Suppression Generally, under the fascist rule, political authority is dominated by men, if not fully controlled. For instance in Germany, it’s a belief among the Nazi that women should be protected from crudeness of politics and therefore their place in the society is the sanctity of their homes (Bendersky). Women have no voice in policy making for they were not allowed to vote, much less be elected in a position. Popular demands from different women’s organizations in Italy compelled the Mussolini regime to commit that women be allowed to participate to vote in local elections. Thus when the women’s suffrage bill was passed by the parliament, women were supposed to exercise their rights in the democratic process. Unfortunately, in 1926, however, Mussolini government altogether abandoned democratic local administration and processes (Grand). In Japan, suppression of women’s rights goes as far as the 1900s. In Article Five of the Public Peace Law of 1900 women were sternly prohibited to take any public political actions meaning women are restricted to hold, speak or even attend any political gatherings or meeting. They are not even allowed to be a member of any political parties. Thus, in 1931, Japan’s Bill for Women’s Suffrage passed the Lower House but failed to survive in the Upper House. It was only in 1945 that women were granted the right to suffrage and have a voice in the political arena (Mackie). The whole gamut of political system was in preservation and consolidation of a repressive system to justify the war. For the fascist political leadership, women are considered to be of less importance in the war politics and for the war economy. Thus, numerous despotic laws institutionalized women’s repression and made equal opportunity impossible. Article 7 of the 1919 Sacchi Law in Italy excluded women to take any post on public judicial authority or any exercise of political rights, or the military or defense of the state. There’s also the Ordinance 37 of 1930 wherein women were prohibited to be officers of the courts, diplomats or consular attaches, ranking civil servants, or even captains or owners of any commercial vessels (Garcia). In Germany, framework of economic action is defined by the political leadership principally considering the satisfaction for providing the needs for military victories and decisions in foreign policy (Kolinsky). Thus, the Nazis designated the role of women into the home as caretakers of race, culture and of national sentiments. Women: Childbearing Industry Opportunity for economic emancipation was an uphill climb for the women under Fascist ideology. Common among these Fascist dictators is the belief that women’s place in the society is motherhood. General regard to women in Germany was based on the ideological line dubbed by Hitler himself: “The woman has the task to be beautiful and to bear children” (Kolinsky). Consistent to the Nazi’s obsession of world domination, the role of motherhood was hyped as woman’s greatest contribution to German society. While Nazi leaders were still debating on the recruitment in the industrial sector, they unite unanimously on the thought that women’s ultimate role is child bearing. As a matter of fact, in 1935, an institution called Lebensborn was established. Lebensborn was an institution that served as breeding establishment where selected German women should conceive what Nazis coined as “biologically desirable” children from especially selected service men (Kolinsky). The fascist state banned contraceptives, closed all birth control clinics and criminalized abortion. In Italy, Mussolini declared that twelve children were the ideal number of a family to provide the need for soldiers. Pervert as it may seem, taxes were imposed on unjustified celibacy. He institutionalized discrimination against women in public employment. Thus, in 1938 Decree Law Number 1514, women employment was restricted to not more than 10 percent quota of the work force in private and state enterprises and proposed that women be totally eliminated from offices or other businesses with less than 10 employees. As if in consolation, the Royal Decree of June 1939 Number 989 provided a list of job exemptions specifically identified for female workers (Garcia). The works identified include custodial staffs of girls’ schools, laundry and dry-cleaning establishments, typists, clerk, telephone operates among others (Grand). In the rural areas, the income of female agricultural workers was only half compared to the male workers doing the same kind of work. In the field of legal profession, women were restricted to teach subject matters like philosophy, history, Italian, Latin and Greek for the lack of the determined “virile conception of life” requirement (Garcia). The same with Japan, women’s were expected to perform its patriotic duty of having more children in support of its war (Spielvogel). If there was Lebensborn in Germany, there was sex slavery in Japan. In the early years of 1930s, the Japanese built military brothels which served as comfort stations for the Japanese Imperial Army (Tipton). Women were recruited either through harassment, abduction and coercion or by promising them employment. These comfort stations were also built in Asia and the Pacific Islands where Japanese army were deployed. Aside from sex slavery, the most available jobs for women in Japan were as household helps or maid. In 1930, about one out of six women employed were working as maid (Odaka). Women: Resisting Fascism Repression is always countered with resistance. There were a lot of women who rose up and resisted against Fascism. Thousand of women worked in underground resistance movements in various forms. Some became soldiers; others used their abilities in writing and other expressed their anguish and desire to be liberated through the arts. Even at the height of the Fascist dictatorship, women have already started to air their grievances. In the midst of repression, working women organized themselves. They form unions, they protested against wage cuts, long hours of works and unjustified layoffs. For instance, In Italy, women workers in the textile industry in Valone went on strike in 1927. In 1931, female rice harvesters, called mondine waged a strike against cuts in their substance salary in the Po Valley (Grand). One of the most influential women in the journey of Italian women against Fascism is Ada Negri, who was also hailed as a Socialist heroine. Her litrerature served as a powerful voice to all women who have lost their own. In Germany, it seems that Hitler himself was the best recruiter for women to join left-wing political organizations because of his outright anti-women stance. National Socialism’s attempt to push woman exclusively into domestication was halted when the need to mobilize women to support its total war arised. This led the women back to the factories and and were once again exposed to the politics of the industries (Kolinsky). This became the material basis for the women workers’ resistance. As the war intensified, more and more men were sent outside of Germany to pursue it, that eventually, majority of the citizens left at the home front were women. It’s a battle for survival for the people of Germany as the country was continued to be plagued by crisis. Discontent especially among the women in the industries arose. The women played a crucial role in the several food riots launched against the German government (Griffin). At the beginning, women attack food depots, shops and foodlines as to express their outrage and desperation among the women. Eventually, however, these had become a political expression among the women as they raised the issue to call for peace and condemnation of the war. These activities where somewhat beared by the government for they cant afford to disperse them violent as this would create demoralization among the soldiers (Griffin). Thus, these actions would serve as a prelude to a full blown women’s movement and subsequent political assertion of women in Germany especially after the World War II. Women in Japan had also attempted to organized and launched collective actions. For instance, Christian women asserted for the abolition of prostitution and concubinage. On a more radical stance, women feminists from the working class with socialist perspectives formed the Red Wave Society (RWS) in 1921 (Tipton). RWS aimed to rally women to struggle for total transformation of the social-economic system. In the midst of military dictatoship, in 1930 women workers of the Tokyo Muslin Factory launched a strike to demand better wage and working condition. From then on, organized women had started to launch secret meetings among female workers and later even among with male workers. Women had started to raise their class consciousness and militant resistant. Resistance was the only option of women in the history of fascism. Recognition of women’s rights and rectification of society’s perception on women, was not served in a silver platter. This was the result of women’s long years of struggle for empowerment and liberation. Today, women enjoy their political rights, not only that they can vote, but they can now be elected. (Its relative, though, since there are still very few women in the parliament (especially in Japan). Women can now have equal opportunities economically. But women now are recognized and acknowledged. The freedom women in these countries are enjoying at present, should be attributed to the great women of history who dared to fight the reign of terror of fascism. However, remnants of chauvinism is still a glaring reality. Domestic violence, prostitution, rape, and all forms of women exploitation still exist. The journey for the full liberation of women is not yet over for today’s reality is tomorrow’s historys. Women should remain vigilant and must work hand in hand. In a united voice, women must be heard: Its not just a man’s world, its woman’s too. Reference Bendersky, Joseph W. A History of the Nazi Germany 1919-1945. Washington DC: Cushing Malloy, Inc., 1984. Garcia, Victoria De. How Fascism Ruled Women 1922-1945. California: University of California, 1992. Gordon, Andrew. Labor and Imperial Democracy in Prewar Japan. California: University of California Press Ltd, 1992. Grand, Alexander De. Italian Fsacism Its Origin and Development Third Edition. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. Griffin, Christopher. "Germany, Women and the Home Front." Cook, Bernard. Women and War A Historical Encyclopedia from Antiquity to Present. California: ABC-CLIO Inc., 2006. 224-226. Kolinsky, Eva. Women in Contemporary Germany Life, Work and Politics. Berg Publishers Limited: Oxford, 1989. Mackie, Vera. "Picturing Political Space 1920s-1930s Japan." Wilson, Sandra. Nation and Ntaionalism in Japan. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2002. 38-54. Mason, Tim. Nazism, Facism and the Working Class. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, 1995. Odaka, Takafusa Nakamora and Konasuke. Economic History of Japan 1914-1955 A Dual Structure. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pane, Stanley G. Fascism:Comparison and Definition. Winsconsin: The University of Winsconsin Press, 1980. Parker, Randall E. Reflections on the Great Depression. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2002. Pickering-lazzi, Robin. "Unspeakable Women Short Stories Written by Italian Women During Fascism." Negri, Ada. The Captain. New York: The Feminist Press, 1993. 28-31. Spielvogel, William J. Duiker and Jackson J. World History since the 1500 Sixth Edition. Boston: Clark Baxter and Suzanne Jeans, 2007. Tipton, Elise K. Modern Japan A Social and Political History Second Edition. New York: Routledge, 2008. Executive Summary This report delves on the condition of the women during the fascist rule in three countries namely Germany, Japan and Italy. In the Introduction, the paper discussed the Great Depression of the 1930s as a triggering factor that led to the reconstruction of political structures of the different countries in able to survive the economic sag. To supplement the introduction, the paper provided a brief discussion of these countries starting from the post-World War I period. This part of the paper talks about the economic condition of Germany, Italy and Japan that dictated the political path of these countries in the coming years: Fascism and War. The third part of this report discusses the main subject matter which is the condition of the women in these three countries. The report illustrates how women in the context of fascism and war were perceived as a vulnerable sector of the society and therefore were more of a liability in the thrust to conquer the world. During this time, women economic rights were exploited and considered as weak and low; their political rights deprived and repressed. In Germany, they were patronized because German women are bearers of the superior race while in Japan, they provide comfort for the war-stricken soldiers and in Italy they were competition to men in their work. The last part, which is the concluding part, delves on women’s résistance. This part traces the journey of the women sector towards empowerment and freedom. It identifies some individuals who played important role in the thrust of asserting women’s rights. However, the heart of the conclusion is to present the collective effort of women, all over the world to advance the women’s struggle towards their liberation. Read More