Women and Community Strikes in the Crisis of 1917 - 1922 An interesting fact about the working class protests in the period during and after the First World War were not the initial demands for revolutionary change or the rights of workers, but rather force the government to provide basic necessities such as food and shelter during periods of rationing. Although there were differences in geography and outcomes, the goal was the same: to demand survival rather than social and economic change. The politicization of these movements did not occur until their male counterparts, who belonged to trade unions and radical political groups, sympathized with their female equivalents and participated in these marches in cases of violence or government repression. It was because of politics that these women avoided the idea to elicit sympathy and avoid vicious reprisals against them. The organization of these marches is linked to the community structure of working-class women. Although these events appeared to occur randomly, they shared some common characteristics. The communities where these women resided were usually close to their husbands/fathers/brothers/partners' workplaces and also to government facilities. Another was the close bonds formed between them through interactions at work, markets, churches, and other public gathering areas. Whether babysitting neighbors' children or each other, working-class omens had a deeper solidarity than upper-class women. Although food shortages were a frequent occurrence, when women tried to march for better access to food outside of their communities, they demonstrated solidarity in saying that they deserved these privileges. The men formed groups to draw attention to working-class rights and political reform; s...... middle of paper ......d reintroducing traditionalist female roles of motherhood and submissive attitudes towards men. Finally, in connection with the textbook, it mentions the life of women under fascist Italy while for German women in the Nazi regime it does not mention their political contribution to the party and focuses only on the Nazi economic policies that affected women. Works Cited Kaplan, Temma. "16 - Women and community strikes in the crisis of 1917-1922." Becoming Visible: Women in European History. Ed. Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koonz and Susan Mosher. Stuart. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 428-49. Print.Koonz, Claudia. "19 - The fascist solution to the women's question in Italy and Germany." Becoming Visible: Women in European History. Ed. Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koonz and Susan Mosher. Stuart. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. 498-533. Press.