Women’s Suffrage and War: World War I and Political Reform in a Comparative Perspective

War as cause of political reform has commonly been viewed as the key explanation for the success of the enfranchisement of women in several countries since the early days of suffrage historiography. Specifically, women's commitment to war relief and their mobilization for the war economy have been cited as reasons for the implementation of equal political rights. A revived interest of women's and gender history in women's mobilization and gender politics in war, however, presents a chance to reassess views on the link between war and women's right to vote. This chapter argues that recent studies on a new cultural understanding of political rights in the context of war emphasize the need for a more differentiated view of the relevance of war for suffrage reform.