The reference news network reported on November 12 that although history only praises the great achievements of men on the battlefield, it cannot erase the important role played by women in the First World War.
As the guns of World War I sounded, women around the world fought on different fronts and in different positions: some worked in factories, producing textiles and weapons and ammunition; others rushed to the front lines to become nurses or ambulance drivers, according to the website of El Espanyol on November 8.
Conservative societies at that time were prejudiced against women carrying guns to the battlefield, but there were still many heroines who became the protagonists of military operations during World War I. Here are ten female representatives:
1. Marta Harri (1876-1917)
The Dutch dancer was a famous female spy during the First World War, acting as a double agent between France and Germany, using beauty in exchange for intelligence. Her real name is Margarita Celler, and Marta Harry is her stage name. She seduced politicians and senior military officers from various European countries to obtain intelligence from them. On October 15, 1917, french counterintelligence agencies arrested and executed her. She is said to have ended up giving the executioner a flying kiss.
2. Maria Bochkareva (1889-1920)
Born in rural Russia, Bochkareva signed up for the army when World War I broke out. She was very heroic in battle, wounded many times, awarded the Medal three times, and was commissioned to create Russia's first "female soldier death squad". In June 1917, Bochkareva and her "female soldier death squad" were sent to Fight in Belarus, completing a surprise mission that the male soldiers could not complete.
3. Dorothy Lawrence (1896-1964)
British journalist Dorothy Lawrence rode a bicycle to the western front line in Calais. She wanted to become a war correspondent and tell the world what life was like in the trenches, but was ridiculed and stopped by her commander. So she dressed as a man, alias Dennis Smith, and mixed into the 51st Division of the British Army's engineering unit. Fearing that he would be discovered and put his comrades in danger, Lawrence eventually revealed his true identity to the troops.
4. Mirrenka Savage (1892-1973)
After seeing that his brother had received the letter of recruitment, Savage cut off his long hair, put on a man's clothes, and joined the Serbian army in place of his brother, determined to fight for his homeland in the Second Balkan War. When it was discovered that Savage was female, she had been promoted to corporal. During World War I, she made many military achievements and was awarded the French Croix des Croixes des Valtresses.
5 Edith Clavel (1865-1915)
Edith Clavel is a British nurse working in Belgium. After the German invasion of Belgium, she was tasked not only with caring for wounded Allied soldiers at the Red Cross Hospital in Brussels, but also to help them flee to neutral Netherlands. It is estimated that Clavel and his aides helped about 200 French, British and Belgian soldiers. Clavel was later captured by enemy forces and shot.
6. Elizabeth Smith Friedman (1892-1980)
Although Elizabeth Smith's major exploits were accomplished during World War II, she became the first female codebreaker in American history during World War I. She wasn't a mathematician or an engineer, much less a soldier, she was a poet and an avid fan of Shakespeare's work. The woman was hired in 1916 by the wealthy George Fabian to work in his laboratory. There she met William Friedman, and the two worked together on codebreaking after their marriage in 1917.
7. Aikalina Theodoroyu (1894-1917)
Teodoroyu dreamed of becoming a teacher, but the outbreak of World War I forced her to serve the Allies as a nurse. The death of her brother prompted her decision to join the Romanian army. She participated in all the battles with the Eighteenth Infantry Regiment, showing her innate leadership and command skills. The Romanian heroine was eventually killed.
8. Marie Curie (1867-1934)
By the time World War I broke out, Marie Curie had already won two Nobel Prizes. As a pioneer in the field of radioactivity research, she promoted the application of X-rays in field hospitals and organized the production of a large number of medical vehicles equipped with X-ray machines and photographic anechoic equipment for use on the front line. She also established the first military radiation center in France.
9. Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919)
Rosa Luxemburg was a Polish-born Jew who joined the workers' movement in her early years against the imperialist powers waging a war for their own benefit. She and Carl Liebknecht founded the Revolutionary Left and, on this basis, founded the German Communist Party. On 15 January 1919, she and Liebknecht were arrested and executed in Berlin.
10. Dorothy Fielding (1889-1935)
Dorothy Fielding came from an aristocratic family, but war and bloodshed pushed her to the front. Fielding was sent to Belgium to drive an ambulance to take the wounded soldiers to the hospital. Her courage and dedication have earned her numerous awards, including the British Medal of Bravery. She was the first woman to receive the medal in World War I.