Women and War

Addams, Jane (Peace Activists)

(1860-1935) Sociologist, social reformer, and pacifist. Jane Addams is probably best remembered as the administrator of a settlement house in Chicago called Hull House and for her effort to improve conditions for racial and ethnic minorities, women, and the poor. She was also an ardent pacifist, however. Addams, already well known and respected for her […]

Afghanistan (Wars)

Fate of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, which came to power as a result of the armed struggle with the Soviet Union and its Afghan allies and continued to fight the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance until the U.S. invasion of 2001. When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 1996, it not only reversed […]

Agustina de Aragon (nee Agustina Zaragoza y Domeneoh) (Combatants/Military Personnel)

(1786-1857) Spanish heroine during the Peninsular War (1808-1814). Emperor Napoleon’s attempt to dominate Spain in 1808 was met with an outburst of fierce opposition by Spaniards from all walks of life—men, women, children, churchmen, nobility, civilians, peasants, and soldiers. One of the most spectacular examples of popular resistance occurred during the two French sieges-to-the-death on […]

AIDS, War and the Spread of (Rape in War)

The role of war in the spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and its impact on women. More than 40 million people in the world today are positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and more than 20 million people have died from AIDS. In sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of HIV-positive people are women, and the […]

Aishah (Aisha) (Military Leaders)

(CA. 6 14-678) Wife of the Prophet Muhammad. Daughter of Abu Bakr of Mecca, Aishah belonged to the Bani Tamim clan of the tribe of the Quraysh. Aishah is said to have accepted Islam when she was still young and followed her family to Ethiopia around 615, where some early Muslims immigrated seeking refuge from […]

Alexandra, Czarina of Russia (Companions)

(1872-1918) Czarina of Russia at the time of World War I and the Russian Revolution. Alexandra of Hesse-Darmstarmstadt, a German noblewoman, became empress (czarina) of Russia upon her marriage to the newly installed monarch, Nicholas II, in April 1894. Unpopular both at the imperial court and among the wider public, her influence during World War […]

Algeria, Women in the War of National Liberation

The role of women in the Algerian people’s armed struggle for independence waged against the French from 1954 until 1962. The French held on to Algeria more tenaciously than Vietnam because they regarded it to be an integral part of France and approximately 1 million French colons resided there. On the Algerian side, women played […]

Allen, Eliza (Combatants/Military Personnel)

(b. 1826) Female volunteer who, disguised as a man, fought with the U.S. Army in the Mexican War of 1846-1848. Eliza Allen was born on January 27, 1826, in Eastport, Maine, where she enjoyed a life of comfort on the family estate. Trouble between Allen and her parents began after a man named Billings moved […]

Amazons (Combatants/Military Personnel)

Greek legends of Amazons, warrior women who lived beyond the borders of civilization and inverted normal gender roles. According to legend, this tribe of female warriors was descended from Ares, Greek god of war, and the nymph Harmonia. They were devotees of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. The first mention of the Amazons appears in […]

American Revolution, Role of Women in the (Wars)

Women’s roles during the Revolutionary War in America between 1776 and 1783. Americans declared independence from Britain in 1776, and the British sent troops to the colonies to quell the revolt. Patriots (Americans who supported the Revolution) fought against the British and colonial loyalists (Americas who did not want independence from Britain). During the war, […]

← Previous Entries