The outbreak of World War One would leave a changed Europe in its wake. In The Classic Slum, Robert Roberts asserts that, ôThe first world war cracked the form of English lower-class life and began an erosion of its socio-economic layers that has continued to this dayö (186). From increased economic, domestic, and political power for women to a breakup of the tightly knit, hierarchical nature of the Salford slum and, by consequence, slums across Europe. This analysis will review some of the most significant changes wrought on the Salford slum due the impact of World War One.
The biggest changes in slum life after World War One were seen in the workforce, class strata, and domestic sphere. Perhaps the biggest change involved the changing role and increasing power of women. As one historian notes, ôWorld War One gave women the opportunity to show a male-dominated society that they could do more than simply bring up children and tend a homeö (Women 1). Although still under the strictly defined roles for women of the Victorian era before WWI, women during and after the war gained enormous power in the workplace, domestic sphere and political arena. After the war it was virtually impossible to deny women the right to vote, something they had campaigned for before the war began.
In the domestic sphere, women were enjoying greater power of economic and employment decisions, as well as no longer viewing themselves as merely an extension of their husbands. As Roberts tells us, women in shops ôno longer talked about æmy bossÆ, or æmy masterÆö (201). As women played a vital role in business while men served in the war, after the war women maintained a role of power in the labor force and at home. Women, Roberts maintains, ôgrew in social stature and gained an authority they have never lost sinceö (200). The social barriers of caste that had been a cornerstone of Salford slum life
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