How Did Technology and New Ideas Help Women Become More Free?

Before 1900, many new inventions and changes slowly started to make life easier, especially for women. These changes helped women move away from old ways of doing things and gave them more freedom.

Some of the first helpful inventions were piped water and gas for heating and lighting. Later, electricity made homes cleaner and more comfortable. Better shops made it easier for families to buy things, and new kinds of food that could be stored longer changed how people cooked. People didn’t have to visit the market every day anymore.

Early versions of machines like gas cookers, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines started to appear, mostly in rich people’s homes. These machines helped with housework, which used to take a very long time.

Even though these inventions might seem small, like the stirrup or the lathe in history, they were very important because they changed everyday life for many women around the world.

At the same time, women who wanted the right to vote became more active. In England, these women were called suffragettes. They were inspired by the fact that more men were getting the right to vote as political systems became more democratic.

By 1900, new kinds of political parties appeared. These parties made politics easier to understand for many people and helped spread political ideas. This was part of the growing “mass society,” where ordinary people had more influence than before.

People also started to realize that public opinion—what regular people thought—was very important. For example, in England, public opinion helped change laws about food prices called the Corn Laws. The French emperor at the time couldn’t stop his people from wanting a war they later lost. Even Otto von Bismarck, Germany’s leader, had to listen to public opinion when he decided to expand Germany’s colonies.

More people learned to read, which was good for education. But it also meant lots of newspapers and advertisements started to appear. Some newspapers made stories more exciting or emotional to get more readers.

One idea that had a lot of power was nationalism—the belief that people who share the same country, language, or culture should be united. Nationalism helped many groups fight against empires like the Ottoman Empire (which ruled much of southeastern Europe) and create new nations.