How did 20th-century feminism transform the rights and roles of women in Europe?
Topic 9.8 20th-Century Feminism: the achievements of the women's movements of the 20th century, from suffrage to the postwar feminist movement, and how they transformed women's legal, political, and social position.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.8, on 20th-century feminism: the winning of the vote in the early 20th century, the wartime expansion of women's roles, the postwar feminist movement's campaigns for legal, economic, and reproductive equality, and the transformation of women's position in European society.
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What this topic is asking
Topic 9.8 asks you to explain 20th-century feminism: the achievements of the women's movements, from suffrage to the postwar feminist movement, and how they transformed women's legal, political, and social position. The College Board wants you to trace the long campaign for women's equality across the century.
Winning the vote
War and women's roles
The postwar feminist movement
From the 1960s, feminism pressed far beyond the vote.
The transformation and its limits
Why it mattered
Twentieth-century feminism is a central thread of social change in the contemporary era and a key part of the broader transformation of European society after 1945 (Topic 9.6). It built on the earlier women's reform efforts of the 19th century (Topic 6.8) and the changing roles of women through industrialization and the world wars. The advance toward equality reshaped families, workplaces, politics, and culture, and it stands as one of the great social transformations of modern European history, even as the struggle for full equality continues.
Try this
Q1. Name the first great achievement of 20th-century feminism and one goal of the postwar movement. [Recall]
- Cue. First achievement: winning the vote (women's suffrage) in the early 20th century. Postwar goal: broad legal, economic, and reproductive equality, such as equal pay and opportunity.
Q2. Explain why the transformation of women's position can be called profound but incomplete. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Feminism moved women toward equality in law, work, education, and public life, a major transformation, but the change was uneven across countries and classes and full equality remained unachieved by the century's end, so progress and continuing struggle coexisted.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2019 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE achievement of early 20th-century feminism. Briefly explain ONE goal of the postwar feminist movement. Briefly explain ONE way feminism transformed European society.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per task.
A. Describe: the winning of the vote (women's suffrage) in many countries in the early 20th century.
B. Goal of the postwar movement: legal, economic, and reproductive equality, equal pay, equal opportunity, and control over their own lives.
C. How it transformed society: it moved women toward equality in law, work, education, and public life.
Markers want an early achievement, a postwar goal, and a transformation.
AP 2021 (style)6 marksEvaluate the extent to which 20th-century feminism transformed the position of women in Europe.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point continuity-and-change rubric.
Thesis (1): "Twentieth-century feminism transformed the legal, political, and social position of women, from winning the vote to securing broad equality, though full equality remained incomplete."
Contextualization (1): the earlier women's reform efforts and the world wars' expansion of women's roles.
Evidence (2): the winning of suffrage; wartime work; the postwar movement for legal, economic, and reproductive equality.
Analysis (2): weigh the profound changes against the limits and continuities, then add complexity by noting the unevenness across countries and classes.
Related dot points
- Topic 9.6 Contemporary Western Democracies: the development of stable, prosperous welfare-state democracies in postwar western Europe, their politics and social change, and the challenges they faced.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.6, on contemporary Western democracies: how postwar western Europe built stable, prosperous welfare-state democracies, the rise of consumer society and social change, the politics of consensus and protest, and the challenges of economic downturn and social tension.
- Topic 9.2 Rebuilding Europe: the reconstruction of Europe after World War II, the Marshall Plan and Western recovery, the building of welfare states, and the contrasting Soviet model in the east.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.2, on the rebuilding of Europe after 1945: the Marshall Plan and the Western European economic miracle, the construction of welfare states and mixed economies, and the contrasting Soviet-imposed reconstruction of communist eastern Europe.
- Topic 6.8 19th-Century Social Reform: the reform movements, factory and labor laws, public-health measures, education, and the expanding role of the state and voluntary groups in addressing industrial society's problems.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 6.8, on 19th-century social reform: factory and labor laws, public-health and sanitary reform, the abolition movement, education, women's reform efforts, and the slow expansion of the state's role in improving industrial society.
- Topic 6.4 Social Effects of Industrialization: how the factory and the city transformed social class, the family, gender roles, working conditions, and standards of living in 19th-century Europe.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 6.4, on the social effects of industrialization: the rise of the industrial middle class and working class, rapid urbanization and its conditions, the transformation of the family and gender roles, and debates over the standard of living.
- Topic 9.13 Globalization: the deepening economic, technological, and cultural interconnection of the contemporary world, its effects on Europe, and the tensions and reactions it provoked.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 9.13, on globalization: the deepening economic, technological, and cultural interconnection of the contemporary world, its transformation of European economies and societies, the role of migration and integration, and the tensions and backlash it provoked.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)