Revolutionary Women of the 20th Century

It is high time to talk more about the women of the 20th century, who contributed essentially to the improvement of the situation of women, minorities and workers and who also initiated social upheavals. Because we don't usually learn about them in school. They are the invisible fighters for women's and human rights who have long since been accorded due respect and the greatest recognition.?So let's take a look at some of these great revolutionary women.

Article by Daliana Ilies. Edited by Daniela Luschin

Clara Zetkin (1857-1933)

Picture a women in her fifties in western Europe around 1900. She is everything but ordinary, a Marxist theorist, communist activist, part of the Social Democratic Party in Germany at that time, and most importantly – an advocate for women’s rights

Clara Zetkin was one of the very few women allowed in such a male-dominant political circle. She started holding conferences to discuss women’s issues, and by 1907 she organized the first International Conference of Socialist Women in Stuttgart, Germany. Her primary goal was to get women into the workforce in order to take part in the worker’s rights organizations. This way, they would have the means to improve their own conditions. This started a trend. Almost at the same time, the US declared the first women’s day on February 28, 1909, and the streets of New York were packed with women protesting for better pay and working conditions. 1910 a second?International Conference of Working Women came together. At that time, over 100 delegates from across the world met in Copenhagen. Zetkin pushed the idea of international women’s day, and the vote was unanimous, meaning they finally had a day when women could organize and press for equal rights.

Rose Schneidermann (1882-1972)

The first-ever European celebration of International Women’s Day happened in Vienna in?1911. Only a year later, more than a million women took to the streets in Germany. And the trend continues in America, being sparked this time by?Rose Schneidermann, who insists workers need more than just wages to survive; they also need dignity and decent working standards.?As a?suffragist?she helped to pass the New York state referendum of 1917 that gave women the right to vote.

Alexandra Kollontai (1872-1952)

1917 the most dramatic celebration of the International Women's Day started in Russia, led by the feminist?Alexandra Kollontai. Why?

The number of women working in the factories, mainly in the textile or chemical industry, has skyrocketed because men were in the war. The women replacing them were paid only half as much, even though they worked long hours under horrific conditions. Storming the streets of Petrograd on February 23 or in our calendar on March 8, women struck against war, starvation, and the Czar. Two days later, nearly every industry in Petrograd had ground to a halt. The protest wasn’t just women or even workers anymore. Students, teachers, and so many more joined them. The Czars responded by ordering the military to shoot them if necessary. But the protests couldn’t be stopped. This was the beginning of the Russian February Revolution, and it was truly women’s day and Alexandra Kollontai's courage that inaugurated that. But we don’t really learn about this in school, do we? One week after the “celebration”, Czar Nicholas II abdicated, ending about 300 years of Romanov Rule over Russia.

Lilian Ngoyi (1911-1980)

Even though South Africa celebrates International Women's Day two times a year and has its differences from the European celebration, I have to include one more fearless woman:?Lilian Ngoyi. Also known as the Mother of The Black Resistance, Ngoyi was the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, helping to form the Federation of South African women. Her energy and her gift as a public speaker won her rapid recognition. On August 9, 1956, (one of the dates when people in South Africa celebrate IWD), she led the women’s anti-pass march, one of the largest demonstrations staged in South African history. Holding thousands of petitions in one hand, Ngoyi was the one who knocked on the Prime Minister’s door to hand over the petitions. She ends up arrested for high treason along with 156 other leading figures.

Now here we are, 2022, and as women we earn less than our male equivalents; we are underrepresented in politics or business. Most scarry, we still suffer?significant risks of violence, and many times, women have to handle family care alone. I want our generation to stand up and continue what these lionhearted women created, achieving the freedom we all deserve in all aspects of life.