Of course there were plenty of hausfraus cowed to the door mat, and,
like the proletariat, needing a war to wake them up; but there were
several hundred thousand of the other sort.
Now, all these women need is a leader. The working women have their Rosa
Luxemburgs, who think out loud in public and get themselves locked up;
and, moreover, do not appeal to the other classes--for Germany is the
most snobbish country in the world. If there were--or if there is--such
a woman as Gisela Doering, who before the war had acquired a widespread
intellectual influence over the awakening women of her race, and then,
when they were approaching the breaking point, had gone quietly and
systematically about making a revolution, there is no question in my
mind as to the outcome.
Just consider for a moment what the German women have suffered during
this war--a war that they were told was forced upon their country by the
aggressive military acts of Russia and France, but which, owing to
Germany's might, would hardly last three months. For nearly three years
they have never known the sensation of appeased hunger, and, having
always been immense eaters, have suffered the tortures of dyspepsia in
addition to hunger. But, far worse, they have listened almost
continuously to the wails of their children for satisfying food,
children who are forever hungry and who often succumb.
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