Red Cross nurse’s uniform

The history of the Volunteer Nurses is closely linked to the history of Italy: during the Great War, “Red Cross” nurses were the first women present on the front line of a conflict that coincided with a radical change of the female image and of the role of women within society. The industrial mobilisation that accompanied the war effort in Italy produced a significant change since even factories at that time mainly employed women. The Red Cross nurse became a well-known and popular figure, not least due to the very high number of soldiers who were wounded and mutilated in the war.