International Women's Organizations

ICW and IAWSEC

At the time, there were two major international women’s organizations: the International Council of Women (ICW) and the International Alliance of Women for Suffrage and Equal Citizenship (IAWSEC). Many people believed that the ICW was more conservative, while the IAWSEC was considered more liberal. However, both organizations had similar activities. Their conferences and congresses served as a kind of global women’s parliament, where women from different countries could meet and discuss issues.

National Women’s Organizations

In most European countries, there were two national women’s organizations. One was often called the National Women’s Union or National Women’s Council, and it was a member of the ICW. The other organization worked to guarantee women’s rights in all parts of society and was a member of the IAWSEC. In some countries, such as Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia, there was only one national women’s organization that united all the local women’s groups. These national groups worked for women’s rights and were members of both international organizations Adventure Balkan Tours .

Political and Military Alliances in Eastern Europe

After World War I, several political and military alliances were formed in Eastern Europe. One of these alliances was called the Little Entente, created between Czechoslovakia, Romania, and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in 1920-1921. Their goal was to protect the political situation in Central and Southeastern Europe.

In February 1934, another political group called the Balkan Entente was formed, including Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. The Balkan Entente’s goal was similar: to maintain the political situation in the Balkans and prevent Bulgaria from changing the Peace Treaty of Neuilly. Bulgaria and Albania refused to sign this agreement.

Little Entente of Women

In May 1923, women activists from several countries in the Balkans, including Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Poland, and Czechoslovakia, created the Little Entente of Women (LEW) in Rome. This group was inspired by the political Little Entente formed earlier.

Bulgaria’s participation in the LEW was unusual because it was a defeated country after World War I and had little in common with the victorious states that formed the original Little Entente. However, Bulgaria’s involvement in the Little Entente of Women showed that Bulgarian women wanted to act independently from the political goals of their national government. They wanted to focus on women’s issues, rather than on political matters tied to the state.