Do you agree with the view, expressed in Source U, that the confrontation between the government and the suffrage campaigners was not 'wholly barren of results'? Do you agree with the view, expressed in Source U, that the confrontation between the governm
By Amy Condliffe
Do you agree with the view, expressed in Source U, that the confrontation between the government and the suffrage campaigners was not 'wholly barren of results'?
It can be said that, although little progress was made in the way of legislation, that the suffragist campaign and the confrontation it made against the government at the time of the early 1900's, was not without progress and did make headway in the political landscape. This is because the campaign gained great publicity through this period, and although many MPs did not agree with giving women the ability to vote, the majority of those in parliament changed their minds towards the posistion of women, and by the beginning of WW1, the majority of MPs were seen to support the female enfranchisement. Although this is true, it can be seen that disagreements between the Liberal governement and the campaign did nothing to help the cause.
One factor which could be seen to either help the suffragettes campaign or disuade the government from giving women the vote, was the violent measures in which the WSPU performed. They can both be seen as a great force of publicity and as an act of violence that the government could put down to madness. The WSPU, by taking extreme measures, were able to promote their cause through the media as it was far the most controversial and divisive aspect of the whole of female suffrage. Although it gained the cause huge publicity, and many argue that any publicity at all increased the campaign's progress, the use of violence seemed to justify the widely-held belief that women were not physically or mentally stable enough to be trusted with the vote. Above all, Suffragette violence had very effectively alienated the peaceful suffragists, such as the NUWSS, and particularly, the liberal prime minister, and in a political situation where so much depended on the personal attitude of the prime minister, this may be considered a fatal mistake. Suffragette violence not only repulsed him personally but made it virtually impossible for him to bend on the issue even had he wished to, since it would make it appear as if he were giving in to threats. On the otherhand, Asquith was also delaying with the threat of a civil war in Ireland, industrial unrest and the controversial People's Budget, and the Women's enfranchisement could be seen to be far less pressing than the other issues present at the time. Athough ths is true, their use of violence granted the women the posistion of using tactics used against them to create propaganda against the government, as seen in Source M; here, although created by a Alfred Pearse, someone in favour of the campaign, does show the forceful way in which the Liberal government treated female suffrage prisoners. Forcefeeding, which the Liberal government implemented in order to stop the women dying in prison for the cause and becoming a martyr, was used against them as it enabled the suffragettes to use them as publicity stunts and against the Liberal's electioneering. In turn, the violent measures in which the suffragettes performed in order to gain them the vote, may have failed in the sense that many now believed they were too unstable to be given the vote, but the most that can be claimed for suffragette violence is that it kept the issue on the political agenda and made it impossible for the government to ignore, gaining the cause great publicity and enabled them to show the terrible ways in which the Liberal government used to keep them under control.
