The Suffragettes campaign was another contributory factor to women gaining the vote, but their approach was largely different to that of the Suffragists; they used militant tactics instead, and were prepared to break the law in order to gain media attention and publicity for their cause. We can infer from Source A that the Suffragettes were well-supported, but we can also infer (even though the photograph is staged) that they were violent, or at least troublesome. A police officer can be seen in the shot; we can imagine this means that there were expectations of trouble from the women, for the government to send in such enforcements. Sources B and D also corroborate this view that the Suffragettes were disorderly in their means of accomplishment.
Suffragette’s techniques were effective in bringing issues to the forefront of public attention and forcing the government to take notice, but their violent methods alienated support for the cause and the government hardened its position, saying it could not give in to violence- since that would encourage others to use it. From 1910 to 1914, the government was already having to deal with three other problems; the House of Lords was having a budget crisis, the IRA were fighting for home rule and all the key industries were going on strike. If the government had of given women the vote after the Suffragette’s activity, the other groups would have likely turned to violence to solve their problems too. It is still a much argued debate as to whether, if it wasn’t for the Suffragette’s militant tactics antagonising the public and politicians so much, Suffragists would have received the vote, well before the beginning of World War One.
The ‘Great War’ began in August 1914 and because of it both the Suffragettes and the Suffragists suspended their campaigns- seeing it as their patriotic duty to make themselves vital to the War Effort. In Source H, we are shown the front-cove of the War Worker magazine, published in June 1917, which shows a man and a woman working, united, for a common cause. This type of source was used as propaganda during the war to get more people involved in the War Effort, so therefore it is not as reliable as other sources, however it does show us how women began to be treated differently. Despite the prejudice described in Source I, attitudes towards women did change during the war, for a number of reasons; women were supporting the government on recruitment- sending white feathers (a sign of cowardice) to those who did not conscript, and forming the Mother’s Union (briefly mentioned in Source G) that urged men (their husbands and sons) to join up- women began taking on jobs previously only taken on by men, and they proved to do just as well, some even died for the war, although Source F begs to differ that women played any large role, or gave any sacrifice.
Source F carries across the message that women could not and would not fight and die for their country and could not, therefore, call themselves equal to men, or for that matter, receive the vote, and become equal. But women did die for their country in the War; in munitions factories, shells would sometimes explode and women would die, some women died slowly from the dangerous chemicals they were exposed to and even some women died at the front, as nurses for the injured. Although, they did not take part in active combat, women did die and did make the sacrifice during the war; this led to many attitude changes about votes for women. Source J is a perfect example of how attitudes towards women changed.
Source J is from a speech made by former Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, in 1917. In the past, Asquith had been extremely negative towards female suffrage, but in just the four years of the war, his views had totally changed. Source J corroborates this, with the fact of him saying he would, “find it impossible to withhold from women the power and the right of making their voices heard.” Basically, Asquith was saying women should be rewarded, with the vote, for all their hard work in the war.
As well as Asquith, the new Prime Minister- Lloyd George, and some other, previously hostile MPs were generally sympathetic towards women’s suffrage. New MPs also favoured women’s suffrage and they didn’t worry so much that giving women the vote would give an advantage to their opponents. Another reason for giving women the vote was because the government felt pressured- other countries had given women the vote and so the English government believed they’d lag behind if they didn’t.
The First World War, and hence women’s contribution to it, has often been given as the main reason for British women gaining the right to vote in 1918, however there were always three stages towards the emancipation of women; the first was the long campaign of propaganda and organisation by the Suffragists, who laid the foundations for change, the second was the militant campaign by the Suffragettes, and third, was the War. We know that it was not the War alone that secured women the vote, as the French women had participated just as much in the war effort in France but were not given the vote afterwards. In France there had been no suffrage movement and therefore no pressure on the government for change, so in conclusion the women’s suffrage movement in Britain before the war must have made a difference. Had there been no war, the emancipation of women would inevitably have come, although just much slower.
