When the war started the suffragettes decided that it was more important to help their country win the war than to campaign to get the right to vote. This would have counted for them in their campaign because it showed that they were patriotic.
During the war nearly all of the men went off to fight so there were lots of vacant jobs. Even though they were short of staff some employers still failed to employ women. But as the war went on women were being employed in jobs that used to be considered ‘men’s jobs’. They were doing jobs that required heavy lifting and hard labour.
Even though they were doing the same jobs as men they were paid less. But because they were doing the same jobs as men, it showed that they were just as capable. I think that this would have had a great influence in the decision that gave women the right to vote.
On the other hand the violent campaign of the suffragettes could have actually helped women in getting the right to vote. It showed that they were extremely passionate about what they believed in. it showed that they wanted it so badly they were prepared to go to prison for it.
The suffragettes’ violent campaign kept the issue in the public eye. If they hadn’t of done then the government would have kept postponing their decision and treated it as an unimportant issue. Because they kept using violence it made it an important issue. If the government had kept postponing their decision then the violence would have gone on longer.
You could loo at it as it being quite lucky for the government that the war started when it did. They didn’t have to make any excuses as to why they weren’t making a decision and when the war started the violence from the suffragettes stopped.
It wasn’t just in this country that women were campaigning for the right to vote. It was happening in places like America and other western European countries as well.
As it wasn’t just happening in this country it was very likely that women were going to get the vote at some point anyway. The suffragettes and the women’s effort in the war only sped up the process. The first country to give women the right to vote was New Zealand in 1893. There were also several states in America who gave women the vote before 1900.
In conclusion I do partly agree with this statement and partly disagree. I agree that women’s effort in the war was a major factor in giving women the right to vote. I don’t think, however, that it was because of the war that women got the vote. As a lot of other countries gave women the right to vote before the war had even started, it was very likely that women would have got the right to vote anyway. I think that the suffragette movement and the war just sped up that decision.
