When, in 1910, Black Friday took place, this led the Suffragettes to become even more violent, turning to arson and destroying property. At the height of their violence in 1913, including the saga of the ‘Cat and Mouse Act’, and the establishment of the Suffragettes first martyr, Emily Wilding Davison, the general public had quickly tired of the antics of the Suffragettes as their violence spiralled out of control, and any respect that they had once held was lost. At this point in time, nearing the First World War, due to the extreme advance in violent protest used by the Suffragettes, although the majority of the party enjoyed it, some of the Suffragettes followers and supporters were extremely unhappy about the way in which their cause was going.
The violent protest used by the Suffragettes only infuriated those towards whom it was aimed and only continued to prove the initial belief, held by the majority of the upper class men of the time, that women were irresponsible and were therefore unworthy of the right to vote. By lashing out in the form of violence, the Suffragettes only reinforced the idea that women were unstable.
Men of this time grew more and more unimpressed by the actions of the Suffragettes as they had not totally proved themselves in the eyes of the men and still strongly held the belief that politics was an unsuitable topic to concern women with, due to their lack of interest and education of a subject such as it. Upper class men were opposed to women gaining the vote as at this time, not all men had the vote, so why should women? As well as not all men having the vote at this time, it was realised that even if the Suffragettes did get the vote for women, it would only affect upper and some middle class women. Many influential figures of this time were antagonistic towards the vote for women, including Queen Victoria. Some men felt threatened by the thought of women gaining power, maybe even equality, through them gaining the right to vote and so did all within their power to place obstacles on the Suffragettes path to gaining the vote for women.
Although the Suffragettes achieved great publicity for countless years, due to the fact that they were never far from the public eye meant that their ideas and campaign were practically forced onto the general public, and then took drastic measures to gain their attention. Many people lost respect for the Suffragettes when they launched violent protests as they only enforced the idea that women should be denied the vote due to their recklessness and incapability of being able to conform to peaceful protest.
2. “Without the First World War, British women would have not gained the right to vote in 1918”
Do you agree or disagree with this interpretation?
Explain your answer using the sources and knowledge from your studies.
I agree with the statement that British women would not have gained the right to vote before the happening of World War One. Before the Suffragettes contribution to the war work force, they were fighting a losing battle as no one regarded them with any respect. At this point in time, the Suffragettes were getting nowhere very quickly as people were rapidly losing interest in the rash and drastic measures that they were willing to undertake in hope of achieving attention. The contingency of war called on the women of both the Suffragists and Suffragettes to take their places in society, and do everything within their power to help the country whilst at war. Although the Suffragettes had convincing and logical points for the reasons as to why women greatly deserved the right to vote, they still had to prove themselves in the eyes of men, and the war provided this very opportunity.
Source ‘A’ is that of an extract taken from one of Emmeline Pankhurst’s many speeches in 1908, a time when there was an increasing number of raids on Parliament and of heckling with MP’s. The source is of an abundantly influential tone as it is taken from a speech, which would have been widely received. The speech seems to be aimed at men and the government, the source stresses on what the government needs to do in order to create a more democratic society, including the importance of the vote for women, providing them with a say in how the country is run, intending to be convincing and that a woman gaining the vote was infallible. Although the source is obviously meant to influence, it does it subtly, and its intent is obvious to change people’s attitudes into realising that women were independent, intelligent and very worthy of the vote. The height of interest of the Suffragettes campaign is emphasised in the notation of “You cannot read a newspaper or go to a conference without hearing demands of social reform”, making a dig at the government by saying that they are wrong to think women are unworthy of the vote and are the only people who think so. The importance of women obtaining the right to vote is accentuated, proving that it is greatly needed so that “the woman’s point of view can be put forward”. As the speech was written to alter opinions, to ensure that it was successful in doing so, the speech is written so that it mentions the fact that just because women are successful it does not mean that they threaten a man’s position. The speech tells of how just because a woman is interested in politics and is willing to fight for the vote does not mean that she “need give up a single duty she has in the home”. This reference being aimed towards the men who believed that a woman’s place was in the home and that she would neglect her homely obligations in order to take part in ‘unladylike’ activities, and this quote shows that a women are independent, whilst also being able to concede to the needs of her home and her husband. This speech was made in order to prove that women were well on their way to achieving the right to vote, but to hint that they were not threatening the positions of men, simply wanting a taste of putting their point of view forward.
Source ‘B’ is obviously an influential piece of propaganda at the time of the Suffragettes on their crusade for the vote, a postcard issued by the Suffragettes in 1910. As a primary source it is extremely reliable. It acts as an illustrated account of the many injustices that women faced in comparison to men, showing that men could be the dregs of society by being a drunkard, a convict or a lunatic and still considered worthy of the vote just due to their sex. It highlights further injustices faced by showing that women could be honourable figures in society such as being a mother, a nurse, a mayor, a teacher or a doctor and could still be determined as unfit for the vote simply because of their gender. It is a very influential and unbalanced source as it has not been related through words or been remembered by someone, but stands as pictorial exposé on the injustices served by women on their campaign for the vote. It is obvious that it was intended to be influential towards those who had their doubts, hoping to gain vast support for their cause and to sway the opinions of many, as it was a source designed to be widely received by the public, thus printed as a postcard.
Source ‘C’ is another source intended to persuade and it is of a speech made by Conservative leader of the time in 1912. Unlike the two previous sources provided, it is a source intended to persuade people that Women’s Suffrage was an absurdity and that women did not “have the experience to be able to vote”. Other problems on the path for the vote for women, such as their lack of education and strength as well as their jobs of running a home, are included. The source is obviously written by a man and directed towards men as he imposes a threat to the male population of voters if women were granted the vote as “most voters would then be women”, intending to cause people to believe in the saying “give them an inch and they’ll take a mile”. This source provides a more balanced view that those previous to it, as although he discusses that its unnecessary for women to want and acquire the vote, he then succumbs to the fact that it would be better that way by stating “I agree there are some issues upon which the votes of women might be helpful”. Lord Curzon then goes onto make a dig at the inequality of the sexes by pointing out the supposed injustice that men face, “The first whiz of the bullet, the first boom of the cannon and where is the equality of the sexes then?”. It is implied that whilst women consider the fact that they are deprived of the right to vote an inequality of the sexes, he claims that there is a greater inequality in the fact that men are sent off to war and that women are incapable of running the country.
Source ‘D’ is a pictorial statement made enforcing the idea of men and women being united in the disaster of war. It is an illustration taken from the front cover of ‘War Worker’ magazine in 1917, proving that the women had no time to worry about gaining the vote but just to get on with their jobs in this time of need. The fact that the man and woman were standing opposite from one another, both holding the Union Jack represents them as equal, united by war. Although there is certain reliability due to the fact that the source is primary, there is also the fact that it was created by women for the ‘War Worker’ magazine, using it as propaganda to claim that men and women had become connected and were now equal. Due to the most likely possibility of propaganda, it could also have been created as a booster of morale and therefore an illusory image of how men and women should be rather than how they really were.
Source ‘E’ is a secondary source, written in hindsight and talks of the resentment that could have been felt by men who were open to being conscripted due to the fact that the women were there to take over their job if needed and that “attitudes to women workers remained negative”. It is talked of how women were disliked for their success and ability to flourish through work and that some were even restrained as an act of undermining them, “many women were restricted to less skilled work and were victims of hostility”. This proves that women were on their way to becoming equal but were intensely disliked for it as although it meant that men were more susceptible to being conscripted, it meant that women were becoming equal to men, doing their jobs well, if not better than they had been done by men.
In conclusion to whether women would have gained the vote without their valuable contribution to the First World War, it is doubtful that they would have been granted the right to vote as the war provided them with the opportunity to prove themselves in the eyes of men, which they most definitely did.
