The NUWSS were once of the liberal party but because with the lack of support with their cause for suffrage it pushed the women to anger. When Herbert Asquith became Prime Minister the NUWSS became annoyed. He was from the liberal party but completely disagrees with the right for women to vote. In 1912 NUWSS took the vote and broke away from the liberals to support the Labour Party. They only supported these candidates in parliament because their political policy included things on female suffrage which was the only party to do so.
The NUWSS suspended all political activities until the war, which had been declared two days before the suspension, was over. Although the NUWSS supported the war effort they did not agree with the fact that the WSPU were persuading young men to recruit into the armed forces.
The WSPU or the Women’s Social and Political Union was formed by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903. The WSPU was headed by Emmeline Pankhurst and her two daughters Christabel and Sylvia. The WSPU were other wise known as the Suffragettes had completely different views from the NUWSS. The WSPU believed in using force to take their rights which belonged to them unlike the NUWSS asking if they could have their rights. Although they both shared similar views until 1905 when the media stopped talking about women’s right or rarely reporting meetings and refused to publish articles and letters written. As bills were being placed and being deliberately talked out by MP's they angled their peaceful tactics. Due to this the suffragettes decided that they had to take militant action to get their vote. As each bill was talked out the suffragettes increased the violence. The more violent tactics included heckling government ministers at meetings, raids on Parliament and mass rallies. In 1905 Christabel Pankhurst became the first suffragette to go to jail. The WSPU got the name of Suffragettes by the Daily Mail to distinguish them from them from the modern suffragists. AS more and more suffragettes were being jailed they decided to go on hunger strikes s protests against their harsh treatment. The authorities retaliated by force feeding.
By 1910 a bill had been introduced which would have given female householders the right to vote which was defeated; the suffragettes organized a protest outside parliament which turned into a battle with the law. They called this day Black Friday.
Again in 1911 the same bill was defeated. On the 1st March 1912 the suffregettes went on a rampage in the west end of London destroying thousands of pounds worth of private property. In 1913 war was declared by the suffragettes and they began to start a campaign of attacks on property. They had increased their militant action to another level they smashed windows, burnt railway stations, defaced works of art, poured acid into peoples letter boxes, threw pepper into Parliament and planned to blow up the coronation chair. In 1913 Emily Davidson killed herself by throwing herself into the king’s horse’ path.
In the summer of 1913 the violence from the suffragettes escalated they started an arson campaign. Although the NUWSS disagreed with the WSPU tactics they never criticized them as the NUWSS felt that the WSPU were really brave.
My conclusion is that there were two different groups with two completely different ideas and values on how to gain the vote but they were still both fighting for the same thing. In comparison one could say that the NUWSS would have got the vote quicker as they were not violent but the WSPU had had enough and wanted the vote they obviously thought that why should they be asking for the vote they should be able to take it.
