However, some might completely disagree with my view and say that the only reason the women were granted the vote was because of their wartime efforts. Source J agrees with this point. It is a part of a speech by Herbert Asquith in the House of Commons in 1917. He opposed the women’s right to vote for many years and the source says that his opposition was well known. On the other hand, the suffragettes did not start their violent campaigns and they contributed to every aspect of the war services during the war. Because of this, he believes that some women should be given the vote (e.g. women over 30).
This can be explained further as women from all classes contributed to the war efforts. Upper class women advised the government on health and employment while the middle class women joined the Land Army in 1915. They were expected to look after the animals, plough, plant and harvest. It was tough, physical work done in all weathers.
The women working in the munitions industry received the greatest publicity. The numbers working in the munitions and vehicle industry increased by over 200 times. In munitions industry, long hours were common and the working conditions were dangerous: many suffered from TNT poisoning, which turned their skin yellow (canaries) and explosions at the factories often killed many women.
Despite the strong positive and negative views about if the women gained the vote because of their work between 1914 and 1918, there were still some mixed feelings on this matter. Source I is a piece of text from a history book called “Women at War 1914/1918” which says that the war brought votes for women is a very rough generalisation, but it does contain some truth. It is also true women’s rights were a part of great social and political changes that were a revolution as a result of the war.
Another reason that I believe women did not earn the vote for their wartime efforts because, the women if France did as equally important work as the women in Britain in World War One, but they did not receive the right to vote after the war. This was because there were no pre-war suffragette movements in France, unlike in Britain. While the suffragettes had shocked and gained the attentions of the society, no-one wanted to return to the violence of pre-1914, as Britain was a nation exhausted by war. Therefore, the role of suffragettes had been far more important than originally thought by many historians.
Nevertheless, some historians may still disagree with my view. The reason they say this because over fifteen thousand women joined the Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) to care for the wounded men in the hospitals. Vera Brittain, a student who joined the VADs instead of going to Somerville College in Oxford for further studies said the following about their expectations of the work was not matched by reality: “came to hospital expecting to hold the patients’ hands and smooth their pillows while regular nurses fetched and carried everything what looked and smelt disagreeable”. What they found was long hours and caring for the wounded and in great pain. Also, they were not paid so only the women from well-off families could afford to volunteer. The historians say that these women especially women like Vera Brittain who abandoned all of her future plans of a good life, to look after wounded men at hospitals in great pain. The best way to reward them for all their hard work and effort is the very thing most women had been fighting for many years – the right to vote.
On the other hand, Britain was shocked by the Russian Revolution. The government thought such a social disorder in Russia could happen here in Britain. Many women had done valuable work during the war, but by 1918 they were being pressurised into returning to their old, domestic jobs. The chance that most of these women would join the suffrage can cause even more pandemonium with their campaigns than they had done before the war was too great. The government could not risk such a dangerous threat for something very small like the votes for women.
Overall, I have shown many reasons for why I believe that women did not get the right to vote because of the things they did for the war. I say this because: women were resented in work places so they were unappreciated, and to prevent further violence by the suffragettes.