"It was work that women did during the war that earned them the vote''

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Study Sources H, I and J and Use Your Own Knowledge.

 “It was work that women did during the war that earned them the vote’’  

Use the Sources and Your Own Knowledge to Explain Whether You Agree with This Interpretation.

I personally think that it was not only the war that got women the vote, but it was a large factor. An argument against this is that other issues post war and suffragette activity that gained women the vote. When war broke out it had a huge impact on Britain economically and politically. Industry Trade Unions became extremely powerful and a woman voting was at the bottom of the government’s list of priorities.

During the war, women played a huge part and showed great patriotic support. In the work place, they replaced men, in shops, factories, government office and transportation systems like driving because men were called to the front line, this change had to be made so the country could function. Women finally had economical and financial independence due to them working. The dependence on men was decreased dramatically. Prior to this, traditional men and government used the excuse that women were weak-minded and to emotional to vote. But their participation in the war and them working in factories which were not designed for women, with hard work, long hours, chemicals and heavy metals, proved them to be capable. This had to be noticed by the government.

Source H suggests that the war acted as a catalyst for women’s suffrage. It says people are mistaken about how much the war really did to gain women the vote. It explains that although newspapers showed women as ‘warm welcome’ they were resented by the men in the workplace. This shows that the majority of men’s attitudes had not changed. By working, women challenged traditional views that women should be at home. An argument used by those against women’s suffrage was that the reason women are treated badly is due to how they raised their sons. Men saw women as mothers of voters, not voters themselves. Source H acknowledges this and states the reason women got the vote was as politicians thought they had done exactly this, bought up their sons as good strong men who went to war and beat the Germans. It says ‘Men felt happiest if women became nurses…and bought up fighting men of the future.’ Source H says the reward for raising good men was giving women the vote, but only to women over 30. This was because they believed women at this age could be influenced by their husbands and vote accordingly. This is vital to see because; although they had got the vote it shows the governments attitudes had not changed. They had gained the vote, literally, but still had not gained respect of those in power or the freedom they thought they had the right to. It shows men still dominated politics.

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Source I implies war had more to do with gaining the vote than source H but still tells us why it was not only war. It says- ‘To say that the war brought votes for women is to make a very rough generalisation, yet one which contains some truth.’ Like source H, source I shows that the war was a catalyst, not a sole factor to help women gain the vote.

Source I is an extract from a history book called ‘Women at war, 1914-18’ written in 1980 and suggests that women gaining the vote was in sync with ...

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