The Suffragettes refused to bow to violence. They burned down churches as the Church of England was against what they wanted; they vandalized Oxford Street, apparently breaking all the windows in this famous street; they chained themselves to Buckingham Palace as the Royal Family were seen to be against women having the right to vote; they hired out boats, sailed up the Thames and shouted abuse through loud hailers at Parliament as it sat; others refused to pay their tax. Politicians were attacked as they went to work. Their homes were fire bombed. Golf courses were vandalized. The first decade of Britain in the 20th Century was proving to be violent in the extreme. Many suffragettes committed acts of violence to keep the 'Votes for Women' campaign in the public eye. Members of the WSPU were responsible for breaking the windows of 10 Downing Street, burning buildings and damaging paintings in public galleries. They were often prepared to go to prison for their cause or even put their own lives in danger.
Suffragettes were quite happy to go to prison. Here they refused to eat and went on a hunger strike. The government was very concerned that they might die in prison thus giving the movement martyrs. Prison governors were ordered to force feed Suffragettes but this caused a public outcry as forced feeding was traditionally used to feed lunatics as opposed to what were mostly educated women. The government of Asquith responded with the . When a Suffragette was sent to prison, it was assumed that she would go on hunger strike as this caused the authorities maximum discomfort. The Cat and Mouse Act allowed the Suffragettes to go on a hunger strike and let them get weaker and weaker. Force feeding was not used. When the Suffragettes were very weak they were released from prison. If they died out of prison, this was of no embarrassment to the government. However, they did not die but those who were released were so weak that they could take no part in violent Suffragette struggles.
As a result, the Suffragettes became more extreme. The most famous act associated with the Suffragettes was at the when threw herself under the King's horse, Anmer, as it rounded Tattenham Corner. She was killed and the Suffragettes had their first martyr. However, her actions probably did more harm than good to the cause as she was a highly educated woman.
The implications of this were that the suffragettes were gaining control and the government began to consider the women’s vote. The Suffragettes and Suffragists actions differed greatly. The suffragettes used violence to get what they wanted but the suffragists used non-violent demonstrations and petitions. The classes of the suffragists and suffragettes differed as well. The Suffragists tended to be more of the upper-class women and the Suffragettes were more of the lower class women and working class women. Also the suffragist’s attitude towards the government and law was somewhat different to the attitude of the suffragettes. The Suffragettes had an overwhelming effect on woman’s suffrage. There violent actions were heard and read about in the newspapers and the government feared there extreme measures and what they would do next. The suffragist’s effectiveness was nothing compared with the suffragettes. The only similarities of the two wings were they consisted of only women and they both wanted ‘the women’s vote’.
In my opinion I think that the actions of the WSPU, while attracting huge amounts of publicity, had the opposite effect intended. The public began to disapprove of the suffragettes as well as there cause. Opponents of women's suffrage in Parliament used the terrorist actions the women were using to their advantage in debate, citing the insane actions as a very good reason why women should not get the vote. I think that the Suffragettes extreme actions only delayed the votes for women.
In August 1914 Britain and Europe plunged into World War One. The whole suffrage movement immediately scaled down and even suspended some of their activities in the face of a greater threat to the nation. The work done by women in the First World War was to be vital for Britain’s war effort. In 1918 the Representation of the People Act was passed by Parliament.
