This supports the evidence of Source C. Source C is a cartoon drawn by Bernard Partridge. The cartoon shows two women, they are both campaigning for the right to vote, but however, one is a suffragist whom does not use violence, and one is a suffragette who does use violence. They are both going to a ‘Great Liberal Meeting’.
The Suffragist is described as a sensible woman. She is dressed in formal clothes; her face expression is calm, she looks rich and wears fine cloths. On the other hand, the Suffragette is an old frail woman, whom is dressed in clothes, which working class women would wear. She is holding an umbrella with a material tied unto it saying, ‘female suffragette’.
The Suffragist says, ‘you, help our cause? Why your its worst enemy!’ The Suffragist may have said this because before the suffragette activity, it was a peaceful campaign to get the vote. The Suffragette looks like she is ready to have a fight.
Bernard Partridge is biased; many men did not agree with the Suffragette campaign, they thought the way the Suffragette behaved was unladylike. That is why the Suffragist is dressed in rich formal clothes and is ‘sensible’, which is how men in the 1900s thought women should act and dress like.
Both theses sources agree that the Suffragette campaign will not get the women the right to vote. However, their views on why are very different. Source B believes that the Suffragette campaign will not change anything, because, ‘this is the result in which mothers have reared their sons and still continue to rear them’. Meaning that it is the way in which women bring up their sons that cause women not to get the vote.
While source C believed that it is because they are unladylike and are not ‘sensible’, which is why that they will not get the vote.
- Why despite the Suffragette activity, had women not gained the vote by the outbreak of the First World War?
Women had not gained the vote by the outbreak of the First World War, because of various reasons.
Men’s views on women were mainly all the same. They believed that women were incapable of handling the vote; hence, they felt that women were not responsible to receive the vote.
The government leaders thought that women could not decide on moral issues alone. Men in Parliament thought, that women simply would not understand how parliament worked and therefore should not take part in electoral process.
Source E is a speech given by a Member of Parliament. The politician has ‘no hesitation in voting against the principles of giving the vote to women’; the way in which he says this is frank and blunt, meaning that he has no intentions to giving the vote to women. He presumes that giving the vote to women will mean that ‘we will ultimately put the control of the government of this country into female hands’. I get the impression that he does not want women to have the vote, as he thinks women cannot run a country like how a man can.
Another reason is parliament did not know how to come about putting the laws. This is because the situations which they faced were not the right time. In 1912 the Liberal Government had accepted the idea of some women voting, and tried to put it into the Plural Voting Bill for Parliament to discuss. But the speaker refused to let them add it.
Women felt that they had not received the vote by the outbreak of the First World War, because of the government. Source D is a book called ‘My Own Story’ by Emmeline Pankhusrt, one of the leading Suffragettes. Written in 1912, two years before the war.
The reason why she assumes that the blame is on the government for not giving women the vote, is because of promises the government gave, although, denied.
‘In 1906 there was a large section of public who were in favour of the women suffrage’. Politicians had said ‘that once the public swings our way then… women will be given the vote’. Nevertheless, they ‘called upon the government to give…the vote but they didn’t’
Emmeline Pankhurst realised that the polite methods used in the past were achieving nothing so they decided to use violence, especially on the government. The methods used by the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union, which Emmeline Pankhurst founded) included disrupting the House of Commons, fist fighting with policemen and attacking politicians. Perhaps the most drastic act was when Emily Davidson threw herself under the King’s racehorse in Derby day, in 1913, and was killed.
Suffragettes chained themselves to railings outside Downing Street and Buckingham Palace. They physically assaulted politicians. The Prime Minister Asquith was attacked on a golf course. Suffragettes tried to tear off his clothes, and beat him with dog whips. They destroyed paintings in the National Gallery, and smashed shop windows.
They also made arson attacks on post boxes, churches and railway stations. They even bombed the house of Lloyd George, the Chancellor of Exchequer.
This behaviour was seen as ludicrous, and the public began to disapprove of the Suffragettes. The actions from the Suffragettes was seen to politicians as a good reason to not give women the vote. They argued that Emily Davidson was highly educated and if she was willing to do what she did, what could society expect from a less educated women.
Finally, women did not get the vote for many reasons; these reasons were all different to each and every person.
- How useful are these two sources as evidence for the contribution of women to the war efforts in the years 1914-1918?
Source F is a poster produced by the government in 1916. The poster shows a women munitions worker. The woman looks happy as she is smiling. At the background it shows men at war. Because the woman is pleased and is wearing munitions clothes, it allures and persuades other women to enrol.
The background shows men at war, this convinces women to enrol. The reason why is because they would feel the urge to help their husbands, sons or brothers who are at war fighting for their country.
This poster is useful because it shows that women were happy to oblige in helping men at war. The woman in this poster looks happy into helping her country. She seems accepted because she is happy.
Also the poster was produced by the government; this shows that the government wanted women to work. The reason why is mainly because a majority of men went to the war, and they needed someone to work in factories.
However, it is not very useful for a number of reasons. This poster may show people that women were allowed to work for the war, but it does not tell you if people disapproved of women working. This poster seems highly biased. The government produces it. They needed workers, and what better way of getting women to work by making them feel welcomed.
It also does not show how many women worked during the war. This is not useful because, it does not show evidence of for the contribution of women to the war efforts.
Because this poster is biased, it does not reflect the real image of how women felt working in the war times. Therefore, I feel that Source F is useful, but is also biased.
Source G is a table of statistics from a school text book in 1980. It shows women in employment in Britain. There are four major industries; against this are the figures of women in employment in two years. One in July 1914, this was before the First World War and another in July 1918, this was when women were granted the right to vote.
In 1914 more women worked in Food drink and Tobacco. The industry with the lowest amount of women working is the Government Offices; this is because mostly men had this job.
However, in 1918, when the war is just about to end, there is a rise in the amount of women in employment. The industry with the most women working is Metal Industry. This is because there is a huge demand for metal during the war.
Although metal industries had the most women in employment, Government offices increased the most. This is mainly because men are conscripted to war; therefore more people went to war from Government offices, these vacant jobs had to be replaced, so women were the only ones available.
Food, Drink and Tobacco hardly increased. The reason why is because a lot of women worked there already, so there was not need to replace so many men.
This source is very useful, because it shows the figures of women working in each type of industry. It is compares to two dates, before the war and after. As a result, people can see the contribution of women to the war efforts.
This source is useful because facts and figures were taken from more than one sources, therefore it would be more accurate.
However, it is not very useful because it does not show what type of jobs women did in these industries. The reason why this is not very useful, is because, the jobs women could have done in the industries could be the jobs in which women did before the war.
These two sources comply on the fact that more women worked during the war years of 1014-1918. The sources do slightly differ on which jobs women did though, all sources say that women worked in munitions factories, but source G goes into detail about other industries that they worked in, and shows figures.
- It was the work that women did during the war that earned them the vote. Do you agree with this interpretation?
I agree with this interpretation, that, it was the work that women did during the war that earned them the vote. However, I also believe that several things caused women to get the vote.
Before the war, women were seen as irresponsible; men felt that the role of women was to take care of children and husband, while men should work.
The Suffragettes were extremely frustrated with this ideology. Despite vigorous campaigning, including the increasingly violent and dangerous actions by the suffragettes, all laws proposed to allow women to vote were defeated in Parliament. Meaning that Parliament would not allow women to get the vote. Some accused the Suffragettes of harming the cause rather than helping it.
The war gave women the opportunity to prove their worth in the war efforts. As more and more men were required to fight, there were huge amounts of jobs in industry and other areas.
Women volunteered to help fill the shortages. Many joined the Women Land Army or Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs). Women worked in many areas, such as munitions factories in engineering, banks, buses and railways, in gasworks, as nurses near battlefront and at home.
Not only did women help work where men were not around, the suffragettes stopped their campaign. Source J is a part f a speech by Herbert Asquith in the House of Commons in 1917. Asquith had been Prime Minister from 1908 to 1916 when he opposed giving women the vote.
Women’s contribution to the war efforts was seen and appreciated and that women, instead of being subjected to frequent criticism in the press and public figures, were generally praised.
1917 was a year before the war ended, so this speech would have been given when women were still at work, replacing the men
He agrees that women got the vote because of the work women did during the war. ‘For years now the suffragettes have not restarted that horrible campaign of violence’. I get the impression that he did not like the suffragette campaign; perhaps, the suffragette campaign may have been the reason why women did not get the vote. Also because ‘they have contributed to every service’ during the war, he ‘believed that some measure of women’s suffrage should be given’.
Meaning that, because of the ‘contribution’ and the stop to the ‘horrible campaign’ for the war, women should get the vote.
Many male workers, trade unions and factory owners were against women working in factories. However, when conscription, (this is when, men were enrolled to the armed forces, which is compulsory) was introduced in 1916, it was clear there was a desperate need for workers. Women worked successfully in areas where many would previously had thought them incapable, often doing work better than men replaced.
Although I agree that women were given the vote because of the work they did during the war, A history book called, ‘Women’s suffrage in Britain, 1867-1928’, disagrees. It was written in 1980.
Source H believes that ‘careful study shows how little change resulted from the war’. He believed that the only change due to the war is the voting systems. The historian believes that women could not have gained the vote because of their war efforts. ‘In farms, hospitals and factories they were greatly resented’.
Source I differs with source H. Source I is from a history book called ‘Women at War, 1914’. It was written in 1980, 60 decades after the war was over and women gained the vote, so views would therefore be different.
The historian believes that the war did play a Part in giving women the right to vote. ‘During the four years of conflict and tremendous mood, favourable to change had been created’. He considers that after four years of war, women could finally have the vote. The historian may say that ‘war brought votes for women’ is a ‘rough generalisation’, however he believes it has ‘truth’.
The historian states ‘the question of women’s rights must not be isolated from other great social changes that were happening as a result to the war’. Meaning that women’s right must not be secluded out from other things that resulted during the war. Furthermore, his views on whether war brought women’s vote is, yes, that the war did bring votes to women.
Also, only women over 30 were given the right to vote, so many of the women whom helped in the war efforts, the young women, were denied the vote.
In reality, women were resented in both agriculture and industry, men ‘froze out’ women workers, gave them no help and even sabotaged their work.
There was a need for franchise reform in general; this means the voting system had to change. Large numbers of soldiers could not vote, they had to change this, because these very soldiers who could not vote, helped to win the war.
There was a number of changes in Parliament, which altered the balance of those who opposed and those who in favour of votes for women. Several Suffragist MPs were promoted to the cabinet. More importantly, Lloyd George who was sympathetic to women Suffrage replaced Asquith as Prime Minister in December 1916.
Also, Britain was merely reflecting an international trend toward full democracy. Women in New Zealand, Austria, Finland, Denmark and Norway had already been enfranchised. It would have been an embarrassment if the ‘mother’ of democracy was lacking behind.
The First World War gave the women the opportunity to prove that they could do the same work as amen. No longer could those in government say that women were irresponsible and not trusted with understanding issues in the same way as men. The government was forced to act, and the representation of the people Act in 1918 gave the vote to women. Due to the work that women did during the war and also the changes happen around them.
