Initially the suffragettes were fairly peaceful in their methods and their first illegal actions were simply mild forms of civil disobedience. After many unsuccessful non-violent events such as the ‘Mud March’ in February 1907 and the demonstration in Hyde Park in June 1908 militancy began to increase, which Brian Harrison claims was a temporary tactical necessity born of the failure of legal and peaceful methods.
The government responded to the suffragettes’ actions with longer sentences which in turn caused the first of many hunger strikes by Marion Wallace Dunlop in 1909. The aim of which was to draw attention to the cause through personal sacrifice. In many senses the suffragettes achieved what they wanted as, subsequent to the hunger strikes the government introduced forcible-feeding which shows that they were taking notice of their actions.
Each time that the suffragettes increased their militancy the government responded either through arrests or legislation until a stalemate was reached in 1913. Nevertheless shortly afterwards in June 1914 the Prime Minister, Asquith held a meeting with the East London Federation of Suffragettes (ELFS), a working class branch of the WSPU organised by Sylvia Pankhurst and conveyed the distinct impression that he had changed his views towards votes for women.
Consequently though in 1914 women did not have the vote and the suffragettes militant tactics may have been counter productive, alienating MPs and public opinion they had attracted publicity and gained some support and a series of suffrage bills were passed form 1908-11. Furthermore Asquith appeared to have converted to the idea of female suffrage just before the outbreak of war.
Women’s contributions during the war are also argued to have added to the war effort to winning the vote. The outbreak of war enabled them to abandon their violent methods, demonstrate their patriotic loyalty and prove that they deserved the vote through this mature response.
Though at first the government did not think that it was necessary to employ women from 1915 onwards there was a great shortage of labour due to the large number of men joining the armed forces and the demand for increased munitions production and as a result women were employed. Additionally, when in 1916 conscription was introduced it heightened the need of female labour. Furthermore it was not only female labour which added to the war effort, other women joined the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAACS), the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRENS) or the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAFS)
Therefore in March 1917 Asquith introduced a Bill in which he justified women’s suffrage because of their war work and the ending of the suffragette campaign.