The movement of the suffragettes was a violent and militant one. Supporting evidence of this is that the tactics of the suffragettes was to disrupt meetings between the prime minister and his cabinet, they heckled at meetings, deliberately tried to get arrested and sent to prison then went on hunger strike in prison. The suffragettes slowly got more extreme and by 1913 there would be organised window smashing, they would carry out arson, sabotage and even bombing in many areas of Britain. This evidence shows us the violence and militancy of the suffragettes. The suffragettes believed that these methods would give women the vote, however the government saw them as too violent and militant, the government also felt that some of the suffragettes’ tactics were acts of terrorism. People were upset by the suffragette’s methods and it was too dramatic, people felt threatened by this.
By 1912 the protesting had become more extreme. The liberal government supported women’s suffrage and when this was to be added to the plural voting bill, the speaker refused to let them do so. Evidence supporting this is that the suffragettes were enraged and furious because of this, protesting soon got more extreme and violent. Arson attacks were made on churches, post boxes and railway stations. Shop windows were smashed and also physical assaults were made on politicians and even Prime Minister Asquith. The suffragette’s even bombed Lloyd George’s house, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. This shows us that the suffragettes did not use normal protesting methods, they were a lot more extreme. Their protests and violence were seen to hold the campaign for women’s suffrage back.
Women played an important role during World War One and this changed people’s attitudes and views towards women. The evidence supporting this is that during the war because most of the men were fighting and there wasn’t enough of them to do all the jobs many women took on the jobs usually taken by men. The jobs they did such as bus conductors, postal workers, farm labourers and coal deliverers were all vital in keeping the country going. They could also work in jobs that were directly linked to the war effort, these included working in munitions factories and in engineering workshops or they could also join women’s branches of the armed forces or work as nurses in military hospitals. By doing these jobs during the war women showed and proved that they were important and useful to public life as well as home life. There was also a sense of appreciation and gratitude towards women after the war for doing these jobs. Also, after the war people’s attitudes had changed towards women, this was not just because of the war and the jobs women took on during it. It was also because people remembered back to the suffragette’s violence and they thought that it was unfair that women did not get the vote and have full political rights. The violence of the suffragettes had been overshadowed by the war and people felt that the suffragettes hadn’t been that bad.
Nobody wanted the suffragette’s violent campaign to start up again. At the beginning of the war the suffragettes had called off their campaign as not to cause more hassle during the war. Evidence that supports this is that people felt that they had seen enough violence during the war and nobody wanted to see anymore. Also, people felt quite upset and shocked by the suffragettes before the war and they didn’t want to see this again. The government saw that if the suffragettes started protesting and creating violence again it would be too much hassle and would make things a lot more difficult as Britain was rebuilding itself after the damage caused by the war. If the violence had started again there would have been no sympathy or support for the suffragettes. Their movement would have ended very quickly and women would have definitely not got the vote.
After the war there was a shake-up of the voting system already happening. Evidence that shows and supports this is that as there was a rule in place that meant that a man could only vote if they had been living at the same address for at least a year. This rule needed to be changed to allow all of the returning soldiers the right to vote. This meant that as the voting system was being changed anyway there was now a chance and an opportunity for women to be included in the voting.
Women were given the vote in 1918 and not earlier because of several different reasons. Firstly, the suffragists were too peaceful and they didn’t put enough pressure on for votes to be given to women this meant that the government didn’t take much notice of women’s suffrage, they felt that there were more important issues to be looked at. The suffragettes were too extreme and militant in their campaigning ways and this meant that the government were not willing to give in to them and give votes to women as if they did the government would be seen as giving in to terrorism. Also, neither the suffragists or the suffragettes gained enough support for women’s votes from the MPs, this meant that they did not have enough prominent and important figures backing them up and supporting women’s suffrage this made it a lot more difficult for either of the groups to be heard and voiced properly. Just before the war the violence and protesting of the suffragettes had become far too extreme and the government was not willing to be seen to give in to violence. Other reasons for this are that after the war people’s attitudes and views of women had changed, women were now seen as responsible and capable of doing things and they were now thought of as responsible enough to be given the vote this was because of their help towards the war effort by taking on men’s jobs and working, views of women had also changed because of the war and not because of women’s efforts during the war, the suffragettes were remembered as being not that bad anymore and this was due to their violence being overshadowed by the war. After the war had ended there was the threat of suffragette violence starting again. Neither the government nor the people wanted to see this as this would have caused a lot more trouble and difficulty in a country recovering from war.
The suffragists would have taken a very long time to win the vote for women because they were a very slow moving campaign which didn’t have that much support. The suffragettes would probably not have won the vote because the government would not give in to their violence and extreme protesting. The war acted as a catalyst for the campaign for women’s votes, it sped up the campaign and brought it forward a long way as women were appreciated and seen as more responsible due to the war and their efforts during it. After the war the shake-up of the voting system helped the campaign greatly as well. Women would have eventually got the vote but it would have taken a lot longer had it not been for world war one.
