"Women over 30 gained the right to vote in 1918 mainly because of women's contribution to the war" Do you agree?

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“Women over 30 gained the right to vote in 1918 mainly because

Of women’s contribution to the war.” Do you agree?

     The First World War had a profound effect on suffrage politics. Just as Britain was going to war

against Germany in August 1914, the Suffragettes (WSPU) declared peace with the Liberals.

Nevertheless, it has been argued that the greatest effect of the war on women’s suffrage was that

women were given the vote towards the end of it. In the past, historians have generally agreed that

women were awarded the vote as a token of gratitude for their war work. As Lewis points out,

      “The highly skilled and dangerous work done by women during the war in the armament and

munitions factories…..was probably the greatest factor in the granting of the vote to women at the end

of the war.”

      Despite this assertion, recent historians have claimed the direct correlation between women’s war

work and women’s suffrage to be a weak argument. They argue that the emphasis placed on women’s

economic contribution to the war discounts the groundwork put in by the pre-war suffrage campaign

and some even believe that far from the war facilitating votes for women, it actually postponed its

implementation as the campaigns were postponed. There are other arguments that state that none of

these two contributed to women’s franchise but something completely different. Bearing this in mind, I

shall examine the importance of the First World War in allowing women to have the right to vote but

also take into consideration other factors that may have contributed.

      One factor in the achievement of women’s suffrage was through the campaigns of the Suffragists

and Suffragettes, but was this the main factor? The Suffragists and the Suffragettes believed that their

campaigns were slow but unstoppable; they believed that the war and their contribution was just a

catalyst for their campaign. Their campaigns made women’s suffrage an important issue and it seemed

as though they were making progress. The Suffragists and the Suffragettes did do the right thing when

war was declared on Germany, they postponed their campaigns and this implicated that they were

more dedicated to their country in a time of need rather than their own problems. This was seen as a

mature step and could only have been beneficial for their campaign.

     Although, the role of the Suffragists and the Suffragettes may seem to be a plausible explanation to

the women’s franchise, what needs to be taken into account is that the response to the women’s

suffrage movement was varied. Also, the campaigns stopped in 1914 and were not restarted as women

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got the vote 4 years later, so it is questionable that these campaigns were still having an impact in 1918.

It is clear that these campaigns highlighted the issue and if it were not for them then the suffrage of

women would not have been debated in 1918. Therefore the campaigns of the Suffragists and the

Suffragettes did contribute to women gaining the right to vote but they were not a major factor.

      When war was declared, the Suffragists suspended suffrage activities, calling upon its members to

support the war effort. Consequently, ...

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