Another reason why women got the vote was because of another women’s suffrage society. The Suffragettes. The Suffragettes used a lot more direct methods of making people aware of them, and used violence to gain publicity. This changed Men’s attitudes towards women considerably. Women were now seen fighting and breaking the law which was something never seen before. This was unfeminine and men didn’t think that women were capable of such things. In one case a women, Emily Davidson died for the right for women to vote. Davidson threw herself in front of the King’s horse at Epsom Derby and was trampled to death. This just shows how serious women were, which helped MP’s sit up and take notice.
During the war women also continued to campaign for the right to vote. Women were now stronger as they were contributing to the war effort, and more and more men were aware of their cause. The women said that there should be ‘Votes for Women as well as Votes for Heroes’. Parliament thought that this was a strong point as the women had been playing their part.
A third reason for women getting the vote was because of the war effort women contributed during World War Two. Emmeline Pankhurst called off the militant campaign as her response to the war; the government then ordered the release of all the imprisoned suffragettes. Then women were refused work when they volunteered to work as nurses in France, and instead given the jobs of knitting scarves and socks for the soldiers. So the Suffragettes organised a march. Christabel Pankhurst led 30, 000 women through London protesting for their right to work.
Women were now allowed to work in ammunition factories, making weapons, ammunition and planes for the army. This shows that women were going out and earning a living the same as men and were also helping their country to succeed in the war.
Finally, women also got the vote because men over 21 had just been given the vote. The fact that women had no vote at all and now 21-year-old men could vote was incredibly unfair. The government feared that the women would protest more so decided to consider giving women the vote. Also women around the world had started
to be given the vote. Women in Finland and New Zealand had been given the vote and the British Government now felt that they had to be more easy-going towards women and the vote.
In conclusion I disagree with the statement ‘Women over 30 gained the vote in 1918 mainly because of the women’s contribution to the war effort.’ I think that women’s contribution to the war effort definitely played a part in helping the campaign for votes for women and in helping men to realise that women were capable of making a genuine contribution to society. But I disagree that this was the main reason. Women’s suffrage campaigns had been on going for years and I believe this to be the main reason. Also other factors such as 21-year-old men getting the vote
And women in other countries being given the vote helped the British Parliament to consider giving women the vote. I think that the war acted as a catalyst and actually pushed parliament to eventually give women the vote that they had been procrastinating over doing for years.
