The militant actions, while attracting huge amounts of publicity, had the opposite effect intended; the public began to disapprove of the suffragettes, as well as their cause. While most people, before the outbreak of militancy, supported the cause of the women’s suffrage, once the new actions started, began to disapprove. Opponents of women’s suffrage in Parliament used the militant actions the suffragettes were using to their advantage in debate, citing the insane actions as a very good reason why women should not be given the vote. Source one shows that with the increasing number of MPs voting, the opposition also increased greatly, so in this respect the increase militant tactics did hinder the cause. The more militant the activities became, the more reluctant Parliament was to grant women the vote, and the more firmly Parliament stood on the issue of suffrage. The more violent and desperate the suffragettes became, appeared their efforts fruitless and also seriously hindering the cause. However this stalemate was broken with the declaration of war in 1914. Before the use of militant tactics, a theory held amongst most MPs, that there was no real “evidence” that women wanted the vote. The use of militant tactics destroyed this theory, in the most public way available in those days – the press.
Suffragettes were arrested at any gatherings that threatened to be less than totally peaceful, though before 1910, they offered no resistance when arrested, instead being victims to the brutality of the police. An example of this police brutality is “Black Friday”, when a suffrage demonstration was halted by the police, and the ensuing riots saw many suffragettes being injured at the hands of the police. The media portrayed this as injustice to women. This created a bad image for the government, also seen with force feeding and the “cat and mouse act”. Although some of the women were arrested on “Black Friday”, none were prosecuted, as the government was afraid to prosecute out of fear of further demonstrations. In this respect, although militant, the pacifism of the women on “Black Friday” did not hinder the cause. Instead it allowed further demonstrations to occur without fear of repercussions from the police, though this in turn would portray the women in a worse light, with the government and police being portrayed in more just light. However, the following Tuesday after “Black Friday”, the then Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith announced that no other suffrage bill would be considered for an indeterminate time. In this respect the militant tactics of “Black Friday” did hinder the cause, as whatever tactics used, the government would not respond, only degrading the portrayal of the cause.
It cannot be ignored that the struggle for women’s equality in Great Britain started long before the twentieth century. Through much effort and without militant tactics, by the turn of the century English feminists had accomplished many goals without militant tactics; women could serve on town councils and school boards, could be factory inspectors, and could even vote in select regional elections, if they had enough property. The only bill passed during the concentrated militant tactics period was the ‘Council electorate’ of 1907. This can be interpreted to show that legal accomplishments were not granted to the cause because of the militant tactics, thus the tactics did hinder the cause from 1905 to 1914. It can also be interpreted that over 50 years of peaceful campaigning had not yielded any real success, available to all women, regardless of class. Within 15 years of the change from subtle to militant tactics success was gained in the form of the Reform Bill.
In conclusion, the militancy of the suffragettes did hinder the cause from 1905 to 1914, but at the same time it also helped it. The militant tactics served an invaluable purpose; without it, the government could have (and did, before 1913) stated that there was no real “evidence” suggesting that women even wanted the vote. The militant tactics destroyed this theory. By destroying property, staging demonstrations, and creating riots, the militants kept “the cause” constantly in the papers and constantly an issue, keeping the question fresh in the minds of both the public and Parliament. The militant tactics of the suffragettes is the main factor women’s suffrage was achieved by 1918; although before the war, the militant tactics angered many, and seemed as if it would delay the enfranchisement process, it was necessary to threaten the government out of a stalemate and into a state of action. The women of England, using militant tactics, threw off Victorian ideals, created a new identity and a new place in society for themselves.
