Votes For women - history

Study Sources D & E and use your knowledge. Why, despite the Suffragette activity, had women not gained the vote by the outbreak of the First World War?

The Suffragettes were hardliners, who could go to any extent in order to gain the vote. Instead of this being an assertive statement, it in fact backfired on their campaign. The liberals had been elected in 1906 with a massive majority. The Liberals had begun a series of reforms such as poverty and ill health in Britain. By 1909 they were passing laws relating to health of children and age-old pensions. The Liberal Government were also involved in a series of clashes concerning rising taxes. From 1908 there were a series of strikes that kept the Liberal's busy. In Ireland there was unrest in Ulster and the creation of two armed forces. Also the years before the war there were widespread demonstrations in Britain, some to do with trade union disputes and some by anarchists. This meant the government deploying troops on the streets. Finally, the political situation in Europe was becoming worse which finally led to the outbreak of the war. So, the Liberal's had a lot to think about, and the vote for women appeared a minor issue, therefore given no importance. Also the Liberal's were focusing on extending the vote to all men over the age of 21. The Liberals also thought that extending the vote to women meant more Conservative voters. In addition to that there was no pressure from any outer force other than the WSPU to extend the vote to women. This made the Liberals believe that people in Britain didn't regard it as an important issue.

In 1900, there was a general election in Britain. During that time the main issue was the Boer War in South Africa, which had begun in 1899. During the election 7 million people were entitled to vote of a population of 42 million. There was no progress in votes for women during that year. The result of the votes worsened the situation as the Conservative Party which was completely against the votes, won by a huge majority. The other parties weren't completely in favour of it either. Secondly, the Women's Suffrage Bill was rejected in the Parliament in 1900 which was a big blow to them. The House of Commons had voted about 50 times on the vote for women. However, MP's were too busy with the events in South Africa.

The voting system in those days was biased towards men, but in particular to Middle class wealthy men. Most proposals for vote for women were based on the conditions that it should be on the same status of men. Many politicians believed that it was indeed right to give them the vote, but it meant making changes which would favour one party or another. Giving the vote on the same terms as men meant partiality to the Conservative party. For this reason the Labour Party started to lose interest in this subject.

While the campaigns for vote for women seemed to be making some progress, hopes of success received a serious blow. In March 1908, Herbert Asquith replaced Prime Minister Sir Henry Campbell- Bannerman. Bannerman was in support of the votes, but Asquith wasn't. He was adamant on the fact that until a majority of Britain was in favour of it, no change was going to be brought about.

The increased violence during 1912 had important results for the WSPU. Emmeline and Fredrick Pethick Lawrence left the WSPU and began to work on their own for votes for women. The increased Suffragette violence also brought to an end any co- operation between the WSPU and NUWSS. This fizzed out the women's Suffrage activities as most of the prominent figures diverged in their different fields.

A prominent reason for the women not receiving the vote was the actions taken by the suffragette campaign. Their violent campaigns convinced the government that they were little better than terrorists and handing them the vote would mean attracting a hundred more Wars and developing boisterous ministers. Source D and Source E, both contradict each other. The leading member of the Suffragette's, Emmeline Pankhurst, has written source D and talks about the violent campaign of the Suffragette's and what good did it do to the vote. She is very clear in her argument and clearly states that the politicians were only ready to give the vote if two-thirds of the population were in favour of it. She goes on to say that in 1906, a large section of the population was in favour of the vote, however the government did nothing to award the vote. This is the primary reason why they started acting violent in order to assert themselves on the government. Many people believed that all that violence caused by the suffragettes was causing harm to the campaign rather than helping it.

On the other hand, Source E illustrates what many members of the parliament believed - giving the vote meant, putting the control of the country into feminine hands. This was another reason why the vote wasn't awarded. People were frightened about the implications of giving the vote to women. Men in powerful positions understood the potential of women, and felt that if women were in their positions, they would do a better job and this would mean the men population getting sidelined.

The Suffragettes had a base in Manchester and not one in London, which was the hub of the activity. This meant a lot of inconvenience, as the Suffragettes could not continuously keep an eye on the latest developments.

During the time of the WSPU split, the Private Member's Bill promised by Asquith came before the House of Commons. It passed its first reading, but at its second reading, it suffered the same fate as all other such bills and was defeated by 47 votes in May 1913. This was a major drawback as these bills were very important to the fate of the suffrage.

Study sources F & G. How useful are these two sources as evidence for the contribution of women to the war effort in the years 1914-1918.

The time between 1914 and 1918 was probably the most crucial time in Britain's history as the First World War was taking place. This meant that everyone had to forget his or her superiority and egos, to come together and work. The men realised that without women's help in factories hospitals and other such key destinations, they were probably going to be on the losing side. Source F is a poster produced by the government in 1916, to attract women to help out as munition workers during the war crisis. They have showed a woman wearing a nurse outfit and a soldier behind her. The caption reads, 'On Her Their Lives Depend' and at the bottom it is written 'Women Munition Workers. Enrol At Once'. This clearly sends out the government's message, that without women, the soldiers will be helpless. Source G contains statistics from a school textbook in the 1980's. It shows the number of women employed in different industries in 1914 and by the end of 1918. The statistics were shocking. They showed a major influx in women employment. The four industries mentioned are the Metal industries, Chemical, government offices and food, drink and tobacco industry. In the metal industry, the increase in women employment was from 170,000 to 594,000. The Chemical industry saw an increase of 64000 workers, while the government offices showed that the increase of women employment was tremendous- a colossal 225,000 mark from the previous 2000 mark in 1914. However, all this evidence could have been easily manipulated as the textbook information comes from the government. Also there is no evidence of any male figures or the total number of workers and what percent were women. We do not know the efficiency of women in such industries and whether they were used efficiently or treated as inferior and were ostracized. Source F shows that the government wanted women and this is clearly shown in the caption, where they illustrate in bold, the words 'ON HER'. By the end of 1915, many women had volunteered for active service. Many women gave up their domestic servant jobs, to work in new factories that opened to produce planes, supplies and ammunition. Munition work was harmful as there was high risk of disease. Despite this flaw, many ladies came forward in order to help. Many ladies organised workshops, to encourage knitting during the war crisis. Even a lot of the Suffragettes campaigned for work for women, including Emmeline Pankhurst who went around encouraging women. Christabel Pankhurst led a Right to Work March in London. This walk attracted 30,000 women. Women were also recruited into the Armed services for the first time. Women were used as nurses and by 1918, 45,000 women were participating in the Armed Forces. In January 1917 the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps was set up, followed by the Women's Royal Naval Service and the Women's Royal Air Force. Women began to work as mechanics and drivers in the motorcar industry. The motorcar industry came in use in the war in the form of motorcars, lorries and tanks as the soldiers realized their utility. Elsewhere in the economy, women came in use in banks as clerks, postal workers and as conductresses. This overwhelming response took the weight off the men's shoulders so that they could focus their attention towards the war. All this evidence and the two Sources show us that the involvement of women in the war was phenomenal and that the work they did helped them get the vote. However Source G still remains as a doubt in some critic's minds as to whether there was such a great change. Both Source G and Source F have gone hand in hand to substantiate the evidence produced about the Suffragette's and other such women organisations taking charge and helping out in the war.

Study sources H, J and I and use your own knowledge.

'It was the work that women did during the war that earned them the vote'.

Use the sources, and your own knowledge, to explain whether you agree with the interpretation.

All the sources have different point of views about the vote for women. Source H is from a book named Women's Suffrage in Britain. It states that from the outset it looks as if the vote was a reward for loyal wartime services, but if carefully scrutinized, during the war many women were resented in farms, hospitals and factories, in other words challenging positions. To support the view, the book states that men felt happy if women worked as nurses and providers of refreshments, in other words non threatening posts or low key jobs. This links in with the view that men were apprehensive about giving the vote, even before the war, because they felt women would challenge them for their jobs. The book also says that most politicians were in agreement with the fact that the vote was a reward for the women who had reared their sons up successfully which is an entirely different view and does not fit into the category of awarding the vote to women for their services. Source I is from a history book named 'Women at War'. The extract quotes that it would be a broad generalisation if it were to be said that the vote was due to war efforts. However, the book also says that some part of it contains the truth. The book indirectly says that due to social and political change, the vote was given. Source J is very vital source as it is an extract from the Prime Minister's speech in the House of Commons in 1916. He said that some measures vote must be given because the Suffragettes have ended their violent campaign and have not resorted to any more violence and instead helped out during the war. We can say that giving the vote due to wartime services was one of the main reasons but there were several other factors as well which have been illustrated in the sources. All three sources mention the fact that the vote was given to the women due to war time service, however all three sources have different main points for giving the vote. Source H talks about giving the vote due to women completing their duties of rearing up their sons in a fine manner. Source I states that social and political change over the four years during the war caused this modification in the decision, while the Prime Minister claims it was due to cessation of the violent Suffragette campaign. I believe all the sources and points put forward contribute to women getting the vote. The work of women alone, does not contribute to women getting the vote. A key factor in women getting the vote was the attempt by the government to produce a new electoral register in 1916. It soon became clear that the men, who had the vote till 1914, now had lost it as they no longer qualified under the household franchise. So the government decided to give all men above the age of 21, the vote. This was done in the Representation of The People Act of 1918.This Act gave the government a golden opportunity, to introduce the vote to the women and thus end the massive debate. Before 1914, the government did not want to succumb to women, but now they had no such fear. By 1918 there were few politicians who were against the vote as women had played a very important role during the war and most of the old arguments against women were no longer valid. Even Asquith said that no praise could be snatched from women, for the effort they put in the war. Finally in 1917, there were 364 votes in favour and 23 against votes for women. During that time, many legal changes led to women having equal rights as men. In 1919, the Sex Discrimination Act made discrimination against women illegal. In 1922 the Law property Act entitled women to have equal rights to inherit property. In 1923, divorce became easier. Women also gained more control over their lives as contraception was introduced. After the war, several professions accepted women as they recognised their importance. Women started working as teachers in school, doctors etc.

Legal and Social changes soon made the restrictions on the voting rights for women look pointless. Women were also given a greater role in politics as the government realised that women were responsible and sensible voters. They did not misuse the vote. As one can see, there were many reasons why women were given the vote. During that time, the Suffragettes had stalled their campaign and that also helped in some way. Britain was on the verge of countless changes and not offering women the vote meant snatching the bread from a child's hand.

Sushant Goel History Coursework Form: 10D

Teacher: Mr.Connoly