Prior to 1918, women and men were believed to live in separate spheres – a women’s sphere being that of the home and a man’s being the outside world. Women were regarded as second class citizens and whilst some progress was being made, women still had very few rights. Women at that time had no place in national politics or the right to vote. However, women were eventually enfranchised in 1918. the militant Suffragette campaign was the main reason why women got the right to vote to a huge extent as they revitalised the issue of women suffrage through their militant campaign. However, other factors also played a part; the peaceful tactics of the Suffragists showed many women were deserving of the vote, the changing role of women in World War One showed the nation how valuable women were, pre-war changes started to slowly give women more right and finally, foreign example put pressure on the government to grant women the vote.
The Suffragettes are the most important factor which contributed to women receiving the vote in 1918. The Women’s Social and Political Union (the Suffragettes) was started by Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst, a former member of the NUWSS. The Suffragettes adopted the motto “deeds not words” and believed in carrying out militant campaigns in order to gain the voter for women. The Suffragettes used violent tactics, such as: destroying works of art, arson attacks and window smashing in order to gain publicity for their cause. The Suffragettes were important as through their tactics they were able to gain significant amounts of media attention and publicity, allowing for women’s suffrage to remain high on the political agenda as their campaign was impossible to ignore. Midge Mackenzie agrees, arguing that the Suffragettes were “remarkable women who fought for, and won he battle for the vote”, she also argues that it was the Suffragettes who “revitalised the question of votes for women” before 1914 in her book “Shoulder to Shoulder”. Whilst many argue that the Suffragettes were not the most important factor in helping women gain the vote in 1918 as their law-breaking and violent tactics provided an excellent example as to why women could not be trusted with the vote, they proved to be far from unreasonable when they suspended their protests for the sake of national unity in the face of war. To evaluate, the Suffragettes were the most important factor in helping women gain the vote in 1918 as they were critical in keeping women’s suffrage in the media and politics at the time. Furthermore, Suffragettes gained sympathy from the public due to their hunger-striking. The hunger-striking showed their dedication to their cause and many who were against them due to their violence changed their view when they heard of the horrific force-feeding Suffragettes had to go through.
The Suffragists are argued to be an important factor to have helped women gain the vote in 1918. The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (known as the Suffragists) was led by Mrs. Millicent Fawcett. The movement was exclusively middle class and they believed in non-violent protest as a means to achieve their goal. The Suffragists used peaceful tactics, such as: non-violent demonstrations, petitions and the lobbying of MPs. The Suffragists were important in helping women gain the vote in 1918 as through their law-abiding and intelligent tactics they were seen as responsible and rational – worthy of a receiving the vote – as a result they won over many Members of Parliament and achieved substantial support in Parliament. Sandra Stanley argues in her book “Feminism and Democracy: Women’s Suffrage and Reform Politics in Britain, 1900-1918” that the Suffragists were vital in women gaining the vote, writing “especially… in securing the strong position enjoyed by their cause at the outbreak of the war.” However, whilst the Suffragists did have the support of a few government officials, the numerous bills they presented in parliament failed to pass and as a result failed to make any real change in the suffrage campaign. To evaluate, the Suffragists were important to a certain tenet in helping women gain the vote, the Suffragists were successful in changing some people’s prejudiced attitudes and overall gained a certain amount of respect from politicians in parliament. Furthermore, they were able to win MPs over and did have a considerable amount of support for the suffrage campaign in Parliament. However, Suffragettes were more important as Suffragists were able to propel the idea of female suffrage to the forefront of British politics through their distinct militant tactics that gained lots of media attention.
It can be argued that women’s role during the war was an important factor as to why women gained the right to vote. In the following two days after war was declared, both suffrage groups suspended their campaigns. The government gave the Suffragettes £2000 for a march and propaganda campaign to encourage women tot take part in the war effort. Suffragettes often pinned white feathers to men who were nor at war in order to embarrass them into signing up. This was important in women achieving the vote as women were seen as patriotic and as such gained sympathy and support from the public who became more accommodating for women gaining the right to vote. This is supported by Constance Rover in her book “Women’s Suffrage and Party Politics in Britain, 1866-1914”, she argues that the war was important because it saw men being openly praised and a change in public opinion become clear: ‘public opinion became overwhelmingly favourable towards women.’ However, on the other hand, the suffragettes were criticised for their eagerness to work with the government, some of the more extreme suffragettes joined the Pacifist Women’s Freedom League and many accused the Suffragettes as betraying the movement. During World War One, 3 million men went to fight and women had to fill the roles that they had left behind. Women took over male dominated roles, like: becoming secretaries for government departments, train and bus conductors and working in munitions factories. 700,000 women worked in munitions factories, working with munitions was often dangerous as explosions could take place and women often suffered from TNT poisoning which gained them the nickname “the canaries” for their yellow skin. This was important in women achieving the right to vote as the work they did was of vital importance of the war. Many members of the British pubic were extremely appreciate to the work that women did during the war. It is believed that Britain would have not won the war if it had not been for the war effort of women. However, many historians argue that the war effort did little to help women win the vote. When women gained the right to vote in 1918, it was married, middle-class women over 30 who were enfranchised, not the single, working-class women in their 20s who actually contributed to the war effort. In evaluation, war work was important as women received much admiration from the British public as they were seen as patriotic and seen as playing a key role in how Britain won the war. However, Suffragettes were more important as war work was only a catalyst which sped up the enfranchisement of women as the Suffragettes laid the found work for the cause by gaining publicity and bringing the issue to the nations attention. Furthermore, the government feared a return to violence after the war, by giving the vote to women it allowed the government to act without appearing to be giving into violence, this fear is clear evidence that Suffragettes were the most important reason as to why women gained the vote.
Pre-war changes were another factor in women gaining the vote. In the 1870s, primary education became compulsory for both boy and girls. Many universities opened their doors for women to study degree courses. A female college, Girton, was opened at Cambridge. In 1872 and 1893 Property Acts were introduced which gave women full legal control of property that they owned or inherited before getting married. By 1894, women that paid tax were able to participate in local elections. Pre-war changes were important in women gaining the vote as women’s status in society was improving due to women gaining more rights, becoming more educated and the ability to participate in local politics, this all resulted in a gradual change in attitudes for men on how women were perceived. This is supported by historian Martin Pugh in his book “State and Society: A Political History of Britain Since 1870”, he argues that “[women’s] participation in local government made women’s exclusion from national elections increasingly untenable.” However, on the other hand, pre-war changes were limited as late 19th century middle-class women did not cate for women’s rights. Many were horrified at women wishing to change their position in society. Queen Victoria commented that women’s rights were “a mad wicked folly.” In evaluation, pre-war changes were of some importance as women were gaining some rights and able to vote in local elections. However, pre-war changes were far too slow and insignificant, out of 11,140 local counsellors only 24 were women. It was the Suffragette movement that was able to accelerate the changes and bring the issue of women’s suffrage to the forefront of politics. It was the Suffragettes tactics which forced the government to take notice and able to drive the cause forward at speed as without the work of the Suffragettes it would have taken far longer for women to gain the right to vote.
Foreign example is argued to have been reason women gained the vote. Britain in the 19th century was considered a cradle of democracy and politically advanced with its huge empire and colonies but women were still not enfranchised. Other nations had already granted women the vote, like New Zealand in 1893 and Norway in 1907. This is an important factor as Britain was embarrassed as more countries were seen as becoming more democratic than them. Countries like New Zealand (an ex-colony) had already given women the vote which gave hope to British suffrage groups. However, there is no evidence that the government wanted to extend the franchise as it was never discussed by MPs in Parliament. In evaluation, foreign example was important as arguably British felt embarrassed as other countries appeared more democratic. However, the Suffragettes were of greater importance as the violence of the Russian Revolution demonstrated the will of the people to overthrow undemocratic leaders. There was a genuine feat of revolution as “Red Clydeside” had terrified he ruling class. The rent strikes in Glasgow in 1915 reinforced government fears that women would not wait patiently for the vote forever. The government was forced to act and grant women the vote as they had huge concerns over the resurgence of the violent Suffragette campaign which could gain widespread support from an angry revolutionary working class.
In conclusion the Suffragettes are the most important reason as to why women got the vote in 1918 to a huge extent. Foreign example was important as it put pressure on and embarrassed the government as other countries were becoming more democratic. However, pre-war changes were of greater importance as there is no evidence politicians ever debated women gaining the vote due to foreign example, whereas parliament had granted women more rights prior to World War One which helped tackle prejudiced attitudes towards them. However, war work was of greater importance than pre-war changes because although pre-war changes were underway the changes were slow. World War One acted as a catalyst which sped up these changes, it helped tackle prejudice at a much quicker rate and gave women much more opportunities. Although war work was important in giving women opportunities it was the peaceful organised campaigning of the Suffragists which tackled the idea that women were emotional, unreasonable, irrational and undeserving of the vote which gave them opportunities during the war. The Suffragists however, were not as important as the Suffragettes as although the Suffragists gained limited support in parliament none of their bills ever passed. The tactics of the Suffragettes were able to push forward what had arguably become a stale campaign and forced politician to look again at the issue of votes for women. The Suffragettes were the main reason women received the right to vote as their tactics gained huge amounts of publicity from the media which helped the idea of women’s suffrage remain high on the political agenda. Women got the right to vote in 1918 as the government feared a return to violence and the “wild period” of the Suffragettes, the war presented an opportunity to give in without losing face and demonstrates how it was the Suffragettes who won votes for women.