Era of the Great War - women's suffrage campaigns

1. Era of the
Great War
Women’s suffrage
campaigns

2. Women’s suffrage campaigns
In today’s class I am learning to:
• Describe the different campaigns of the
Suffragettes and Suffragists
• Analyse the impact of the two groups’
campaigns

3. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Before 1918 no women were allowed to vote in UK
elections. Many women took part in campaigns to
try and change this.

4. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Women were excluded
from voting for various
reasons.
Some men (and women)
argued that women
were not intelligent or
emotionally stable
enough to be trusted
with the responsibility of
voting.

5. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Others said that women
could influence their
husband’s vote
(although many men
also could not vote prior
to 1918).
It was also argued that
because women did not
fight in wars they had no
right to vote.

6. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Many women did not
agree with these
arguments.
They put forward the
case that women were
often the main or only
wage earner in their
home. They also pointed
to other groups that
were denied the vote.

7. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Before 1918 some
women worked as
doctors, nurses,
teachers and even
mayors, so this showed
their responsibility.
Women had also
previously gained new
legal rights, for instance
concerning divorce.

8. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Women wanted the vote
so that the government
would have to listen to
them, and pass laws
which helped women.
In addition many women
simply wanted to given
equal treatment with
men, meaning everyone
should be able to vote.

9. Women’s suffrage campaigns
There were some
attempts before 1918 to
give at least some
women the right to vote.
Over the years some
MPs put forward
suggested laws but they
were rejected (such as
the Conciliation Bills in
1910, 1911 and 1912).

10. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Two main groups were
involved in campaigns to
change the law:
• Suffragists – used
peaceful methods to
try and win the vote
• Suffragettes – often
used violent actions
to try and force the
government to listen

11. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The Suffragettes and
Suffragists were very
different.
However one thing that
united them both was
that they each
suspended their
campaigns at the start of
the Great War, to
support the war effort.

12. Women’s suffrage campaigns
In 1918, some women
finally gained the right to
vote (if they met
conditions such as being
age 30 or over).
In 1928 all women
received the right to vote
on the same basis as
men (if they were age 21
or over).

13. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The
Suffragists

14. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The National Union of
Women’s Suffrage
Societies was formed in
1897. It was a merger of
groups that had been
campaigning for the vote
since the 1860s.
Better known as the
Suffragists, they were
led by Millicent Fawcett.

15. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The Suffragists used a
variety of peaceful
campaign methods to
win backing for their
campaign.
They produced leaflets
and newspapers, took
part in marches, started
petitions and spoke
directly to MPs.

16. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Scottish suffragists also
campaigned, including a
huge march in Edinburgh
in 1909.
Other Suffragists even
followed Winston
Churchill as he
campaigned Dundee. He
is said to have hidden in
a shed to escape them.

17. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The Suffragists were
involved in party
political actions too.
They supported the
Labour Party’s ‘Votes for
all’ campaign, and also
helped campaign against
MPs that were opposed
to giving women the
right to vote.

18. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Many people believe the
Suffragists were
important in women
getting the right to vote.
By using various peaceful
methods this helped
prove that women were
responsible, so
encouraging MPs to let
them vote.

19. Women’s suffrage campaigns
They were also
influential because
speaking directly to MPs
let women’s voices be
heard in Parliament.
In addition, by working
with the Labour Party
they put pressure on the
Liberals to listen, again
making them important.

20. Women’s suffrage campaigns
However some people
criticise the Suffragists’
actions and think they
were not important in
women getting to vote.
It is argued that peaceful
methods were easy for
the government to
ignore, so they were not
influential.

21. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Also, many women were
tired of the time it was
taken for them to get the
right to vote.
Suffragist groups had
campaigned peacefully
since the 1860s without
success – so some
women wanted to take
more direct action.

22. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The
Suffragettes

23. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The Women’s Social and
Political Union (better
known as the
Suffragettes) was set up
in 1903.
They were led by
Emmeline Pankhurst
who had been a
Suffragist. They believed
in direct action.

24. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The Suffragettes’ motto
was “deeds, not words”.
Although they did take
part in peaceful
campaign actions (such
as printing newspapers
or holding rallies), they
often took part in violent
campaign actions to get
attention.

25. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Suffragettes wrote
graffiti on buildings,
broke shop windows and
set churches on fire.
Other Suffragettes
attacked police officers
and politicians, including
trying to bomb the
house of Chancellor
David Lloyd George.

26. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Arson was a tactic
favoured by many
Scottish suffragettes.
There were various
attempts to burn down
prominent buildings,
including the
grandstands at Ayr and
Perth racecourses, and
Leuchars train station.

27. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Other extreme actions
included pouring acid on
golf courses or slashing
famous paintings.
They would chain
themselves to railings
and damage post boxes,
or set fire to the
contents that were
inside them.

28. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Scottish suffragettes
were active too. One
attempted to burn down
the main stand at Ayr
racecourse.
Also Janet Arthur (the
niece of Lord Kitchener)
tried to blow up the
house in which Robert
Burns was born.

29. Women’s suffrage campaigns
As a result of these
illegal actions many
Suffragettes eventually
were arrested.
Once in prison they took
part in hunger strikes to
protest at their
treatment, and try to
embarrass the
government as well.

30. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Ethel Moorhead, who
lived in Dundee, was the
first Scottish suffragette
to be force fed (when in
Calton jail in Edinburgh).
Moorhead had been
involved in actions such
as attacking the police
and refusing to pay tax.

31. Women’s suffrage campaigns
To stop hunger strikes,
the government started
force feeding these
women, which created
more bad publicity.
They then used the Cat
and Mouse Act to
release hunger strikers
until they were well
enough to re-arrest.

32. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Unlike the Suffragists,
the Suffragettes never
publicly backed the
Labour Party’s ‘Votes for
all’ campaign.
This was partly because
some wealthier
Suffragettes did not
actually want poor
women to get the vote.

33. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Perhaps the most
famous Suffragette
protest involved Emily
Davison.
In 1913, Davison jumped
in front of the King’s
horse at the Derby race
(probably to pin a
Suffragette scarf on it),
and was instead killed.

34. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Many people claim the
Suffragettes’ actions
were the main reason
women eventually got
the right to vote.
By taking part in such
extreme actions it
created lots of publicity,
forcing the government
to listen to them.

35. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The Suffragettes’
support for the war
effort also helped them.
This showed that these
women were
responsible and
patriotic, again helping
those that argued
women deserved the
right to vote.

36. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The use of hunger strikes
created sympathy for
women, and bad
publicity for the
government.
The government also
worried that once the
Great War ended, the
violent campaigns would
again re-start.

37. Women’s suffrage campaigns
However other people
say that the Suffragettes
in fact stopped women
getting the vote.
It was argued that the
Suffragettes’ extreme
actions proved women
were irresponsible and
so shouldn’t get the right
to vote.

38. Women’s suffrage campaigns
By attacking politicians
(some of whom
supported women’s
suffrage) this also cost
them political support.
Members of the public
grew tired of being
inconvenienced by
protest actions, again
losing them support.

39. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Business owners were
angry at their properties
being damaged, and
using letter bombs,
bombs and arson made
the Suffragette seem
dangerous.
All of this again led to a
loss of support for
women’s campaign.

40. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The actions of Emily
Davison suggested to
some people that
women were immature
and would not be able to
cope with voting.
Some richer Suffragettes
also did not support
poor women voting, so
hurt the campaign too.