• An Introduction
February 6th 1918
The Representation of the People Act decreed:
All women over 30 who were married to
property owners or who owned property
themselves were allowed to vote in
parliamentary elections.
This enfranchised 8 million women
The "true woman"
was pure, delicate,
frail and passive.
Women too
emotional to deal
with political
issues.
Women were the
Angel in the Home!
Public
beliefs of
the time
Men saw themselves
as the dominators of
the Public Sphere- that
is the place of work
and politics.
Women’s brains
smaller than
men’s!
Women did not
fight for their
country so didn’t
deserve the vote!
The Corset personified the
restrictions faced by women in the
early 20th century!
Suffragists and Suffragettes
SUFRAGISTS (NUWSS)
Origin:
1897 – First UK Suffrage Group
NUWSS brought together women’s suffrage
societies from all over Britain into one large
organisation.
Millicent Fawcett
Organisation:
• Broad based
• Included a wide range of opinions – male supporters.
• Radical Suffragists – attempted to win working class
support.
Suffragists: Overview
o The FIRST and BIGGEST women’s suffrage movement.
o Regarded as most SUCCESSFUL.
o NUWSS numbers grew considerably and was far bigger
than the WSPU (Suffragettes).
o NUWSS – 1907: 6,000 members
1913: 50,000 members
Peaceful Methods:
o Meetings
o Pamphlets
o Newspaper articles
EXAMPLE
Suffragist Pilgrimage, 1913:
Held Pilgrimage to Hyde Park to
show govt. they had support for
vote. On 26th July, around 50,000
women reached Hyde Park.
Suffragettes (WSPU)
Origin
1903 – Emmeline Pankhurst broke
away from the NUWSS to form the
WSPU.
Emmeline
Pankhurst
Organisation
• Narrowly based
• Dedicated to one aim – no male members – no interest in other
issues.
Suffragettes: Overview
Methods:
• Motto = “Deeds not Words”
• 1905-1908: Campaign of disruption of political meetings,
heckling politicians, large parades, chalking slogans on streets
etc.
• 1909-1914: Increasingly violent – smashing windows, pepper
bombs, setting fire to pillar boxes etc.
Main aim of a Higher Essay…
Analysis
This ultimately means:
• The degree to which you show a line of
argument throughout the essay
• The way in which you use evidence
• The way in which you answer the question
Types of Questions
• “It was the militant suffragette campaign, more
than any other factor, that led to the achievement of
female suffrage in 1918.” How valid is this view?
• “Their contribution during World War I was the
main reason why the majority of women gained the
right to vote in 1918.” How valid is this view?
• “The steady pressure by the moderate Suffragists
was the most important reason for the achievement
of votes for women by 1918.” How accurate is this
view?
• “Changing attitudes in British society towards
women was the major reason why some women
received the vote in 1918.” How accurate is this view?
Our focus…
“Their contribution during W.W.I was the
main reason why the majority of women
gained the right to vote in 1918” How
valid is this view?
These are your factors
Would we get the same result
if one of these ‘ingredients’
were missing?
Did we need all these
‘ingredients’?
Miss MacKay’s Recipe for
Female Suffrage:
Would women have got the
vote sooner without any of
these ingredients?
Increasing political equality
Think about the degree to
which each contributed…
Women’s war work
Work of the suffragists
Work of the suffragettes
Changes during WWI
There are two main schools of historical thought regarding
WHY some women were granted the vote in 1918.
Traditional School
of Thought…
WWI was most important in
gaining women the vote because
they “proved by their work
that they deserved the vote.
Thus their war efforts
succeeded where the Suffrage
campaign failed.” (John Ray)
Revisionist School of
Thought…
Historians such as Pugh argue
that WWI was the most
important factor is too
simplistic for many reasons.
Suggesting that there were
other contributing factors.
Suffragette militant tactics
were the main reason for women
gaining the vote because they
revitalised the campaign by
gaining publicity which put
pressure on the government.
Without the peaceful
suffragists, women would not
have gained the vote in 1918.
The Suffragists were
influential in gaining the
support of many MPs.
The position of women in
society was constantly
improving after 1850, the
vote was just a logical
progression of this. Women
were gaining more political
and educational equality
with men.
WWI was the most
important factor in granting
women the vote in 1918
because it removed the
argument that women did
not deserve the vote
because they didn’t serve
for their country in times
of war.
The changes which took place
during WWI such as the changes
in government were important to
women securing the vote because
it removed anti-suffrage MPs from
power.
Main arguments regarding
why some women got the
vote in 1918.
Impact of WWI
Mrs Pankhurst suspended all
campaigning in order to fully
support the war effort.
During WWI, women filled
the place of men by taking
on jobs previously dominated
by men.
Impact of WWI
Mrs Pankhurst suspended all
campaigning in order to fully
support the war effort.
During WWI, women filled
the place of men by taking
on jobs previously dominated
by men.
Changing Attitudes
• Newspapers called women workers
“heroines”.
• “The Nation Thanks The Women”
posters went up all over Britain
• Some politicians (incl. Asquith) found
themselves influenced by the change in
public opinion
Changing Opinions
Asquith was PM from
1906-16. The WSPU
hated him before WW1.
In 1918 even he said “How could we have
fought and won the war
without them ?”
Contribution to WWI
You will be reading through two views of the importance of
women’s contribution to WWI to enfranchisement in order to
gain evidence and analysis to support both of the following
statements.
1.
2.
Contribution to WWI did lead to women gaining the vote
Contribution to WWI was not the main reason for women
gaining the vote.
Create two columns:
•
Evidence (Knowledge)
•
Analysis
st
1
one together…
Certainly, there is evidence to suggest that the hard work
completed by the 7 million women during WWI improved the
attitudes towards them. Posters and newspaper cartoons, such
as those by Septimus Scott echoed the feelings of the country
by carrying messages such as ‘These women are doing their bit.’
This was important because it removed the argument that
women had not fought for their country and also encouraged
the public to acknowledge women for their hard work.
Evidence
Analysis
7 million women during WWI
improved the attitudes towards
them. Posters and newspaper
cartoons, such as those by Septimus
Scott echoed the feelings of the
country by carrying messages such
as ‘These women are doing their bit.’
This was important because it
removed the argument that
women had not fought for their
country and also encouraged the
public to acknowledge women for
their hard work.
Copy & Complete
The traditional view of historians is that
women proved by their contribution to
the war effort that they deserved the
vote. Certainly there is evidence to
suggest that their contribution altered
views
towards
them
[INSERT
EVIDENCE]. Indeed, this was important
because [INSERT ANALYSIS]
HIGHER HOMEWORK 1
• Copy the diagram on pp. 147 (into
homework jotter!)
• Add more details to the areas of work
e.g. dates, number of women, type of
work done.
• Due: Friday 7th June.