How important were the activities of the women

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How important were the activities of the womens
suffrage movement in the decision to grant women
the vote?
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BASIC ESSAY STRUCTURE
1. Introduction.
2. Role of the womens suffrage movement.
3. Impact of the First World War/War Work.
4. Politicians changed their minds.
5. The wartime coalition.
6. Advances in other areas - education, law..
7. Events in other countries.
8. Women won the argument.
9. Conclusion.
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How important were the activities of the womens
suffrage movement in the decision to grant women
the vote?
1. Introduction.

• as always, set the scene and signpost your
  argument
• this can be done by looking at the 3 important
  phrases in the question

1. How important
2. Womens suffrage movement
3. Decision to grant women the vote.

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1. How important. (signposting the argument)

• This means you need to rate the suffrage
  movements against the other factors which helped
  gain women the vote.
• Therefore, you need to suggest your structure
  by mentioning the other factors you will include.

It is true to say that the womens suffrage
movement was important in the campaign to get
women the vote, but this factor needs to be
judged against other important factors such as
the the First World War, political changes and
changes in other countries.
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2. Womens suffrage movement (background)

• You need to make sure you define this movement
  to show the examiner what you mean.

The womens suffrage movement was a powerful
political force by 1914. There were 56 suffrage
groups and two main national bodies the
Suffragists (NUWSS) and the Suffragettes (WSPU).
3. Decision to grant women the vote.(background)

• You need to show the examiner you know when this
  happened.

On February 6th 1918 women were finally granted
the vote in Britain.
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Example introduction.
On February 6th 1918 women were finally granted
the vote in Britain, albeit it was reserved for
women over 30 who were householders or married to
householders. This came after sixty years of
campaigning by suffrage groups. The womens
suffrage movement was a powerful political force
by 1914. There were 56 suffrage groups and two
main national bodies the Suffragists (NUWSS)
and the Suffragettes (WSPU). How far the womens
suffrage movement was responsible for women being
granted the vote needs to be judged against other
important factors such as the the First World
War, political changes and changes in other
countries.
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Structure for each paragraph

1. Outline the factor, which will essentially state
   what the paragraph will be about.

2. Say how important the factor was in women
gaining the vote. Include any historical debate
and/or quotes.
3. Include a summary statement and link to the
next paragraph.
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2. Role of the womens suffrage movement.

• by 1914 56 different groups with 300,000
  members.

Suffragists (NUWSS) Suffragettes (WSPU)
1910- over 21,000 members Employed 98 women office workers in London.
Middle class and Liberal links but also W/C members. Associated with upper class but also W/C support.
Non-violent, traditional action. Violent, militant action.
Got support from MPs shown in a series of Private Members Bills. Violent action as self-defeating, lost sympathy and support for the cause.
Est. 1903 put womens suffrage back on agenda after parliamentary lull, 1897-1907.
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2. Role of the womens suffrage movement.

• It is clear the groups had positive and
  negative effects.

Positive Negative
Large memberships. Martin Pugh The Pankhursts (WSPU) proved a highly divisive force within the womens movements. They inflicted a catalogue of splits among militant forces. There are no grounds for the view that the WSPU shifted public opinion in favour, rather the reverse.
United women of all classes for the first time. Martin Pugh The Pankhursts (WSPU) proved a highly divisive force within the womens movements. They inflicted a catalogue of splits among militant forces. There are no grounds for the view that the WSPU shifted public opinion in favour, rather the reverse.
Kept issue at the forefront of the media. Martin Pugh The Pankhursts (WSPU) proved a highly divisive force within the womens movements. They inflicted a catalogue of splits among militant forces. There are no grounds for the view that the WSPU shifted public opinion in favour, rather the reverse.
War probably postponed the granting of the vote. 1910 Conciliation and 1912,1913 bills failed but by 1914 Asquith had changed his mind. Paula Bartley two weeks before the outbreak of war, negotiations between suffragists were taking place. Martin Pugh The Pankhursts (WSPU) proved a highly divisive force within the womens movements. They inflicted a catalogue of splits among militant forces. There are no grounds for the view that the WSPU shifted public opinion in favour, rather the reverse.
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3. Impact of the First World War/War Work.

• Womens suffrage movements stopped their
  campaigns for the vote and rallied for the Right
  to Serve.

• Women gained a lot of respect for their war
  work.

• Women did a wide range of jobs including
  munitions work, hospital jobs and farm work.
  They also took over mens work.

• Women entered the armed services Womens
  Auxillary Army Corps.

• The enthusiasm and energy they put into their
  work changed male attitudes.

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3. Impact of the First World War/War Work.

• Traditional view
• Historian John Ray
• Women proved by their work that they deserved
  the vote equally with men. Thus their war
  efforts succeeded where the Suffragette campaign
  failed.

• Revisionist view
• Historian Martin Pugh
• World War One as most important factor is too
  simplistic as
• after 1918, women were removed from wartime
  employment.
• in the 1920s the theory that a womens place
  is in the home was as strong as ever.

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4. Politicians changed their minds.

• Existing law excluded soldiers from voting due
  to lack of long term residence. This could not
  continue after the war. If the law was changed,
  women had to be included as they had worked hard
  too.

• Enfranchising soldiers gave the politicians a
  way to climb down on female votes.

• Ultimately, this is very important as MPs are
  the only people who can actually change the law.

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5. The wartime coalition.

• In May 1915 the Liberal government became a
  coalition.

• MPs who were pro-suffrage were included in the
  new Cabinet Balfour, Arthur Henderson..

• Dec 1916 Asquith replaced by pro-suffrage PM,
  Lloyd George.

• The coalition government removed the strict
  divisions between the parties and encouraged
  co-operation. MPs felt more confident if they
  granted 8 million women the vote they would not
  all vote for one party through gratitude.

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6. Advances in other areas - education, law

• Important progress in education.
• 1897 first womens colleges founded at Oxford
  University.

• Important changes in law.
• Increasing acceptance of divorce 2 Royal
  Commission reports in 1912 sought to have women
  and men given the same rights.
• Improvements to rights over custody of children.

• These changes forced MPs to take calls for the
  vote seriously.

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7. Events in other countries.

• Other countries had granted universal suffrage
  New Zealand, Finland, Australia and this put
  pressure on UK to keep up.

• Britain was presenting itself as the mother of
  democracy in WWI propaganda so it was an
  embarrassment to be less democratic than other
  countries.

• October 1917 Communist revolution in Russia
  led to a desire to strengthen parliamentary
  democracy in UK. Votes for women would include
  them in the democratic process.

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8. Women won the argument.

• Even previous opponents, such as Asquith, by
  1914 had to accept that the time had come to give
  women the vote.

• The womens suffrage groups had raised
  awareness of the issues.

• Historian Martin Pugh
• Male prejudice against women melted in the
  face of revelations about their capabilities
  during war time and their contribution to the war
  effort.

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9. Conclusion.

• Answer the question.

• Summarise the key points of your argument.

Although evidence is incomplete, it would appear
that womens suffrage would not have succeeded
without the consistent campaigning of the pre-war
years. From the mid 1860s a wide range of
methods were used to persuade the government and
the public of the justice of the cause. Perhaps
it was the fear of a return to the militancy of
pre-war years which forced the government to
include women in a franchise bill. However,
events during the war were undoubtedly important.
Historian Paula Bartley had noted that neither
the view that women achieved the vote because of
their pre-war campaigns nor the view that women
achieved the vote because of the war is
ultimately sustainable. In other words, a
combination of factors were responsible for the
achievement of the female franchise in 1918.