How important were the activities of the women’s suffrage movement in the decision to grant women the vote?

BASIC ESSAY STRUCTURE 1. Introduction. 2. Role of the women’s 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.

How important were the activities of the women’s 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: How important Women’s suffrage movement Decision to grant women the vote.

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 women’s 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.

2. Women’s suffrage movement (background) You need to make sure you define this movement to show the examiner what you mean. The women’s 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.

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 women’s 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 women’s 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.

Structure for each paragraph 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.

Suffragists (NUWSS) Suffragettes (WSPU) 2. Role of the women’s 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 women’s suffrage back on agenda after parliamentary lull, 1897-1907.

Positive Negative 2. Role of the women’s 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 women’s 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. Kept issue at the forefront of the media. 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.”

3. Impact of the First World War/War Work. Women’s 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 “men’s work”. Women entered the armed services – Women’s Auxillary Army Corps. The enthusiasm and energy they put into their work changed male attitudes.

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 women’s place is in the home” was as strong as ever.

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.

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.

6. Advances in other areas - education, law Important progress in education. 1897 first women’s 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.

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.

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 women’s 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.”

Summarise the key points of your argument. 9. Conclusion. Answer the question. Summarise the key points of your argument. Although evidence is incomplete, it would appear that women’s 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.