Reasons why some women got the vote in 1918

Question 1

Reasons why some women got the vote in 1918
Introduction:

Answer 1

• BK: In the late 19th century, Britain more democratic, eg working class men could vote
• BK: Women couldn’t vote until 1918 representation of the people act
• Factors: Suffragists, Suffragettes, Changes in society regarding women, Role of women in WW1
• LOA: This essay will argue that the most important reason why some women got the vote in 1918 was because of the actions of the Suffragists

Question 2

Reasons why some women got the vote in 1918 The Suffragists:

Answer 2

• KU: Formed in 1865, led by Millicent Fawcett, gradualist approach used petitions, marches, speeches, lobbying
• KU: Membership of mainly ‘respectable, middle class women’
• A: Gained support of the newly formed Labour Party and key Liberal MPs such as J.S. Mill and David Lloyd George
• A+: Little urgency for the government to act, and gained little public attention and sympathy
• E: Most important because they kept reconciliation bills relevant in parliament, discussed in 1910, 11, and 12 and respectable middle class women overlapped with property owning women over 30

Question 3

Reasons why some women got the vote in 1918 Suffragettes:

Answer 3

• KU: Branched off from the Suffragists in 1903, led by Emmeline Pankhurst. Their motto was ‘Deeds not Words’
• KU: Imprisoned Suffragettes protested their right to be held as political prisoners by hunger striking, and the force feeding that ensued could lead to injury or death
• A: The Suffragettes had a lot of press attention and public sympathy and support, putting pressure on the Government to make changes
• A+: They reinforced ideas of women being irrational and not worthy of the right to vote
• E: No new laws relating to women’s sufferage were passed while they were at the height of their actions, and many of their membership left to rejoin the Suffragists

Question 4

Reasons why some women got the vote in 1918 Changes in Society

Answer 4

• KU: Women and men had operated in ‘separate spheres’, women domestically and men in public
• KU: Education Act 1892 and women’s colleges in Oxford and Cambridge, more women and girls becoming educated
• A: By the early 20th century, women’s literacy up from 77% to 97%, challenging the idea that women are ‘too uneducated’ to vote.
• A+: However Queen Victoria and many other influential people in Britain were against the changing role of women in society
• E: Not the most important factor because no reforms were passed for decades before 1918, but the Suffragists actively campaigned up to 1918 when some women got the vote

Question 5

Reasons why some women got the vote in 1918 Role of Women in WW1

Answer 5

• KU: 900,000 women took up dangerous work in munitions factories
• KU: The number of women working in the transport industry went up from 18,000 to 117,000
• A: Women may have been given the vote as a ‘thank you’ for helping to keep Britain afloat during the war
• A+: Women also helped in the war effort in France, but didn’t get enfranchised until 1944
• E: Most of the working women were young and working class, but the women who were enfranchised in 1918 were property owning women over the age of 30, which aligns more with the Suffragist membership rather than the demographic who were working during WW1

Question 6

Reasons why some women got the vote in 1918 Example of other Countries (only use if isolated factor)

Answer 6

• KU: NZ, Australia and Finland all gave women the vote before WW1
• KU: Denmark and Iceland both gave women the vote in 1915
• A: Britain was seen as falling behind the rest of the empire in terms of democracy
• A+: It took Britain 25 years from New Zealand giving women the vote in 1893 until 1918
• E: Similar countries to the UK such as France and Italy didn’t give women the vote until 1944, and Portugal didn’t enfranchise women until 1976