WSPU

Question 1

What were the aims of the WSPU?

Answer 1

• To achieve female suffrage, but only on the same level as men (30%)
• To pressure the ILP who were not prioritising the campaign.
• To free women from ‘slavery’, freeing women from an enslaved role in society.

Question 2

What were the early tactics used by the WSPU like?

Answer 2

• Constitutional and conservative.
• Up to 1908, there is very little to separate the NUWSS and WSPU, with the exception that the WSPU also heckled ministers at public meetings.
• One key new tactic in 1908 was hunger strikes by women in prison, made famous by Marrion Wallace-Dunlop.

Question 3

What are the examples of early tactics used by the WSPU?

Answer 3

• Published a journal, ‘The Suffragette’, which featured articles in support of their cause.
• They took part in marches, such as May Day parades, with iconic green and purple ribbons and banners.
• In 1907, they took part in the ‘Mud March’ alongside the NUWSS, a large scales protest march which coincided with the opening of Parliament.
• In 1908, a week after the NUWSS led a march, the WSPU organised another, larger march with 30,000 women.

Question 4

What is the evidence of increased militancy 1909-1910?

Answer 4

• Christabel Pankhurst led a wave of attacks on property in 1909.
• Attempted to damage properties belonging to prominent politicians like the gardens of Lord Leverhulme in Bolton and the house of David Lloyd George.
• In 1909, 27 suffragettes were arrested for throwing stones through the windows of 10 Downing Street.
• Black Friday in 1910 resulted in the arrest of E and C Pankhurst for fights with police outside parliament.
• Hunger strikes became more prominent which gained a lot of attention due to force feeding methods.

Question 5

Why was there a temporary pause in militant action in 1911-12?

Answer 5

• Gov suggested a law that may give a small number of wealthy women the vote called a conciliation bill.
• Although it passed the second reading, it failed to become law due to lack of parliamentary time.
• A new bill was proposed which aimed at male suffrage with possibility of considering female suffrage.
• The WSPU saw this as a betrayal and returned to their militant action.

Question 6

What is the evidence of militancy 1912-14?

Answer 6

• Attacks on property of value, in 1913, bombing the house of David Lloyd George.
• Emily Davison threw herself in front of a horse at the 1913 Derby.
• A famous painting on the National Gallery was, the Rokeby Venus, was slashed with a knife.
• Hunger strikes in jail, which forced the government to pass the so-called Cat and Mouse Act in 1913.

Question 7

What was the impact of the increased militancy 1912-14?

Answer 7

• Reduced public support as the violence no longer seemed reasonable or targeted at specific government individuals.
• It also created tensions in the WSPU, which EP commonly resolved in expelling those who disagreed with the militants, including her daughter.

Question 8

What is the background of Emmeline Pankhurst?

Answer 8

• Daughter of a wealthy industrialist in Manchester.
• She was heavily involved in politics as a member of the Liberal Party.
• In 1889, she formed the Women’s Franchise League which achieved some success in extending female suffrage in local council elections.
• By 1903, her frustrations led to the creation of the more militant WSPU.

Question 9

What was the role of Emmeline Pankhurst in the WSPU?

Answer 9

• A dictatorial leader who personally made the majority of decisions, such as barring men from having a central role.
• Her stubborn side and leadership style caused some members to leave the union.
• She also directed tactics. In 1905, she relocated to London to be more central. Made speeches, imprisoned several times and took lead in hunger strikes.
• In 1913, she held the WSPU together when many left due to unhappiness with the militarism.

Question 10

What is the background of Christabel Pankhurst?

Answer 10

• Emmeline’s eldest daughter, joined the WSPU when it was formed.
• She studied Law at Manchester University, but was unable to practise professionally because she was a women.

Question 11

What was the role of Christabel Pankhurst in the WSPU?

Answer 11

• Radical from the beginning, arrested in 1905 with Annie Kenney for disrupting a Liberal Party meeting. Chose to go to prison instead of paying a fine, led to more support.
• Worked as a secretary for the WSPU, which involved organising meetings and protests. Exiled herself to France to avoid prison under the CaM Act.
• Crucial in maintaining militancy. Also kept the party focused on female suffrage when others tried to campaign for different issues.

Question 12

What was the role of Sylvia Pankhurst?

Answer 12

• Joined in 1906. As an artist, she was crucial in designing posters, journal covers and banners.
• Supported militant campaigns and went to prison in 1906, as well as 1913, where she was arrested 3 times and spent 2 months in jail joining the hunger strikes.
• Kept a close relationship with the Labour party, and Keir Hardie, despite her family not. Did not want to ignore wc women.
• In 1913, she left and formed the Women’s suffrage federation. Brought support from the WC.
• Arrested 8 times 1913-14, which led to fighting in her movement and the police. Weakened MC support.

Question 13

What was the role of Emily Davison?

Answer 13

• In 1909, she threw rocks at the carriage of David Lloyd George resulting in a month in Strangeways Prison.
• She went on hunger strike and locked herself in her cell. The prison warden flooded her room which nearly drowned her. This brought needed publicity to the movement.
• Famously died by throwing herself in front of a horse. Assumed to be a deliberate suicide but was carrying a return train ticket.
• Showed how far suffragettes were willing to go.

Question 14

How did the Conservative party respond to the issue of female suffrage?

Answer 14

• Most MPs were hostile to the idea.
• However, many of the leadership saw the potential for property owning women to gain votes.
• The 1884 reform act had increased centre left voters.
• All three leaders between 1881 and 1914 (Salisbury, Balfour and Bonar Law) indicated their willingness to consider limited female suffrage.

Question 15

How did the Liberals respond to female suffrage?

Answer 15

• Majority were either openly supportive or were willing to consider it. 1907 and 1909 they proposed the unsuccessful Women’s Suffrage Bill.
• There were concerns over a division in the party which had been a problem in the late nineteenth century. Giving the vote to women may make it difficult to unify the party.
• Without universal suffrage, it was likely that the new women voters would support the conservatives.
• Asquith was opposed to it. Only from 1916, with LG did the Liberals have a leader who supported the movement.

Question 16

How did the Labour party respond to the female suffrage movement?

Answer 16

• Did not support female suffrage but would not distinguish it from universal suffrage for all classes of men and women.
• Resulted in stormy relationship with the suffrage movement, particularly in the WSPU.
• In any event, with only 2 MPs in 1900 and 29 in 1906, they had little impact on government policy.

Question 17

How did the government respond to increased militancy?

Answer 17

• Initial relaxed stance, freedom of political expression had become an expectation by this time. EP had political connections as well.
• As militancy increased, so did the arrests. Sometimes did not look good for the authorities. Police brutality.
• Fines and short prison sentences. Limited the publicity of the protests by giving fines instead of prison sentences.
• Hunger strikes led to doctors force feeding prisoners through tubes pushed down their throats. Bad image for the gov which resulted in the Cat and Mouse Act in 1913.

Question 18

What was the Cat and Mouse Act?

Answer 18

• Passed in 1913.
• Allowed prisons to release women whose strikes had endangered their health, instead of force feeding them or letting them die, since they were too weak to be a danger.
• Once they had recovered, they could be re-arrested without trial if they committed further offences.
• Reduced public attention on the treatment of prisoners by removing the need to force feed, and prevented any deaths in prison which would give the campaign a martyr.

Question 19

What were the events of the Women’s Suffrage Bill in 1909?

Answer 19

• The Liberals proposed a bill in 1907 for women’s suffrage which was to give some women and all men the vote.
• They re-proposed the bill in 1908 and again in 1909. Both times, this bill passed the second reading stage but failed to get any further.

Question 20

Why did the Women’s Suffrage Bill in 1909 fail?

Answer 20

• Bills must be passed within the allowed time for debate. This bill was not given enough debate time.
• Other considerations took precedent. There was substantial debate over the People’s Budget, a Liberal effort to fund social welfare programmes with increased taxes on high incomes.
• Announcement of the first two general elections in 1910 shifted party focus to this.

Question 21

What happened at the Conciliation Committee in 1910?

Answer 21

• The NUWSS and WSPU joined forces to form a cross-party committee, aiming to achieve limited suffrage for 1m.
• EP called a halt on militant activities.
• A bill was drafted, 300 MPs promised support and a petition of 250,000 names was presented in support.

Question 22

Why did the Conciliation Committee in 1910 fail?

Answer 22

• Asquith did not support the bill. The suffragettes had expected Liberal support with the general election at hand and growing support for the movement.
• Even though the bill passed the second reading by 100 votes, Asquith declared that there was not time to continue debating and it did not become an act.

Question 23

What were the events of the Conciliation Bill in 1911?

Answer 23

• In 1911, the bill was proposed, this time as a private member’s bill.
• It was promised a week of parliamentary discussion by Asquith and passed its reading by 255 votes to 208.

Question 24

Why did the Conciliation Bill in 1911 fail?

Answer 24

• Asquith declared that he would propose a universal male suffrage law with the possibility of adding female suffrage.
• For many Liberals, this removed the need to support the conciliation bill.
• The WSPU returned to militant tactics and increased violence. The bill was abandoned.

Question 25

What was the Conciliation bill of 1912?

Answer 25

• Proposed a third time in 1912.
• It was voted down by 222 votes to 208

Question 26

Why did the conciliation bill in 1912 fail?

Answer 26

• The issue of Irish Home Rule had become more serious, and the Irish voted against it in fear it would take away attention from the Irish Home Rule debate.
• Increased WSPU militancy alienated the government and 26 MPs who had promised to support the bill voted against in 1912.
• Asquith reportedly said ‘I think we are now nearly out of the woods’. The WSPU were furious that just 8 more votes from his government would have passed the vote.

Question 27

What was the Government Franchise Bill in 1913?

Answer 27

• In 1912, a bill for increased male suffrage was proposed for parliamentary debate in 1913.
• Asquith suggested that campaigners might be able to debate an amendment which would tag limited female suffrage onto the bill.

Question 28

Why did the Government Franchise Bill in 1913 fail?

Answer 28

• Never a serious possibility.
• The chair of the HoC declared it was not possible legally to add female suffrage to a male suffrage bill.
• The possibility of male suffrage had satisfied some liberals, while the concept of allowing more WC males the vote concerned other Liberals and Conservatives.
• The arson attacks in 1913 by suffragettes had pushed away moderate supporters.

Question 29

What is the evidence that support for the WSPU was small?

Answer 29

• Majority of people either opposed female suffrage or supported it but were concerned about the radical, militant tactics.
• While the NUWSS had grown to over 50,000 members by 1913, the WSPU never reached a membership of more than 2,000 members.
• From 1909, the WSPU journal Votes for Women was selling a relatively small circulation of 20,000 which indicates a much lower support base.

Question 30

What were the main reasons for limited support for the WSPU?

Answer 30

• The militant tactics reduced support among traditionalists middle and upper classes.
• The WC did not see it as their movement. EP kept the WSPU focused on one issue which alienated support. Could have been a mass movement. Not until SP broke away in 1913 when WC women supported.
• Little involvement of men alienated male support.
• Pankhurst’s dictatorial style arguably held them back. Little possibility of others influencing WSPU policy, this put some off. In 1907 supporters left to form the Women’s Freedom League.
• Alienated potential allies like Lloyd George. Had his speeches interrupted and his house bombed. He was actually the one to pass the 1918 reform act.

Question 31

What are the arguments for the successes of the WSPU?

Answer 31

• Militancy attracted publicity and made headlines which generated public interest.
• The increased attention led more women to join the more peaceful NUWSS, which increased public support for female suffrage.
• Bills proposing forms of female suffrage reappeared in the parliamentary debate following the start of militant tactics.
• A factor in the decision to grant female suffrage in 1918 may have come from a fear of the return of militant actions.