WSPU Flashcards
(28 cards)
When was the NUWSS formed?
1897
Who was the leader of the NUWSS?
Millicent Fawcett
What did the NUWSS campaign for?
Female suffrage
When and where was the WSPU formed?
1903, Manchester
Who founded the WSPU?
Emmeline Pankhurst and her duaghter Christabel.
Who was Emmeline Pankhurst?
She was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist and had been involved in campaiging with the Independent Labour Party (ILP) but became frustrated with the lack of progress. She also founded the Women’s Franchise League in 1889.
What was the leadership style of the WSPU compared to the NUWSS?
The NUWSS was an alliance of groups, whereas the WSPU had an autocratic leadership from the Pankhursts.
What were the aims of the WSPU?
- To achieve female suffrage - however they did not seek votes for all women but votes on equal status to men (only middle class women)
- To pressure the ILP - they felt the male-dominated ILP was not prioritising the campaign
- To free women from ‘slavery’ - saw the vote as part of a wider issue of freeing women from the enslaved social role where they had insufficient rights.
Early tactics of the WSPU
- published a journal ‘The Suffragette’
- heckling ministers at public meetings
- hunger strikes
- they took part in marches, such as May Day parades
- they took part in the ‘Mud March’ in 1907 alongside the NUWSS
- in june 1908, a week after the NUWSS led a march, the WSPU organised another, larger march with 30,000 women
What year did WSPU tactics begin to become more militant?
1909
What did Christabel Pankhurst lead in 1909?
A wave of attacks on property, such as throwing stones at windows of London social clubs, burning post boxes and attacks on golf greens. They also attempted to damage properties of politicians such as David Lloyd George and Lord Leverhulme.
What was Black Friday?
In 1910, a number of suffragettes including Emmeline and Christabel were arrested in fights with the police outside parliament.
Why was there a pause in militancy between 1911 and 1912?
In 1911, the gov suggested a law which might give a small number of wealthy women the vote, called a Concilliation Bill. However, although it passed the second reading stage, it failed to become law due to lack of parliamentary time. The liberal gov announced that a new bill would be proposed, this tima aimed at male suffrage, with the possability of an amendment to include women.
What was the WSPU’s response to the Concilliation Bill?
They saw it as betrayal and returned to far more radical campaigning
How did the WSPU’s tactics change from 1912?
They became more extreme.
What are 4 examples of the WSPU’s increased militancy from 1912?
- attacks on property of value, such as shops in the West End, post boxes, golf courses and in 1913, bombing of the house of Lloyd George
- a famous painting in the National gallery was slashed with a knife by a suffragette whom the papers named ‘Shlasher Mary’
- in Bristol, suffragettes burned a timber yard, a university building and two mansions
- Emily Davidson threw herself in front of a horse at the 1913 Derby
- hunger-srtikes in jail which forced the gov to pass the so-called ‘Cat and Mouse Act’ in 1913 to avoid creating a martyr
What was the effect of increased militancy on public support?
Reduced public support as the violence no longer seemed reasonable or targeted at spesific gov individuals. It also created tensions in the WSPU, which Emmeline commonly resolved by expelling those wjo disagreed with the militants, including her own daughter
How did the gov respond to increased militancy?
- initially relaxed stance
- as militancy increased, so did the arrests
- fines and short prison sentences
- hunger-strikes led to the Cat and Mouse Act 1913
What happened in 1914?
When WW1 broke out, Pankhurst called for an end to the militant campaigns in a demonstration of patriotism. The magazine ‘The Suffragette’ was renamed ‘The Britannia’ to reflect this.
Who was Emily Davidson?
She had studied at Oxford (though women could not actually recieve a degree) and was a teacher until she became a full time protestor upon joining the WSPU. Famously she died throwing herself in front of the King’s horse at the 1913 Derby. It appeared to be deliberate suicide but she was carrying a return train ticket and WSPU rosettes which indicates it may have been an attempt to tag the King’s horse and emabrass the King.
Who was Sylvia Pankurst?
Christabel’s sister who also joined the WSPU in 1906. As an artist, she designed many of the posters, journal covers and banners. She somewhat supported the militant campaigns but her support decreased after the 1913 arson campaigns. In 1913 she left the WSPU and formed what was later known as the Woman’s Suffrage Federation.
How did the Conservative Party (in power 1895-1905) view the issue of female suffrage?
Most Conservative MPs were hostile to female suffrage however many of the leadership saw the potential for property-owning women to have the vote as a potential source of increasing right-wing support.
How did the Liberal Party (in power 1905-1922) view the issue of female suffrage?
The Liberal MPs were very open to female suffrage however Asquith and the leadership were concerned. They believed that giving the vote to women might increase the strength of some pressure groups, like those supporting the Temperance Laws and make the party harder to unify. Equally without suffrage it was more likely that new women voters would support the Conservatives.
How did the Labour Party view the issue of female suffrage?
The Labour party did support female suffrage but they wouldn’t distinguish it from universal suffrage. This led to a strong relationship with the WSPU. In any event, with only 2 MPs in 1900 and 29 in 1906, they had little impact on gov policies.
