WSPU Flashcards
What made the WSPU turn to militant tactics?
They realised that even a government of politicians who were supportive of women having the vote, they may never vote of the change to happen especially as a lot of men still did not have the vote.
What year did the WSPU begin to become militant?
1905
What did the militant tactics begin as?
They began very moderate as meeting disruptions, demonstrating and heckling
where did the WSPU draw inspiration from?
They were inspired by the Irish Home Rule movement as they decided not to pressure individual MPs and pressured government as a whole no matter the party of view of the politicians
How did the Pankhursts justify autocratic rule of the WSPU?
Chris Parnell had this level of power over the home rule movement and in order for the movement to be productive, there needed to be a powerful leader as well as having a movement that shocked the government and that people feared.
How did the suffragettes increase their militancy in 1906 and 1907?
they chained themselves to to railings in downing street and statues in the HoC lobby as well as interrupting meetings in the HoC becoming more common
how did the arrest of 9 upper/middle class ladies for the breach of peace affect society?
people were outraged at the notion of socially elite women in jail and it became a powerful tool for sympathy
what’s an example of a wealthy women being arrested that effected society?
Mrs Cobden Sanderson who was the daughter of Reform politician Richard Cobden shocked society with her arrest and garnered sympathy for the upper classes
how did arrests expose the class divide?
people only cared when a wealthy woman was arrested and working class women being imprisoned didn’t produce the same response. the government created martyrs when they imprisoned wealthy women as they were seen to be oppressed and unjustly punished by a male controlled state
when was the first Women’s Parliament held and where?
February 1907 at Caxton Hall
how many women were arrested at the first Women’s Parliament?
38 went to court and were sentenced to a few weeks in prison including Sylvia and Christabel Pankhurst
how did arrests of suffragettes affect the NUWSS?
the WSPU militancy built up some membership for the peaceful NUWSS and in 1907 the NUWSS organised its own mass meeting known as the Mud March
what was the turning point for militancy?
the Hyde Park gathering
what were the liberal government more focused on in 1908?
having won a landslide in 1906, they were more concerned about their programme of radical reform of social welfare and resistance of the Conservative controlled HoL as well as the Irish Home Rule and the worsening national trade balance
what was Asquith’s argument for women not having the vote?
He was unconvinced that women actually wanted the vote as his wife and daughter did not and he did not think that representation in parliament was a universal right and used children as an example. He refused to give women the franchise unless he saw a clear display that they wanted it.
what was the response to Asquith’s scepticism?
the meeting in June 1908 in Hyde Park where between 250,000 and 500,000 women met demanding the vote
how did Asquith’s response to the Hyde Park meeting catalyse militancy?
they realised that moderate protest would not be enough and Christabel Pankhurst ordered a series of window breaking in the belief that the government were only swayed by violence
what was the aim of targeting private property?
to show that normal life could not continue while women were unrepresented
in what ways did Asquith become a target?
he was assaulted on a golf course, skate was thrown at his car and inside parliament there were concerns he’d be assassinated
when did force feedings start?
in june 1909 after a protest in parliament which involved windows being smashed many were arrested and refused to eat in prison
how did hunger strike affect the movement?
this was seen as a great heroic sacrifice on the part of the protestors and force feeding became a great propaganda coup
what was the governments response to hunger strikes?
when the women became ill due to hunger strikes and force feedings they would have to be released and kept under surveillance until they were healthy enough to be re-arrested. This was called the Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Act 1903 aka the cat and mouse acts
how did the cat and mouse acts affect the movement?
the Suffragettes became demoralised and many deteriorated in health however it aroused public hostility and surrendered the government of any moral authority.
what was the most dramatic form of militancy?
it took place on the 18 November 1910 when the government failed to create time ti debate passing women’s suffrage. The WSPU responded by sending 300 women to protest outside the HoC as what became known as Black Friday where many women were sexually assaulted and given lasting injuries
