WSPU - The Extent of WSPU Support by 1914 Flashcards
How extensive was WSPU support - How did supporters view militancy and why?
Supporters of the WSPU saw militancy as necessary – the WSPU were not the first to act in an unorthodox manner – as early as the 1880s and 1890s there had been individual women who had acted militarily in a relative sense EG refusing to pay taxes on the grounds that taxes without political representation were not legitimate – these women argued that earlier democratic turning points such as the 1832 Great Reform Act had been made possible by the violent protests that had preceded them
How extensive was WSPU support - Why did the WSPU fail to attract a broader support base?
Yet the WSPU failed to attract a broader support base – the majority of people in Britain either opposed female suffrage, or supported female suffrage but were concerned about the radical, militant WSPU tactics – as a result, the actual support for the movement remained small
How extensive was WSPU support - Support for the NUWSS compared to the WSPU?
While the NUWSS had grown to over 50,000 members by 1913, the WSPU never reached a membership of more than 2000 and from and from 1909 the WSPU flagship journal Votes for Women was selling a relatively small circulation of 20,000 which indicated a much lower support base
Reasons for limited support - Militant tactics
The militant tactics reduced support among traditionalist middle and upper classes
Reasons for limited support - How did the working classes see the movement?
The WSPU was seen by the working classes as a middle and upper class movement – the concept of votes for women, while appealing to these women with property and status, was not a priority to working-class women who were more bothered over social inequality – Emmeline Pankhurst kept the WSPU focused on the one issue, and this alienated support which could have made the WSPU a mass movement in the manner of the early Chartists – it was not until Sylvia Pankhurst formed her breakaway group in 1913 that the WSPU began to gain working-class support and even then it was limited
Reasons for limited support - Alienating male support
The WSPU was organised and led by women; there was little involvement by men – while this was seen by the WSPU as a demonstration of political ability it alienated male support
Reasons for limited support - Pankhurst’s style of leadership
Pankhurst’s dictatorial style arguably held them back – Emmeline led with a form grip alongside her daughters, especially Christabel – there was very little possibility of others influencing WSPU policy, and this put some off who favoured a more democratic style – in 1907, supporters left to form the Women’s Freedom League, while in 1912 two leading members who had been central in funding the WSPU Votes for Women paper left to form the United Suffragists
Reasons for limited support - Alienating potential allies
The WSPU sometimes alienated potential allies – EG Lloyd George, a Liberal who sympathised and later led the 1918 Representation of the People Act, had his speeches interrupted and his house bombed
The arguments for the successes of the WSPU - Generating public interest
Militancy attracted publicity and made headlines which generated public interest
The arguments for the successes of the WSPU - What did increased attention lead to?
The increased attention led more women to join the more peaceful NUWSS, which increased public support for female suffrage
The arguments for the successes of the WSPU - The presence of female suffrage bills in P
Bills proposing forms of female suffrage reappeared in parliamentary debate after a 10 year lull following the start of militant tactics
The arguments for the successes of the WSPU - How did the WSPU play a part in the passing of the 1918 act?
To some degree, a factor in the decision to grant female suffrage in 1918 may have come from a lack of secure in the post-war period to see a return to suffragette militancy
The arguments against the impact of the WSPU - Violence
WSPU marches and protests were met by anti-suffrage violence, and increasingly it became dangerous to give speeches in public
The arguments against the impact of the WSPU - Increasing public criticism
There is evidence of increasing public criticism of the movement EG one Labour MP lost a by-election in which he had been funded by the WSPU to a Con opponent in a working class area which always voted Labour because the men there felt alienated by the WSPU
The arguments against the impact of the WSPU - Failure of P to pass suffrage bill
In 1897, 1904, 1907, and 1911, bills featuring female suffrage had passed their second reading with significant majorities due to increased acceptance by MPs, but following increased militancy the 1912 bill was thrown out 208 to 222 and the 1913 bill by 221 to 268, suggesting that the WSPU had damaged the goodwill built over two decades
