Suffragettes Dbq

The suffragettes went with the motto “Deeds not words”. The suffragettes where seen by some to be the most important factor as they brought the issue to a national audience through the media. The suffragettes participated in many events in which to gain publicity. One example was the suffragettes chained themselves to fences outside parliament, this showed people that the suffragettes where not backing down on their cause and also changed the views of men showing that they were mentally, physicsally and emotionally capable, in a sense it gave the cause a positive view as it did keep the issue in the papers and forcing action to happen. Owever, it was in reality harmful to helping women achieve the vote in 1918 as the militancy caused major issues for the Liberal Government of 1906 – 1914. This is significant as the militancy caused the government to not grant he vote to women as
The First World War could have been seen as the most important factor in achieving female enfranchisement in 1918 due to it acting as a catalyst which sped up the changing attitudes towards women. As it gave women the opportunity to prove that they really were as worthy of having the vote as men. Foremost amongst these was the fall of Asquith as PM. However, the issue would certainly not have been in the forefront of the Government’s mind without the publicity-seeking campaigning of the Suffragettes, immediately prior to the War. It is difficult, however, to consider this to have been the most important factor, due to the very negative image of Suffragettes that prevailed, and the fact that many WSPU members had defected to the NUWSS. The work of the Suffragists together with the changing laws, led to the increasing politicisation of women. So therefore it can be concluded that the militant suffragette campaign cannot be seen as the most significant factor in helping women gain the