What Are The Significant Improvements Made To British Society Between 1886-1914

In this essay, I will be discussing whether there were significant improvements made to British society between 1886-1914. I will be doing this by assessing key events and movements such as women’s suffrage and the trade union movement. In my opinion,
Between 1886-1914, the British economy was declining due to foreign competition and the ‘Great Depression’. This economic decline is shown by the massive increase in unemployment rates. For example, in 1873, unemployment was a mere 1% whereas by 1892 it had reached 10.2%. High unemployment causes loss of financial earnings to the individual unemployed and is one of the biggest causes of poverty. This suggests British society wasn’t improving as there was still many people unemployed in Britain.
Towards the end of the 19th century, women could still not vote in general elections, nor become MP’s. Many men of all classes believed that women were the inferior sex and that it was wrong for women to be involved in politics, regardless of a woman’s education and academic abilities. It was these attitudes towards women’s rights that influenced groups such as the suffragettes and suffragists. There were many differences between the suffragettes and suffragists whereas they both shared the same goal; to achieve women’s suffrage in National Elections. However, unlike the suffragists, the suffragettes preferred to take militant action to gain publicity. It was the WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union), founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903, whose militant actions reflect what society was like between 1886-1914. Members of the WSPU would campaign at by-elections, disrupt political meetings and threaten public order by committing offenses such as breaking windows and chaining to railings. It was these actions which resulted in many women being arrested and sentenced to serve time in prison. It was in prison where many suffragettes would starve themselves; resulting in them being force fed by officers. This suggests that there weren’t significant improvements made to British society as for much of 1886-1914, women were being held down and brutally force fed against their will and continued to be unrepresented in society. In addition, the government introduced the Cat and Mouse Act in 1913 which allowed women to be released from prison if they became too weak due to a hunger strike. Despite this suggesting that the government were willing to improve the lives of the suffragettes, the act allowed women to be rearrested once they had regained strength. This suggests that there weren’t significant improvements made to British