Era of the Great War - The Suffragists

1. Era of the
Great War
The
Suffragists

2. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The National Union of
Women’s Suffrage
Societies was formed in
1897. It was a merger of
groups that had been
campaigning for the vote
since the 1860s.
Better known as the
Suffragists, they were
led by Millicent Fawcett.

3. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The Suffragists used a
variety of peaceful
campaign methods to
win backing for their
campaign.
They produced leaflets
and newspapers, took
part in marches, started
petitions and spoke
directly to MPs.

4. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Scottish suffragists also
campaigned, including a
huge march in Edinburgh
in 1909.
Public meetings were
also organised around
Scotland, helping
promote the campaign
and attract new
members too.

5. Women’s suffrage campaigns
The Suffragists were
involved in party
political actions too.
They supported the
Labour Party’s ‘Votes for
all’ campaign, and also
helped campaign against
MPs that were opposed
to giving women the
right to vote.

6. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Many people believe the
Suffragists were
important in women
getting the right to vote.
By using various peaceful
methods this helped
prove that women were
responsible, so
encouraging MPs to let
them vote.

7. Women’s suffrage campaigns
They were also
influential because
speaking directly to MPs
let women’s voices be
heard in Parliament.
In addition, by working
with the Labour Party
they put pressure on the
Liberals to listen, again
making them important.

8. Women’s suffrage campaigns
However some people
criticise the Suffragists’
actions and think they
were not important in
women getting to vote.
It is argued that peaceful
methods were easy for
the government to
ignore, so they were not
influential.

9. Women’s suffrage campaigns
Also, many women were
tired of the time it was
taken for them to get the
right to vote.
Suffragist groups had
campaigned peacefully
since the 1860s without
success – so some
women wanted to take
more direct action.