To What Extent Did War Work The Main Reason Why Women Get The Vote In 1918

National 5 History Assignment
To what extent was war work the main reason why women gained the vote in 1918?
In 1918, the Representation of the People Act was passed. This allowed all women over 30 who owned their own property, were married to a proper owner or were graduates to vote. However, it took over 52 years for this law to be passed since campaigns for women’s suffrage first began to appear in 1866. It was not until after the war that men began to see women as equals, making war work the main reason why women gained the vote in 1918. However, this cannot been seen as the only reason why women gained the vote as there were other contributing factors. The Suffragists and the Suffragettes also helped get women get the vote in 1918.

The Suffragists used peaceful tactics in order to help women gain the vote, as Fawcett said “I never felt that setting fire to churches and litter boxes and destroying valuable pictures really helps to convince people that women out to be enfranchised”. She believed that if the organisation was seen to be law-abiding and well-mannered, then women would prove that they were responsible enough to have the vote. Fawcett said “I never felt that setting fire to churches and litter boxes and destroying valuable pictures really helps to convince people that women out to be enfranchised”. Through leaflet, letters, speeches and marches, the Suffragists gained over 53,000 members by 1914, including men. They managed to gain the support of various MP’s including Henry Campbell-Bannerman, who was the Prime Minister between 1906 and 1908, and also formed an alliance with the Labour Party, which put pressure on the Liberals to support their campaign. There peaceful methods convinced them and many others that they deserved the right to vote. However, despite persuading MPs to but bills before parliament, they were always rejected before WW1. This is due to the fact that they were too easily ignored by the government to make much impact as they needed the publicity from the Suffragettes. Ultimately, despite all their efforts to gain the vote, it was not until the war that women

This is because they proved themselves as equal and worthy as men and that they were capable of doing all that men could. The Suffragists were not a vital factor in women gaining the vote as on one hand, their peaceful methods showed they were capable and deserved the right to vote; but on the other hand, they did not progress in their campaign and were too easily ignored by the government. The Suffragettes were also a minor factor in women getting the vote as even though their violent tactics gained their cause lots of publicity, they were seen as reckless and irresponsible to the government and by 1914 their campaign had died out. Despite the fact that the Suffragists and the Suffragettes has been continuously fighting for the vote, these two factors were not crucial factory that help women get the vote as neither suffrage movement achieved what they had aimed for by 1914. Instead it was women’s work during the war that resulted in the passing of the Representation of the People Act, making war work the main reason why women gained the vote in