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Women's Failure to Gain the Right to Vote between 1900 and 1914

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Women's Failure to Gain the Right to Vote between 1900 and 1914

In the years leading up to the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, women's suffrage was never far from the headlines due to the constant bombardment of publicity stunts pulled by Emmeline Pankhurst and her Suffragettes. Using all within their power to gain attention, the Suffragettes believed in using direct persuasion, and if necessary, violent protest to remain in the public eye, pulling stunts from chaining themselves to the railings of the houses of specific members of Parliament to smashing the shop windows on Oxford Street.

At the other end of the spectrum were the Suffragists, who based their campaign entirely on their …show more content…

It was in 1905 when the first, most publicly known violent act undertaken by the Suffragettes came about. Christabel Pankhurst and her second in command, Annie Kenney were arrested after interrupting a large political meeting taking place in Manchester. When the two refused to pay fines, they were then imprisoned, which Christable used the publicity of her trial greatly to her advantage, gaining both support and sympathy. When raids on Parliament took place in 1906, then when another Women's Suffrage Bill was blocked and ignored, further raids occurred in 1908, including the heckling of MP's and the chaining of Suffragettes to railings, this was the pivotal point when people began to lose respect for them.

The Suffragettes believed that all publicity was good publicity and sustained that they should gain the attention of the people by any means possible, including the use of violence. They assumed that by never failing to reach the newspapers their campaign would remain a constant figure in the lives of everyday people and that there would be a greater support for their cause.

When, in 1910, Black Friday took place, this led the Suffragettes to become even more violent, turning to arson and destroying property. At the height of their violence in 1913, including the saga of the 'Cat and Mouse Act', and the establishment

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