Factors Leading to Women's Suffrage

Factors Leading to Women's Suffrage

I personally think that it was not only the war that got women the

vote, but it was a large factor. An argument against this is that

other issues post war and suffragette activity that gained women the

vote. When war broke out it had a huge impact on Britain economically

and politically. Industry Trade Unions became extremely powerful and a

woman voting was at the bottom of the government’s list of priorities.

During the war, women played a huge part and showed great patriotic

support. In the work place, they replaced men, in shops, factories,

government office and transportation systems like driving because men

were called to the front line, this change had to be made so the

country could function. Women finally had economical and financial

independence due to them working. The dependence on men was decreased

dramatically. Prior to this, traditional men and government used the

excuse that women were weak-minded and to emotional to vote. But their

participation in the war and them working in factories which were not

designed for women, with hard work, long hours, chemicals and heavy

metals, proved them to be capable. This had to be noticed by the

government.

Source H suggests that the war acted as a catalyst for women’s

suffrage. It says people are mistaken about how much the war really

did to gain women the vote. It explains that although newspapers

showed women as ‘warm welcome’ they were resented by the men in the

workplace. This shows that the majority of men’s attitudes had not

changed. By working, women challenged traditional views that women

should be at home. An argument used by thos...

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...S had links

with other countries which already gave women the right to vote, for

example Australia and the USA. Visitors from these countries gave

speeches in Britain explaining why giving women the vote would be

beneficial. For instance, if the gaining of women’s suffrage resulted

in wage increase, then so would men’s.

In conclusion, I think it is all these aspects that earned women the

vote. I believe the war was a catalyst because it altered public

opinions and women gained more support from their country. The

traditional views of most men changed, as they had proved capable of

difficult work, and the introduction of women wearing trousers now

made them more equal to men. The war led to changes in social and

political attitudes but I think it was more than just the war that led

to women getting the vote.