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What methods did the suffragettes use, and how effective were these in gaining the vote for women?
end of the nineteenth century, with branches all over Britain from Inverness to Plymouth, and Norwich to Londonderry. In 1910 the membership stood at 21,571, and just before the outbreak of war there were 400 societies in England, Scotland and Wales. However, the suffragists faced new challenges in the form of the Women’s Social and Political Union, otherwise known as the ‘suffragettes’.
The WSPU was established in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst, who had previously been active in suffrage campaigns. The organisation was set up in her home in Manchester, and the decision to form a new association was prompted by dissatisfaction with the Labour Party and the NUWSS who were seen to be too cautious. It was not until the January of 1906 that the WSPU were labelled the suffragettes, when the Daily Mail coined the word, and it stuck. From this time on the female suffrage movement was to be dominated by these two main groups, the suffragists of the NUWSS and the suffragettes of the WSPU. The WSPU was seen as considerably less democratic than its rival the NUWSS. From 1906 policies were decided by an unelected Central Committee, consisting of Sylvia Pankhurst, Emmeline Pethick Lawrence and Annie Kenney. This committee was assisted by a sub-committee which consisted of family and friends. Members did not take part in decision making but were informed of new policies and strategies. The leadership controlled their own publications, appointments to paid positions and finances, making it difficult for members to oppose them. As time went on the WSPU were to become increasingly less democratic, as action needed to be taken, and as these actions became more militant. In 1909 there were at least eleven regional offices covering the country. Men were not allowed to join the organisation and the suffragettes continually affirmed women’s independence from the opposite sex. By 1913 the WSPU was unwilling to cooperate with men or organisations such as the NUWSS
which had male associates. The NUWSS and WSPU were now rivals in the campaign for women’s suffrage, and two very different approaches began to emerge. The
NUWSS concentrated on internal politics and democracy, whereas the WSPU, spent little time discussing policy, as demonstrated by Emmeline Pankhursts “Deeds not words” approach to campaigning.
With one organisation, the WSPU, forming largely due to the dissatisfaction of the others progress, the NUWSS, it is certain that the way in which the associations approach the cause of female suffrage will be different. This choice in using different methods, will be further favoured through rivalry between the two societies. By looking at the tactics used by the suffragists, we can try to understand why the suffragettes employed the methods that they did. A measure of the effectiveness of each groups individual style can be made by looking at the successes and failures resulting from [next page]