Women's Right to Vote due to Their Contribution to the War Effort

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Women's Right to Vote due to Their Contribution to the War Effort In 1918 a major milestone was reached in the fight for women's equality rights, this was women being granted suffrage by the government. During the physical endurance of the four years of the war, women proving themselves equal to men, they were rewarded the vote. The Electoral Reform bill was passed which granted voting rights to all female property owners over 30. Some historians say women were never given the vote; it was hard fought for and won. Many historians believe the war to be a turning point because not only did it seal women's victory over the government it secured their status in society as an equivalent to men. Women's emancipation came in three stages: the first was the long campaign of propaganda and organisation led by the dame Millicent Fawcett, the second was militant campaign of the suffragettes, and the third was the war. Had there been no war, the emancipation would have come, although more slowly. Therefore the war was not the most significant factor which led to the franchise. Other factors were far more important, such as the suffrage movement and other reasons. Thus the war was a catalyst in which eventually the government was forced to give women the vote. The suffrage movement was far more superior in gaining the vote for women because it led the way for the emancipation. In the 1900's the philosophy of separate spheres was so strong it dictated how women were treated. Women were seen as the underlings, the inferior sex in society. Their domestic sphere was a cultural expression of the female world a way of living. The overall role and ... ... middle of paper ... ... faithful preparations of the ground over, many years and the militant campaigners revolutionising the stereotyped image of women, the war alone would not have produced the crop.. The suffrage movement was a combination of the peaceful methods of the suffragists and the militant methods of the suffragettes. Without one another the full effects would not have been gained. The suffragists produced the foundation in which the suffragettes built upon using modernised and radical methods. Without the militancy the suffrage would have been simply ignored, also if there was no foundation the suffrage would not have begun in the first place. Whist there was a common enemy women and men united in Britain's hour of need. 1916 Glasgow Herald 'If victory was to be won men could not afford to hem women with the old restrictions.'

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