German Women's Suffrage Association

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The German Women's Suffrage Association (also known as the German Association for Women's Suffrage ) was founded in 1913 by Anita Augspurg and Lida Gustava Heymann , after the demand for general and equal suffrage for both sexes could not be enforced during a struggle for direction in the German Association for Women's Suffrage . The federal government called for universal and equal suffrage for women. The federation was the smallest and most loosely organized of the three umbrella organizations for women's suffrage.

history

Anita Augspurg
Lida Gustava Heymann
Group picture of the general assembly of the Bavarian State Association for Women's Suffrage in 1912, photo report in the Rhine and Düssel dated October 5, 1912

In 1907, the German Association for Women's Suffrage included the demand for universal and equal suffrage for both sexes in its statutes, which led to a dispute lasting several years. The wording was eventually weakened so that the right to vote was only demanded for women, which should not imply an explicit demand for the abolition of class suffrage .

In a battle vote at the general assembly of the association in 1912, further formulations could not be enforced. Augspurg and Heymann, several hundred other members and two provincial associations (Hamburg and Bavaria) then left the association. A year later, Augspurg and Heymann founded the German Women 's Suffrage Association, which united the clubs that had left and demanded democratic (general and equal) women's suffrage. Minna Cauer , the longtime editor of the magazine Die Frauenbewegung , later joined. There were now three three civic umbrella organizations for women's suffrage (in addition to the Federation and the Association, the German Association for Women's Suffrage ), which Cauer described a year later:

“There is now enough choice so that everyone can choose their field; the conservative, the moderate and the democratic. So now women have to reckon with these three directions of the bourgeois women's suffrage movement in Germany. "

- Minna Cauer 1914 : Zeitschrift für Frauenstimmrecht 8 (1914) 4, p. 11.

In 2018, Kerstin Wolff emphasized that the conflicting opinions in the voting rights movement cannot simply be interpreted with for and against women's suffrage. Rather, they could be explained with tactical considerations and the problem that a partisan issue was dealt with for the first time within the otherwise politically neutral women's movement.

The federal government finally had member associations in Hamburg , Munich , Berlin , Bremen , Nuremberg , Würzburg , Bamberg , Aschaffenburg , Baden-Baden , Bergedorf, Darmstadt , Frankfurt am Main , Konstanz and Lahr. The Hamburg association was the largest association with 850 members; in 1917 there were still 500. The association was also registered in Hamburg. One wanted to avoid bureaucracy and therefore designed a loose alliance. There was no board, just a secretary. Heymann took on this task. In fact, the Bund was led from Munich by Augspurg and Heymann, who strictly represented universal suffrage for both sexes.

The organ of the association were the announcements of the German Women's Suffrage Association, which appeared in Hamburg, but were limited to association news. For content presentations, the federal government used the magazine Die Frauenbewegung, published by Cauer, with its supplement magazine for women's voting rights .

At a suggestion by Augspurg and Heymann, the German Association for Women's Suffrage , the German Association for Women's Suffrage and the German Association for Women's Suffrage agreed a cartel in 1914 with the aim of showing a "closed front" to the outside world. The cartel was supposed to facilitate cooperation in demonstrations, petitions and representation in the International Women Suffrage Alliance . The common denominator was the demand for women's suffrage, details of how this right to vote were not given. In 1916 the cartel was abandoned. Instead, the German Association for Women's Suffrage and the German Association for Women's Suffrage, led by Marie Stritt, merged to form the German Reich Association for Women's Suffrage .

In 1914 the Women's Suffrage Association had around 2,000 members, whereas the Women's Suffrage Association had 9,000 and the Women's Suffrage Association 3,000 members.

After the outbreak of the First World War , Augspurg and Heymann were strongly committed to an international women's initiative to end the world war. In the local groups of the voting rights federation, the couple organized meetings on pacifist topics, which led to several withdrawals. Since the congress of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Berlin, originally planned for June 1915, was canceled shortly after the outbreak of war, the couple organized an international women’s conference in 1915 together with the Dutch woman Aletta Jakobs , the Hungarian woman Rosika Schwimmer and the American woman Jane Addams , who later won the Nobel Peace Prize the war in The Hague . The conference, which was attended by more than 1,000 women from twelve countries, established the International Women's Committee for Lasting Peace , the predecessor organization of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). After the conference, the German participants were regarded as traitors to the fatherland and the Munich branch of the Women's Suffrage Association as a pacifist cover organization. She was watched accordingly. Assembly and travel bans were issued, telephone calls were monitored and letters were censored. Nevertheless, Hemann and Augspurg were able to hold illegal meetings disguised as private tea hours in their living room for some time. The focus of the actions was now pacifist, no longer women's suffrage.

After the emperor left out women in his Easter message in 1917 when announcing a revised suffrage, the women's organizations joined forces in joint campaigns. After a first joint meeting of the BDF, voting rights associations - including the voting rights association - and SPD women on women's suffrage on April 22, 1918, a deputation from the assembly moved to the Prussian House of Representatives to put forward the demands again. On October 2, the Prussian mansion passed the same vote for men to the exclusion of women. As a result, on October 25, women from all important political women's organizations signed a letter to Reich Chancellor Max von Baden , urging an audience because of the introduction of women's suffrage. Anita Augspurg signed for the German Women's Suffrage Association. The conversation didn't come off.

On November 12th, the Council of People's Deputies proclaimed the same, secret, direct, universal suffrage for all men and women who were at least 20 years old.

See also

literature

  • Richard J. Evans: The feminist movement in Germany 1894-1933 (=  Sage studies in 20th century history . Volume 6 ). Sage Publications, London 1976, ISBN 0-8039-9951-8 (English).
  • Barbara Greven-Aschoff: The bourgeois women's movement in Germany 1894-1933 (=  critical studies on historical science . Volume 46 ). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1981, ISBN 3-525-35704-4 , urn : nbn: de: bvb: 12-bsb00052495-9 .
  • Ulla Wischermann: Women's movements and publics around 1900. Networks - counter-publics - protest stagings (=  Frankfurt Feminist Texts / Social Sciences . Volume 4 ). Helmer, Königstein 2003, ISBN 3-89741-121-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Greven-Aschoff 1986, pp. 137-140.
  2. ↑ Evans 1976, pp. 104-105.
  3. ↑ Wischermann 2003, p. 114.
  4. ↑ Susanne Kinnebrock: Anita Augspurg (1857-1943). Feminist and pacifist between journalism and politics. A communication- historical biography (=  women in history and society . Volume 39 ). Centaurus, Herbolzheim 2005, ISBN 3-8255-0393-3 , p. 353 .
  5. ↑ quoted from Wolff 2018, p. 51.
  6. ↑ Wolff 2018, p. 53.
  7. ↑ Evans 1976, p. 105.
  8. ↑ Wischermann 2003, pp. 113–114.
  9. ↑ Wischermann 2003, p. 114.
  10. ↑ Kinnebrock 2005, p. 354.
  11. ↑ Greven-Aschoff 1986, p. 140.
  12. ↑ Evans 1976, pp. 106-107.
  13. ↑ Evans 1976, p. 107.
  14. ^ Christiane Henke: Anita Augspurg . Rowohlt, Reinbek 2000, ISBN 3-499-50423-5 , pp. 97-104 .
  15. ↑ a b c Ulrike Ley: On the one hand and on the other hand - the dilemma of liberal women's rights activists in politics. Regarding the conditions of political participation of women in the German Empire (=  Forum Politics & Gender Relations . No. 1 ). Centaurus, Pfaffenweiler 1999, ISBN 3-8255-0229-5 , p. 126-133 .