Women's suffrage in Northern Europe

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Fredrika Bremer, initiator of the Swedish women's movement. Painting by Johan Gustaf Sandberg (1843)

The women's suffrage in Northern Europe was introduced earlier than in other European countries and had a pioneering role. Active and passive voting rights for women in Finland were passed by parliament on May 28, 1906 and proclaimed on June 20, 1906. This made Finland the first country in the world to give women the full right to vote and stand for election, but at that time it was still under Russia and was not an independent state. Sweden was the first country in Europe to give women local voting rights, but it was one of the last to introduce women’s right to vote at national level: widows and unmarried women who had paid taxes have been allowed to vote in Sweden at local and provincial levels since Elect 1862. The introduction of women's suffrage at the national level did not come into force until January 26, 1921. Developments in Great Britain were even slower: full equality with men in terms of active and passive suffrage was only achieved on July 2, 1928. As the fifth country in the world after New Zealand , Australia , Finland and Norway , Denmark and Iceland included women's suffrage in the constitution in 1915 . A connection can be shown in some states between efforts to introduce women's suffrage and national tendencies, religious movements, the establishment of women's organizations and other factors.

Investigation of possible influencing factors on the political representation of women

Structural similarities of the Northern European countries as a background for comparable developments

The fact that Scandinavia pioneered the introduction of women's suffrage in Europe also has to do with structural similarities between the states. The population in Sweden, Finland and Norway was predominantly characterized by agriculture. Nationalism was the predominant political trend. Sweden and Denmark were independent states in the 19th century, but Norway, Finland and Iceland were ruled by foreign powers. The national freedom, which led to the struggle for independence, was combined with the desire for personal freedom, which found expression in the desire for women's suffrage. In Scandinavia there was general opposition to anything new. Women enjoyed a relatively large amount of freedom, for example when it came to paid work outside the home. But the culture, paradoxically, required women to be subordinate to their male relatives.

Literary feminism

Camilla Collett, writer and first Norwegian women's rights activist

Literature contributed more to the women's movement in Scandinavia than in any other region. People like the Swedish author Fredrika Bremer or the first Norwegian women's rights activist Camilla Collett made the situation of women an issue and led to the establishment of women's associations, for example in Denmark in 1871 and in Norway and Sweden in 1885.

education

An almost complete literacy of women around 1900 was essential for the progress of the movement to introduce women's suffrage in Finland. While in Finland the women's movement played a major role in the education of women, this cannot be said of the Norwegian women's movement.

nationalism

Women's rights activists in Helsinki around 1900

Nationalism was more important than feminism in establishing women's suffrage. Women embodied national values, and the inclusion of women in the electoral circle supported national ideals. Hence, the introduction was not a radical, but a conservative act. Only about 12 percent of Finland's population spoke Swedish at the end of the 19th century, but it was the upper class and Swedish was the official language. In 1863 a decree was published stipulating that equality between Swedish and Finnish should be achieved within 20 years. Women played a special role in this process because of their importance for the school system. Inspired by John Stuart Mill's book The Slavery of Women , a group of women around Alexandra Gripenberg founded the Suomen Naisyhdistys (Finnish Women's Association), the first Finnish women's organization, in May 1884 . In 1892 Lucina Hagman founded the Union of Women's Societies , in which men could also become members. This group was more radial than the Suomen Naisyhdistys: they shared the attitude of the Young Finnish Party , which wanted Finland to be completely independent from Russia. Women's suffrage in Finland was one of several goals and subordinate to the pursuit of freedom from Russia. In Finland, as in India , nationalism and the development of democracy went hand in hand: women were actively involved in the resistance at all levels. Women's suffrage was enforced in a general strike in 1905.

Nationalism also played an important role in Norway. In 1814, as a result of the Napoleonic Wars , the country came under Swedish rule from Danish suzerainty, which was rejected by the population. Women and men fought together for a Norwegian parliament, and eventually one was founded, albeit under Swedish control. However, only about 8 percent of the population were allowed to vote. A hard-won constitutional amendment in 1884 resulted in the extension of male suffrage. The women's rights activist Gina Krog founded several associations with the aim of getting women to the polls.

In Iceland, the Danish king, who ruled the country, blocked two laws on women's suffrage that had been passed by the Icelandic Althing . Here, too, the issues of nationalism and women's suffrage were interwoven. The struggle was initially aimed at internal self-government which reached Iceland in 1874, but it was still under Danish surveillance, for which the Danish government had its own minister. This led to numerous conflicts in the 1880s and 1890s. It was not until 1903 that an Icelandic government with its own ministry in Reykjavik was granted.

Deviating from this line, there was no mixing of the issues of national independence and women's suffrage in Sweden. But the arguments of the women's suffrage organization for the introduction of the right to vote evoked links to nationalism in the image of the good mother and the good house : All citizens should be equal before the law and the traditional role of women as mothers has given them the skills they need should bring into the political sphere.

Reward for supporting the independence movement

In both Norway and Finland, women's suffrage was seen as a reward for supporting the independence movements. The introduction should also ensure that women continue to be patriots.

Support democracy

In Sweden, as in the Netherlands, the introduction of women's suffrage was not a revolutionary or even radical act; on the contrary, it was the result of the realization that women's suffrage would help stabilize democracy and strengthen the bulwark against revolutionary aspirations.

Class of population

Support for women's suffrage in Finland was stronger in rural areas than in cities. Possibly this was due to the fact that the peasant population considered the right to vote for women as a measure which corresponded to their conservative attitude and were not afraid of a possible revolutionary potential among the women voters. The Finnish-speaking population was more easily won over to women's suffrage than the Swedish-speaking upper class.

Religious Factors and the Abstinence Movement

The historian Irma Sulkunen emphasizes the influence of religious revival movements , in which mainly women were active in Finland, on the early attainment of women's suffrage. They had their heyday at the end of the 19th century and had close ties to the Finnish Party , which represented the ideal of an agrarian society.

In Norway, a women's movement emerged in the 1880s that was close to the Radical Liberals (Moderate Venstre). They sought the separation from Sweden and campaigned for abstinence , high morals and women's suffrage. Activists like Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson roamed the country, denouncing the double standard of sexuality and advocating a sexual standard that should apply equally to both sexes.

In Iceland, too, the abstinence movement played a role in the introduction of women's suffrage.

Economic factors and party politics

In Norway, foreign capital flowed into the country primarily from Sweden and France to finance industrial expansion. In 1906 three quarters of the hydropower plants belonged to foreign groups. With a legislative initiative, the Radical Liberals (Moderate Venstre) and the Socialists, who had the majority in Storting, wanted to protect natural resources by restricting the granting of concessions for industrial developments. Since they wanted to involve women in this project, they were inclined to vote for women.

Women's organizations

Women's organizations were mostly founded at a time when women's suffrage was becoming an issue. They were instrumental in ensuring that women's suffrage came onto the political agenda and was eventually introduced. Similarities can be found here with the development of the women's suffrage campaign in Great Britain, which argued that women's suffrage is not only worth striving for for its own sake, but that it is also a gain for politics as a whole.

For example, the Icelandic women's rights activist Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir founded the country's first women's electoral law organization, Kvenréttindafélag Íslands, in 1907 .

In Sweden, the founding of the Association for Women's Political Franchise in Stockholm and Gothenburg in 1902 coincided with a heated mood over the electoral reform promoted by the Liberal Union. This women's organization merged in 1903 with the newly established Landsföreningen för kvinnans politiska rösträtt , (LKPR) (National Association for Women's Suffrage).

Geographical peripheral location

The penetration of women's suffrage into Europe began on the geographical fringes, namely in Finland. This phenomenon of movement from the edges to the center is also found in Oceania or the western United States. The historian Rochelle Ruthchild pointed out the importance of the Russian Empire for the early history of women's suffrage, although Finland was on the edge of this empire; In 1906 Finland pioneered the question of women's suffrage for both Scandinavia and Europe and served as a model for post-revolutionary Russia. Russia was the first great power to grant women the right to vote.

Individual states

Denmark

Pauline Matilde Theodora Bajer, Danish women's rights activist and activist, founder of the Danish women's organization, around 1890

In 1871 Matilde Bajer , a very active women's rights activist and pacifist, and her husband Fredrik Bajer founded the Danish Women's League . Both were influenced by a Danish translation of John Stuart Mill's book The Bondage of Women . The organization split on the question of sexual morality: A group around Elisabeth Grundtvig advocated state regulation of prostitution , in line with the thinking of Josephine Butler , as it wanted to oblige men to pursue the ideal of sexual abstinence as well as women. Opposite them was the group around the literary critic and writer Georg Brandes , who had translated The Slavery of Women and was of the opinion that women should enjoy the same sexual freedom as men. Fredrik Bajer retired from active life in the organization when he took up a parliamentary mandate, but continued to support women's concerns. In 1880 he helped to ensure that the economic independence of the Danish women was protected by law. In 1886 he enacted a law on restricted women's suffrage, which would give women in Copenhagen who paid taxes the right to vote locally. It can be seen as a sign of Danish conservatism that the voting rights for married women in the draft met with criticism and the proposal failed even before the last reading. Bajer reformulated the draft so that it only affected widows and unmarried women. The House of Commons approved it, but the Conservative House of Lords did not even allow it to be debated, as it was not in the interests of women or society.

In the following decade, legislative initiatives for the introduction of local suffrage for the whole of Denmark were started and failed. The counter-argument was the claim that marriage was not to be turned into a political battlefield and that the existing division of labor between the sexes was to be maintained: women were assigned the domestic world, men should act in public.

Line Luplau from Jutland started a petition in support of Bajer's proposed law on local women's suffrage and collected 20,000 signatures. This aroused astonishment in Parliament, as it was believed that women's suffrage was a matter for urban intellectuals. The realization that women in rural areas stood up for political rights was new to parliamentarians. In 1889 Line Luplau founded the Danish women's suffrage organization Kvindevalgretsforeningen (KVF) with Louise Nørlund and was its chairwoman from 1889 to 1891. Its members approached politicians on the issue of women's suffrage, and they were usually glad to be heard at election meetings. However, they were not allowed to perform in some cities.

As in Great Britain, a misogynist electoral law that did not even mention women woke people up in Denmark. Since the women's suffrage organization Kvindevalgretsforeningen could not bring themselves to protest, the more radical members founded the Danish Women's Suffrage Society . This too was too tame for the radical wing, which led to the founding of the left-wing National League for women's suffrage , which campaigned for unrestricted women's suffrage. These two organizations gained influence in the first decade of the 20th century and by 1910 already had 23,000 members.

The 1908 reform of local electoral law is largely due to the influence of these organizations. All women and men over 25 with an impeccable reputation were given the active and passive right to vote in municipal and city council elections for the place where they had lived in the election year and the previous year and where they or their spouses had paid taxes. This clause was inserted by Conservatives to prevent migrant workers from voting. In the first local election of 1909 under the new law, only about 1% of the elected were women.

In 1912 there was a bill providing universal suffrage for women and men over the age of 28 at the national level, but it was blocked by the Conservatives, who had a majority in the House of Lords. However, when they suffered a defeat in the 1914 elections, the way was clear: Denmark and Iceland included women's suffrage in the constitution in 1915 as the fifth country in the world after New Zealand , Australia , Finland and Norway . The introduction of universal suffrage for everyone over 29 years of age at national level was decided on June 5, 1915, but only came into effect after the First World War in 1918.

On April 22, 1918 were the first women seats in the national parliament: Four female MPs were henceforth in the Folketing .

Estonia

When Estonia gained independence in 1918, the constituent assembly's electoral law of November 24, 1918 granted women and men the right to vote and stand for election. The Constitution of 1920 confirmed this right. Women also had the right to vote under Soviet administration. With the renewed independence the universal suffrage was confirmed.

Universal suffrage for men was introduced at the same time as that for women.

In April 1919 women were elected to the national parliament for the first time. There were seven women parliamentarians in this legislative period. Prior to that, during the independence process, two women were members of the constituent assembly. During the period of Soviet administration, Estonian women were also elected to the Estonian Supreme Soviet , which was the first legislative body after the country's independence was restored on August 20, 1991.

Finland

Alexandra Gripenberg, one of Finland's first female MPs

Finland was the first country in the world to give women the full right to vote and stand for election, but at that time it was still under Russia, so it was not an independent state.

In 1905, Tsar Nicholas II commissioned the Finnish Senate to draft a new law that would provide universal suffrage for men. The committee gave in to pressure from women about street protests and the social democratic stance, and included women's suffrage in the law. On May 28, 1906, the Finnish nationalists voted together with the Social Democrats in parliament. On July 20, 1906, Nicholas II ratified the law, which also introduced the right to active and passive women's suffrage. This allowed women to vote for the first time in Europe in 1907. Finland gained independence in 1917.

In the first parliamentary election in Finland on March 15 and 16, 1907, 19 women were elected, including Lucina Hagman and Alexandra Gripenberg . The first meeting took place on May 23, 1907.

Great Britain

In local elections, women had the right to vote from 1869, and from 1907 to vote. According to Martin, this right was restricted to women who paid taxes and was only valid in certain parts of the country.

On February 2, 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave women limited voting rights: the minimum voting age for women was 30. Women were also only allowed to vote if they were single or their husbands paid at least five pounds sterling per year in taxes, female householders or Were university graduates. The age limit was introduced to avoid a numerical balance between women and men. For men, on the other hand, from 1921 there was universal suffrage from the age of 21. For men who had been in military service and who met certain requirements for length of stay on land and property, the limit was 19 years. Full equality with men in terms of the right to vote and stand for election was achieved on July 2, 1928.

Countess Constance Markiewicz was elected to the national parliament on December 14, 1918 as the first woman . Because of her emotional attachment to Ireland's independence, she refused to take her seat in the House of Commons. The first woman to actually sit in the House of Commons was Nancy Astor , elected on November 28, 1919, who took office three days after the election.

Ireland

On June 2, 1918, women over 33 were given the right to vote, men were allowed to vote from the age of 21. After the Irish War of Independence , women between the ages of 21 and 30 in the Republic of Ireland were given the right to vote and stand for election on the same basis as men in recognition of their war service. This allowed women and men to vote using the same criteria.

In Northern Ireland, however, as in the rest of Great Britain, equality between men and women in terms of the right to vote was not established until July 2, 1928.

Tras Honan was the first woman to be elected to the national parliament in August 1977 .

Iceland

Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason, the first female MP in the Icelandic Althing

At the end of the 19th century, Iceland was inhabited by farmers and fishermen and was under the Danish crown. Women, especially widows, often ran farms and were often solely responsible for maintaining the family. In the country, a woman could count almost as much as a man if she took on his role. In 1881 the Althing passed unanimously a law that gave women over 25 the right to vote in local elections if they were unmarried or widowed and headed a farm or household and thus supported a family. But the Danish king blocked the law. In 1888, a parliamentary resolution giving women the right to local elections suffered the same fate, but both bills became law after some time.

In times of great change, feminist issues gained in importance: the fishing industry was modernized, Reykjavik changed a lot and there were political conflicts with Denmark aimed at Iceland's independence.

In 1882 women had limited voting rights when they participated in local elections. In 1882, the king agreed to change the restrictions so that widows and other unmarried women who headed a farm household or otherwise ran an independent household were given the right to vote and stand for election in local elections.

The women's rights activist Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir founded the country's first women's electoral organization Kvenréttindafélag Íslands in 1907 and rode from place to place for two months to set up branches there and to publicize the topic.

In 1908 it was decided that married women would be equal to men in the right to vote in local elections. For the city council election in Reykjavik in 1908 there was an all-women nomination list with four names on it. This list received the most votes with 22 percent and all four women were elected to the city council, which had 15 members.

Nationalists pushed for universal male suffrage and feminists used, as is often the case with such constellations, the debate to promote their cause. Almost a quarter of the population signed for the introduction of women's suffrage.

In 1911, the Althing decided to give women equal rights in bringing up children and access to higher professions. At the same meeting, the right to vote was granted to all women and men who had previously been withheld. The aim was for everyone to be able to vote in the elections scheduled for 1913. In the debates it was not the admission of women to vote that was the issue, but the right to vote for servants of both sexes: Here, gender was a less important category than social class. In the end servants were admitted, only those who lived on poor relief were excluded. However, relations with Denmark had deteriorated and Denmark objected to the formulation of certain passages of the law that did not concern electoral reform. When the law was then discussed again in the Althing, the parliamentary majority increased the active and passive voting age for women and servants to 40. This age limit should decrease by one year annually until 25 years would be reached. This law was then ratified by the Danish King on June 19, 1915. As in certain other countries, the introduction of women's suffrage in Iceland did not cause any violent reactions.

On August 5, 1916, Iceland's women were able to vote for the first time at the national level in the elections for the Althing . Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir was elected as the first and only woman in these elections, but only as a substitute parliamentarian; she could never take office. In 1926 she again applied unsuccessfully for a seat in the Icelandic parliament.

In 1920 universal suffrage for people aged 25 and over was introduced. After a referendum in 1918, Iceland made itself almost completely independent with the union treaty with Denmark.

The first election of a woman to the national parliament took place on July 8, 1922. The rector Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason from Reykjavik was elected. She was the only woman to win from among those on the women's nomination list. In the early years of women's suffrage in Iceland, such low approval was the norm. Bjarnason soon switched to the Conservative Party because she was not convinced of the advantages of women-only representation. This led to disappointment among their voters. In Great Britain and the USA, too, voters were not convinced by all-women lists, so that the women's suffrage movement did not result in a successful push towards the political influence of women.

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man is an autonomous crown possession ( English crown dependency ) directly subordinate to the British crown , but neither part of the United Kingdom nor British overseas territory .

The Isle of Man was the first place in the world where women could vote on a national level, but not all women: In 1881 the Isle of Man adopted universal suffrage for women and men in the Isle of Man's lower house , but the necessary royal consent was given Granted only for voting rights for single women and for widows who own real estate. In 1892 the right to vote was extended to women who had leased land, and in 1918 to women with graduates over 30. In 1919 the general active and passive right to vote for women was introduced.

As of the 2016 House of Keys elections and the 2018 Legislative Council elections, Parliament had a total of only 12 women MPs.

Latvia

On November 18, 1918, the Independent Democratic Republic of Latvia was proclaimed by the Council of the People . The Council of the People approved the Law on Elections to the Constituent Assembly and the Law on Civil Rights , which provided that a constituent assembly was to be elected by general, equal, direct, secret ballot. Citizens over 21 who lived in Latvia had the right to vote and stand for election. Similar regulations have been adopted for local elections. Because of the First World War, the elections for the Constituent Assembly could only be held on April 17 and 18, 1920. Latvia therefore introduced universal suffrage for women and men at the same time. Women were also allowed to vote under Soviet administration, and this right was confirmed when independence was restored in 1990.

On 17./18. April women were elected to the national parliament for the first time. Four women received mandates. According to the IPU, the first female MPs were five women in the Constituent Assembly. In 1990 women were elected to the Supreme Council of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Latvia, which became the first legislative assembly of Latvia when the restoration of independence came into effect on August 21, 1991.

Lithuania

The temporary constitution of November 1918 granted all Lithuanians, regardless of wealth, the right to vote and stand for election in parliamentary elections. On November 20, 1919, the electoral law was passed by the constituent parliament. From 1919 onwards, Lithuanian women could vote and be elected under the same conditions as men. This right was applied for the first time in the first constituent parliamentary election of 1920.

Under Soviet administration, women also had the right to vote and stand for election. These rights were confirmed upon independence.

In 1990, women were elected to the national parliament for the first time after independence. They received 14 out of 173 seats. These women were elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Lithuania, which became the first legislative assembly in Lithuania after the country's independence on September 6, 1991.

In 1920 a woman had already been appointed to parliament without an election.

Norway

Gina Krog, Norwegian suffragette (1880s)

Women were allowed to vote in regional elections as early as 1901. The prerequisite, however, was that they owned land or were married to landowners.

In 1890 the Radical Liberals (Moderate Venstre) introduced a legislative initiative in Storting that provided for universal suffrage. The proposal was rejected by 44 votes to 114. Another attempt in 1893 achieved a majority, but not the two-thirds majority necessary for a constitutional amendment . In 1901 Gina Krog's women's suffrage organization succeeded in motivating the Radical Liberals to initiate a law for local women's suffrage. This proposal only envisaged restrictions on age and place of residence for the right to vote for men, but additional restrictions for the right to vote for women: Only wealthy women or women who were married to wealthy men should be able to vote. At this point in time, even the Høyre Conservative Party was already advocating women's suffrage, which was restricted to wealthy women, in order to counterbalance the additional votes of the workers resulting from universal male suffrage. So the proposal was by no means radical.

On June 7, 1905, Norway unilaterally declared independence from Sweden in a peaceful revolution. Sweden objected that it was a parliamentary act that the Norwegian people did not support; a referendum is needed. Women urged parliament to allow them to vote. But even though women were very involved in the nationalist movement, they received nothing. The Kvinnestemmerettsforeningen (Association for Women's Suffrage) (KSF) presented a statement of support signed by 300,000 women, almost all of the country's adult female population. In 1905 the constitutional crisis ended with concessions from both sides.

In the 1906 election, women advocates supported the radicals, and a radical victory in 1907 meant that those women who already had regional suffrage were given that right at the national level. In 1913 all restrictions were lifted. The women whose husbands had the right to vote were also allowed to vote. The Social Democrats and Liberals had initially voted for universal women's suffrage, but this proposal failed to find a majority. For tactical reasons, the Social Democrats finally voted in favor of restricted women's suffrage, even though their own women supporters missed out on the new law.

Most wealthy middle-class women now turned their backs on the struggle for women's suffrage. In 1909, in the first election under the new law, the conservatives who opposed the expansion of the right to vote came back to power. Nevertheless, universal suffrage for men and women was introduced at the local level in 1910. In 2012 there was again a majority for the Radical Liberals and in 1913 all women over 25 were given the right to vote, regardless of criteria other than residence.

On 17 May 1911 drew Anna Rogstad as Agent Jens Bratlie according to the parliament. She was the first woman in the Norwegian national parliament Storting . The first woman to be elected in a regular election was Karen Platou , in 1921.

Sweden

Sweden was the first country in Europe to give women the right to vote locally, but one of the last to introduce women to vote at the national level. Between 1845 and 1865 women were given inheritance rights and the right to trade. Widows and unmarried women who had paid taxes had been allowed to vote at the municipal and provincial levels since 1862. The municipal electoral law had a special meaning in Sweden: It was the basis of an indirect right to vote for the upper house, because the local deputies were determined by appointment from the circle of the city councils and provincial councils.

The feminist movement in Sweden focused on goals in the economic sphere and in the field of education; this reflected the conservative character of society, which was dominated by aristocratic landowners. An interplay of economic liberalism, an active abstinence movement and emerging trade unions developed.

In 1868 the New Liberal Party proposed universal suffrage, but the Riksdag rejected it without debate. In 1884 there was another push in the form of a legislative proposal by Frederick Borg . He had founded Sweden's first workers' organization in 1850 and campaigned for progressive legislation that should promote schools, libraries and welfare. He was an important voice for democracy and a republic in the Riksdag. His legislative proposal for women's suffrage was rejected to the laughter of other MPs.

In the 1890s, the period of rapid industrialization culminated in a general strike in 1902 . This was intended to underline the demands of opposition groups for a reform of the electoral law, since the right to vote was linked to property or corresponding income, i.e. a kind of financial right to vote . The property barrier privileged the traditional elites, not the recently wealthy traders and academics. As in Great Britain before the Reform Act of 1832, unrest in the working class and the middle class came together here. In this heated mood over the electoral reform, which was fueled by the Liberal Union, in 1902 the Association for Women's Political Franchise was founded in Stockholm and Gothenburg, which in 1903 merged with the newly founded Landsföreningen för kvinnans politiska rösträtt , (LKPR) (National Association for Women's Suffrage). Only women were allowed to become members and the self-empowerment of women was propagated. Not only should the form of politics be changed, i.e. the actors and the rules, but the content. An important member was Frigga Carlberg , who founded the branch in Gothenburg. She was a journalist and social worker, an expert in working with children and one of the founders of an orphanage in Gothenburg. She wrote texts and even several plays on the subject of women's suffrage.

The Association for Women's Political Franchise demanded the right to vote for women to the same extent as men had. As in other countries, two camps formed among the parties: while the conservatives wanted only wealthy women to have the right to vote, the Social Democrats advocated universal suffrage and encouraged their members to turn against the ruling class structures. Although the women's suffrage organization was thus party-neutral, it was close to the Liberal Party in its policy of only giving wealthy women the right to vote.

Bills on women's suffrage in the Riksdag also failed in 1902, 1904 and 1905. Four legislative initiatives were introduced in 1906, six in 1907. That year, first the Labor Party, then the Liberal Union, adopted women's suffrage in their programs. The introduction of proportional representation for parliament in 1909 improved the political position of women because it helped establish the multiparty system in Sweden. It resulted in an increase in the number of small parties that relied on cooperation with other parties if they wanted to take on political responsibility. As a result, women's suffrage was a topic on the coalition agenda and the influence of the conservatives declined. Against this background, a law on women's suffrage was passed in the lower house in 1909, but a similar law was rejected in the upper house with 104 to 25 votes. When the Liberals realized that they would not even succeed in enforcing universal male suffrage, they entered into a compromise with the Conservatives that would allow only male taxpayers over 24 years to vote. Until then, Swedish feminists had been very reluctant. They changed their stance when the Conservative Party declared that they could not have constituencies in which both applicants would vote in favor of women's suffrage. Now the feminists used their influence to push the conservatives back. At that time the Conservatives urgently needed the votes of the Conservative voters and did well to give up their resistance to women's suffrage; but they believed the black markings of opponents of women's suffrage, who prophesied that women's suffrage would bring radical changes with it and lead to the breakdown of the family.

In the 1911 elections, the Liberals and Social Democrats won a majority and the Conservative government was replaced. The liberal Karl Staaf , who was a member of the men's league for women's suffrage , became prime minister. The advocates of women's suffrage were rewarded with a law that was passed in the second chamber of Parliament in 1912, but failed in the first chamber, similar to the bills on women's suffrage in the British Parliament. Unfortunately, the women's suffrage bill also included a number of other radical left-wing policies that deterred middle-class voters from turning their backs on the Liberal Party and bringing the Conservatives back to power in 1914. The rise of the Social Democrats was of no use to the advocates of women's suffrage, as trade unionists dominated and concentrated on issues that were important in heavy industry. Women were poorly represented in the trade unions because they mostly worked in the tobacco, clothing and food industries.

The right to vote at the national level was introduced as part of a constitutional reform from 1919 to 1921. The breakthrough for women's suffrage came after the revolutions at the end of the First World War, in which Sweden remained neutral. Economic uncertainties led to fears of a Bolshevik Revolution in 1918. In response, all traditional parties stood together to strengthen parliamentary democracy by adopting a series of changes to the electoral law. Among them were the right to vote for women, the lowering of the active voting age for the second chamber from 24 to 23 years and the abolition of some property barriers to the right to vote. The law was passed on May 24, 1919. For procedural reasons, however, the change did not come into force until January 26, 1921: For a constitutional amendment, two resolutions are required in the Swedish parliament, and these must be separated from each other by a general election it was not until the resolution of the new parliament in 1921 that the law became legally binding.

In September 1921 women were elected to the national parliament for the first time. There were five women parliamentarians in this legislative period. Almost half of the women eligible to vote had taken part in the election.

Ellen Key statue in Stockholm, created by Sigrid Fridman

Ellen Key , Sweden's leading writer at the time, distrusted organized feminism. She found that his attitude towards prostitution revealed a disturbed view of female sexuality. The demand for a new morality for both sexes follows an old ideal of chaste femininity and testifies to a lack of imagination. For this reason, she initially rejected women's suffrage, but later changed her mind and supported it.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 177.
  2. ^ Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 176.
  3. ↑ a b c d Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 178.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 185.
  5. ↑ a b c d e Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 194.
  6. ↑ a b c Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 180.
  7. ↑ a b c d e Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 181.
  8. ↑ a b c Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 183.
  9. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 192.
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 189.
  11. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 191.
  12. ↑ a b c Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 182.
  13. ↑ a b c d e f g h Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 184.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 188.
  15. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 186.
  16. ↑ Christina Fiig, Birte Siim: Democratisation of Denmark: The Inclusion of Women in Political Citizenship. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 61-77, p. 67.
  17. ^ Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 437
  18. ↑ - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. Retrieved September 30, 2018 .
  19. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 106.
  20. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 108.
  21. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 125.
  22. ↑ Helen biin, Anneli Albi: Suffrage and the Nation: Women's Vote in Estonia. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 111-141, p. 120.
  23. ^ A b Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: Introduction: Transition to Modernity, the Conquest of Female Suffrage and Women's Citizenship. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 1-46, p. 46.
  24. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 126.
  25. ↑ - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. August 20, 1991, accessed October 1, 2018 .
  26. ↑ Aura Korppi-Tommola: A Long Tradition of Equality: Women's Suffrage in Finland. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 47-60, pp. 51-52.
  27. ^ Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen, Klaus Landfried (eds.): The election of parliaments and other state organs. Volume 1: Europe. De Gruyter, Berlin 1969, ISBN 978-3-11-001157-9 , p. 416.
  28. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, pp. 132/133.
  29. ↑ - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. Retrieved October 1, 2018 .
  30. ^ Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen, Klaus Landfried (eds.): The election of parliaments and other state organs. Volume 1: Europe. De Gruyter, Berlin 1969, ISBN 978-3-11-001157-9 , p. 620.
  31. ^ A b c Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boul 396der, Colorado, 2000, p. 396.
  32. ↑ Caroline Daley, Melanie Nolan (Eds.): Suffrage and Beyond. International Feminist Perspectives. New York University Press New York 1994, pp. 349-350.
  33. ↑ Benjamin Isakhan, Stephen Stockwell: The Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy. Edinburgh University Press 2012, p. 343.
  34. ↑ June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , p. 44.
  35. ^ Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen, Klaus Landfried (eds.): The election of parliaments and other state organs. Volume 1: Europe. De Gruyter, Berlin 1969, ISBN 978-3-11-001157-9 , p. 621.
  36. ↑ Krista Cowman: "Female Suffrage in Great Britain." In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 273-288, p. 273.
  37. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 398.
  38. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 189.
  39. ↑ - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. Retrieved October 3, 2018 .
  40. ↑ June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , p. 151.
  41. ^ Myrtle Hill: Divisions and Debates: The Irish Suffrage Experience. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 257-271, D. 264.
  42. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 189.
  43. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 191.
  44. ↑ a b - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. Retrieved October 3, 2018 .
  45. ↑ Kvennasögusafn Íslands - Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir (1856-1940), suffragette. Retrieved January 8, 2020 .
  46. ↑ a b c d e f g h Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 193.
  47. ↑ Caroline Daley, Melanie Nolan (Eds.): Suffrage and Beyond. International Feminist Perspectives. New York University Press New York 1994, p. 349.
  48. ↑ June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , p. 127.
  49. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 173.
  50. ^ Women in Parliament. Retrieved January 8, 2020 .
  51. ↑ Caroline Daley, Melanie Nolan (Eds.): Suffrage and Beyond. International Feminist Perspectives. New York University Press New York 1994, p. 350.
  52. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 174.
  53. ↑ a b c d Tynwald - Parliament of the Isle of Man - Home. In: tynwald.org.im. January 5, 2019, accessed January 5, 2019 .
  54. ↑ Benjamin Isakhan, Stephen Stockwell: The Edinburgh Companion to the History of Democracy. Edinburgh University Press 2012, pp. 340-341.
  55. ↑ Aija Branta: Winning Women's Vote. Experience from Latvia. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 95-109, p. 102.
  56. ↑ Aija Branta: Winning Women's Vote. Experience from Latvia. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 95-109, p. 102.
  57. ↑ a b c - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. August 21, 1991, accessed October 3, 2018 .
  58. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 224.
  59. ↑ a b Toma Birmontinee, Virginija Jureniene: The Development of Women's Rights in Lithuania: Striving for Political Equality. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 79-93, p. 79.
  60. ↑ Toma Birmontinee, Virginija Jureniene: The Development of Women's Rights in Lithuania: Striving for Political Equality. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 79-93, pp. 86-87.
  61. ↑ United Nations Development Program: Human Development Report 2007/2008 . New York, 2007, ISBN 978-0-230-54704-9 , p. 343
  62. ↑ a b c d - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. September 6, 1991, accessed October 3, 2018 .
  63. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 236.
  64. ^ Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen, Klaus Landfried (eds.): The election of parliaments and other state organs. Volume 1: Europe. De Gruyter, Berlin 1969, ISBN 978-3-11-001157-9 , p. 899.
  65. ↑ a b June Hannam, Mitzi Auchterlonie, Katherine Holden: International Encyclopedia of Women's Suffrage. ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-57607-064-6 , p. 168.
  66. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 289.
  67. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 291.
  68. ↑ - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
  69. ↑ a b Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 187.
  70. ↑ a b c d e f g h Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 190.
  71. ↑ a b Lena Wängnerud: How Women Gained Suffrage in Sweden: A Weaveof Alliances. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 241-256, p. 241.
  72. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 366.
  73. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 368.