Women's Social and Political Union

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Banner of the Hammersmith group of the Women's Social and Political Union
Meeting of WSPU members, around 1906/07
Christabel Pankhurst , one of the founding members of the WSPU

The Women's Social and Political Union ( WSPU ) was a women's political movement and leading militant organization that campaigned for women's rights in Britain from 1903 to 1917 . Membership - only women were admitted - and the hosting of the WSPU were closely controlled by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia (the latter was later excluded and emigrated to Australia). To underline their more militant approach, they had the slogan "actions, not words" ( "Deeds not Words" selected).

It was the first group whose members were referred to as " suffragettes " from 1906 onwards. The female members of the WSPU became known through civil disobedience and direct action . They harassed politicians, held demonstrations and marches, broke the law in order to be arrested , broke windows in important buildings, set fire to mailboxes, set fire to unoccupied houses and churches at night; and when they were detained, they would go on hunger strikes and even endure force-feeding .

founding

42 Nelson Street Manchester , where the WSPU was founded

The Women's Social and Political Union was founded as an independent women's movement on October 10, 1903 in the Pankhurst family home in Manchester . Emmeline Pankhurst, her two daughters Christabel and Sylvia were among the founding members.

Bill rejected

In 1905 the WSPU convinced MP Bamford Slack to introduce a bill on women's rights. The draft was brought to failure by filibuster speeches, but the associated press coverage contributed to the fact that the group grew strongly. Disappointment that the bill had failed prompted the WSPU to change its course of action. She now concentrated on attacking all political parties represented in parliament and now only focused on enforcing women's suffrage. The organization also began to use increasingly militant direct action to advocate women's suffrage in Britain.

The first militant action was in October 1905. Christabel Pankhurst and Annie Kenney interrupted a political event in Manchester to ask the liberal politician Sir Edward Gray, who advocated women's suffrage, if a liberal government would give women the right to vote. The two women were arrested for assault and disability. After they refused to pay the fine, they were sent to prison. According to historian Caroline Morrell, this established the basic pattern of WSPU activities for the next few years from 1905 - pre-planned militant tactics, imprisonments called martyrdom, public relations work, increasing membership numbers and increasing financial resources.

Suffragettes

Depiction of suffragettes in the lobby of the House of Commons in The Graphic , February 1907

From 1906 WSPU members used the name suffragettes to differentiate themselves from the suffragists , the members of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies , who used lawful methods in their campaign for the right to vote. Charles E. Hands, a journalist for the Daily Mail , coined the name suffragettes to demean members of the WSPU, but they proudly adopted the name. From 1907, WSPU demonstrations were increasingly confronted with police violence. Sylvia Pankhurst , daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and a WSPU member, described a demonstration she attended in February 1907:

“Parliament was guarded by an army of police to prevent the women approaching its sacred precincts. The constables had their orders to drive them away, making as few arrests as possible. Mounted men scattered the marchers; Foot police seized them by the back of the neck and rushed them along at arm's length, thumping them in the back, and bumping them with their knees in approved police fashion. ... Those who took refuge in doorways were dragged down the steps and hurled in front of the horses, then pounced upon by constables and beaten again. ... As night advanced the violence grew. Finally fifty-four women and two men had been arrested. "

“The parliament was protected by an army of police officers to prevent the women from approaching its sacred ground. The police had orders to chase the women away and to make as few arrests as possible. Mounted men scattered the marchers; Policemen on foot grabbed her by the neck and dragged her an arm's length away, slapped her on the back, and kneeled her using the best police practice. ... Those who took refuge in doorways were dragged down the stairs and thrown in front of the horses, then pushed and beaten again by the police. ... As the night wore on, the violence increased. Finally 54 women and two men were arrested. "

- Sylvia Pankhurst : The Suffragette Movement
Mary Leigh and Edith New released from Holloway Prison, 1908

In 1907, the group also gave a monthly journal out, located Votes for Women ( voting rights for women called), and held the first of several conferences under the name "Parliament of Women" from.

In 1908, a demonstration organized by the WSPU in Hyde Park , London , drew more than 500,000 people.

After a demonstration in June 1908, during which "thugs appeared, organized gangs which treated the women with every kind of humiliation," complained Sylvia Pankhurst, "the mistreatment by the police and the thugs was greater than anything we have seen before ". During a demonstration in June 1909, a delegation tried to force a meeting with HH Asquith, the Prime Minister. 3,000 police officers put in place strict security measures to prevent women from entering parliament and arrested 108 women and 14 men. In response to police violence at the event, the WSPU began adopting a strategy of breaking windows rather than trying to storm parliament. Sylvia Pankhurst wrote, "Since we have to go to jail to get the right to vote, let it be the windows of government that are broken, not the bodies of women, that was the argument". The women who were arrested for Fenstereinwerfens, began a hunger strike rather than political prisoners ( First Division prisoners to be treated) rather than common criminals. They were released early instead of being reclassified as political prisoners. First Division Prisoners were prisoners who committed crimes for political reasons. These prisoners had free access to books and writing materials, did not have to wear prison clothing and were able to receive visitors. Ordinary criminals ( Second and Third Division prisoners ) were incarcerated under more restrictive prison regulations.

A suffragette is force-fed in Holloway Prison, circa 1911

During a demonstration in October 1909 during which the WSPU tried again to storm parliament, ten protesters were taken to hospital. The suffragettes did not complain about the increasing police violence. Constance Lytton wrote, "The word got around that we should hide our various injuries as much as possible. Getting the police into trouble was not part of our strategy." The level of violence during suffragette actions continued to rise in 1909: windows were broken with bricks during Liberal Party meetings, Asquith was attacked after going to church, and roof tiles were thrown at the police when another political event was interrupted. Public opinion turned against these tactics and the government took advantage of the changed public perception to introduce tougher measures. In October 1909, for example, Herbert Gladstone , the Home Secretary, gave orders that all prisoners on hunger strike should be force-fed .

Highlights of the fight

Another legislative initiative, the aim of which was to expand women's rights, was tabled in parliament in 1910 . But after even this did not immediately find the necessary support, the WSPU organized an increasingly militant campaign. Department store windows were broken, large country estates set on fire, and public buildings - including Westminster Abbey - bombed. Numerous women who were in the public eye also joined these campaigns, such as the composer Ethel Smyth , who also wrote the WSPU's anthem: The March of Women .

Crisis and first world war

Votes for Women magazine in November 1914, caricature of a war widow

During its existence, the WSPU has seen sub-groups split off several times: For example, the group, which consisted mainly of working class women and whose leader was Sylvia Pankhurst, was separated.

As a result of the increasing radicalization of the WSPU, Christabel Pankhurst emigrated to Paris , from where she could head the organization without fear of arrest. However, this emigration of the WSPU leadership also led to an increasing de-democratization of this group and made it possible for Christabel Pankhurst to interrupt the WSPU's electoral campaign in favor of a support campaign for the British government at the outbreak of the First World War . In the medium term, however, the WSPU also lost the support of the British public.

resolution

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Christabel Pankhurst was living in Paris so as not to be arrested. Her strong position in the organization enabled her - despite the objections of Kitty Marion and others - to declare shortly after the outbreak of war that the WPSU would give up its fight and instead support the British government in its war on a national basis. The WPSU finished publishing The Suffragette and started publishing the new magazine Britannia in April 1915 . A large number of members supported the war course, a small number founded the "Suffragettes of the Women's Social and Political Union" (SWSPU) and the "Independent Women's Social and Political Union" (IWSPU). The WSPU disappeared from the public eye; it was dissolved in 1917 when Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Party.

Members of the WSPU (selection)

Sylvia Pankhurst 1909
Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst in prison clothes

See also

literature

  • June Purvis: Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography. London, Routledge 2002. p. 67. ISBN 0-415-23978-8
  • Melanie Phillips: The Ascent of Woman - A History of the Suffragette Movement and the ideas behind it . Time Warner Book Group London, 2003, ISBN 0-349-11660-1
  • Shirley Harrison: Sylvia Pankhurst: A crusading life, 1882-1960 (Aurum Press, 2003) ISBN 1854109057
  • Emmeline Pankhurst: My own story 1914. London, Virago Limited, 1979. ISBN 0-86068-057-6

Web links

Commons : Women's Social and Political Union  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Emmeline Pankhurst  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Christabel Pankhurst  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ June Purvis: Emmeline Pankhurst: A Biography. London, Routledge 2002. p. 67. ISBN 0-415-23978-8
  2. ^ Mary Davis: Sylvia Pankhurst: A Life in Radical Politics . Pluto Press 1999.
  3. ^ Sandra Stanley Holton: Women's Social and Political Union (act. 1903-1914) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2017.
  4. ↑ Elizabeth Crawford: The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928 . UCL Press, London 2003, ISBN 978-1-135-43402-1 , p. 729.
  5. ^ Christabel Pankhurst: The Story of How We Won the Vote . Hutchinson, London 1959, pp. 49-52.
  6. ^ Caroline Morrell: 'Black Friday': Violence Against Women in the Suffragette Movement . Women's Research and Resources Center, London 1981, ISBN 978-0-905969-08-4 , p. 16.
  7. ^ Sandra Stanley Holton: Women's Social and Political Union (act. 1903-1914) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2017.
  8. ↑ Suffragists or suffragettes - who won women the vote? BBC website. February 6, 2018. Accessed March 20, 2018.
  9. ↑ Suffragists or suffragettes - who won women the vote? BBC website. February 6, 2018. Accessed March 20, 2018.
  10. ↑ Elizabeth Crawford: The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928 . UCL Press, London 2003, ISBN 978-1-135-43402-1 , p. 452.
  11. ^ Caroline Morrell: 'Black Friday': Violence Against Women in the Suffragette Movement . Women's Research and Resources Center, London 1981, ISBN 978-0-905969-08-4 , p. 18.
  12. ^ Sylvia Pankhurst: The Suffragette Movement - An Intimate Account of Persons and Ideals , Kindle. Wharton Press, London 2013, pp. 5003-5017.
  13. ^ Sylvia Pankhurst: The Suffragette Movement - An Intimate Account of Persons and Ideals , Kindle. Wharton Press, London 2013, p. 5591.
  14. ↑ Sophia A. van Wingerden: The Women's Suffrage Movement in Britain, 1866-1928 . Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hants 1999, ISBN 978-0-312-21853-9 , pp. 86-87.
  15. ^ Diane Atkinson, Rise Up Women !: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes , Kindle. Bloomsbury, London 2018, ISBN 978-1-4088-4406-9 , pp. 2709-2722.
  16. ^ Sylvia Pankhurst: The Suffragette Movement - An Intimate Account of Persons and Ideals , Kindle. Wharton Press, London 2013, p. 6011.
  17. ^ Andrew Rosen, Rise Up, Women !: The Militant Campaign of the Women's Social and Political Union, 1903-1914 . Routledge, London 2013, ISBN 978-1-136-24754-5 , pp. 120-121.
  18. ^ Caroline Morrell: 'Black Friday': Violence Against Women in the Suffragette Movement . Women's Research and Resources Center, London 1981, ISBN 978-0-905969-08-4 , p. 17.
  19. ^ Constance Lytton: Prisons & Prisoners: Some Personal Experiences. Heinemann, London 1914, p. 50, quoted in Caroline Morrell: 'Black Friday': Violence Against Women in the Suffragette Movement . Women's Research and Resources Center, London 1981, ISBN 978-0-905969-08-4 , p. 20.
  20. ^ Caroline Morrell: 'Black Friday': Violence Against Women in the Suffragette Movement . Women's Research and Resources Center, London 1981, ISBN 978-0-905969-08-4 , p. 21.
  21. ^ Kitty Marion , accessed October 10, 2011.