SuFFrAgE

Effect of WWI

The women’s suffrage campaign paused in August 1914 because of the start of World War one. In return, the government released all WSPU prisoners on the 10^th of August. Most women went to work, aiding the war effort, making arms, heaving coal and labouring in fields. Members of the WSPU also encouraged other women to support the war.

With many women aiding the war effort, the idea that women were inferior to men in social, intellectual and economic fields was disproved. The women had helped to win the war and at the same time, overturned society’s views about a woman’s role. After the war in 1918, women over the age of thirty who owned or occupied land worth at least five pounds, or who had a university degree were given the right to vote. All women had the right to vote in 1928.