Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
WORLD WAR I proved the seismic turning point in the campaign for women’s suffrage in Britain. However, serious groundwork had been laid by the Suffragette movement in the years leading up to the Great War, particularly a century ago – in 1912 and 1913 – as their tactics became increasingly confrontational and controversial.
Campaigns calling for women to have voting rights began in the mid-19th century in response to the Great Reform Act which blocked women from voting. Millicent Garrett Fawcett launched her peaceful campaign for women’s rights in the 1860s, but the women’s suffrage campaign became more radical with the founding of the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia.
Tactics employed by the suffragettes included lobbying campaigns targeting politicians and acts of civil disobedience such as mass protests, arson and disrupting political party meetings. Suffragettes who were arrested in connection with their campaign began holding hunger strikes in prison, but were forcibly fed. Here is an extract from an account suffragette Emily Wilding Davison wrote in 1912 of her force feeding experiences:
(Document via parliament.uk)
In February 1913, Emmeline Pankhurst was sentenced to three years after claiming responsibility for a bomb attack on a house being built for the then-Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George. No one was injured in the explosion, and Pankhurst was released early after going on hunger strike. According to a Manchester Guardian report at the time, Pankhurst said:
If they torture me with force-feeding, that cannot last very long; they cannot keep me alive very long; and they will have to let me die or let me go. If I drop out of the fight hundreds will take my place.
Photo of broken windows at Lloyd George’s house following the bomb attack. (PA Archive)
Two months after the attack on Lloyd George’s house, the Prisoners Temporary Discharge for Health Act was hurriedly passed through parliament. Under this legislation, hunger striking suffragettes in custody were monitored and released when they became seriously ill or weak, but could be re-arrested again once their health improved. However, the legislation – popularly known as the ‘Cat and Mouse Act’ – was counter-productive in failing to bolster public support against the suffragette movement.
Public awareness of the suffragette campaign was further heightened by a tragic event several weeks later. On 4 June 1913, Emily Wilding Davison stepped out in front of King George V’s horse during the Epsom Derby and died from her injuries a few days later.
(YouTube/britishpathe)
In photos: The Suffragette movement in 1912 and 1913:
WWI
The Suffragette campaign for voting rights was essentially suspended during World War I and the war saw a significant social shift in the numbers of women from different classes working in traditionally male-dominated roles to produce weapons and food.
Legislation empowering women to vote, run for office and take their seat in parliament was finally enacted in 1918. However, this legislation still restricted women voting with the inclusion of a clause requiring a minimum qualifying age of thirty for a woman to be allowed vote. Equal terms with male voters were enacted ten years later with the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise Act) 1928.
The first woman elected to the House of Commons was the Irish revolutionary Constance Markievicz, who refused to take up her seat in accordance with her party Sinn Féin’s boycott of the British parliament.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Doesn’t matter the figures……had to be spent, a no brainer
@Kevvy kerrr: Yep, quite happy with whatever was spent, considering what money the government waste on rubbish
Poor souls. Sounds like an awful death. They’re such smart and peaceful creatures too.
I was probably in the anti-zoo camp in my teens. But like so many things you understand the complexity and nuance of these things as you get older. The ethical zoos with good intentions (not the vulgar Pokémon collections of rare species) do amazing work. It’s all so relative. Ideally they live peacefully in the wild. But humans have an appalling record when it comes to mistreating animals. So captivity in safety, out of the way of trophy hunters and other rancid members of our species isn’t the worst scenario. We’re all hemmed in in some fashion no matter how much we rattle our cages.
Our own knuckle draggers are in the news this week. I do my best to keep the rage in check but I truly hate these people and wish nothing but the worst on them. Low lives you’d love to see stripped of their citizenship so that’s one less thing we are forced to have in common with them. Lowest of the low.
@SerotoninWars: very deep & thought provoking
@Kevvy kerrr: Thanks Kevvy :)
And in Ireland, we now accept halal, I do not hear any Irish animal welfare charities condemning such an atrocious and sickening practice. Of course not, in modern, diverse and tolerant Ireland, we must not offend, must be all equal, must conform, must stay quiet, must be criticised if you ask questions.
@Fintan Pox: says the FF fan boy
@Mick O’K: So you disagree?
@Fintan Pox: I agree Halal especially with the no-stun aspect is absolutely barbaric. You can throw Kosher in the mix too. I’ve read about and watched some harrowing scenes from the slaughter floors of both. When I was younger to be precise. I can’t stomach it anymore. That doesn’t give ‘our’ methods a pass at all with some of the most upsetting cruelty imaginable happening in these slaughterhouses.
I’m not saying for a second that this covers all Muslim’s (it’s the Guardian!) but it’s a bit of context to the wider debate. I’ve given up on us making many advances in my lifetime. You get worn down and reduced to the most marginal of gains. But for crying out loud, at least stun them! If your god requires this level of suffering, maybe it’s time to ask some questions. That goes for all of them.
The main thing for me is why on earth we are still at a stage where we feel the need to slit ANY creature’s throat and watch it bleed out, never mind with this additional level of cruelty in the mix.
The meat industry does its best to give its products cute fun names, especially in the fast food industry. It’s deliberate, of course. Just like so many things where severing the end product from the reality of how it got there, is paramount. There are a lot of people who would choose to eat something else if their colourful box of meat meant doing the slitting, chopping, beheading and bleeding out themselves. Only the most brutal horror flicks get anywhere near the shocking reality of the meat industry.
@SerotoninWars: don’t eat meat.
@offside again: I don’t! :)
@SerotoninWars: I’d never have guessed.
Animals like sheep would prefer halal to wolves I’m sure. I’m not defending it. I’m sure it’s painful but it’s relatively quick in the scheme of things.
You’re right about the ‘meat industry’. That doesn’t mean eating meat is wrong though. But it should actually be a luxury rather than an everyday thing.
@offside again: There’s actually some middle ground here for once! :)
I get that it’s a hugely complex area (like nearly everything!) but there is a world of difference between the type of old-school farm-to-table setup and the industrialised conveyor belt we’ve ended up with. Capitalism demands faster and more without thinking about anything outside of accumulating more paper and coins.
Even if people don’t particularly care about animals, some of the conditions human beings have to work in are harrowing. The USA is of course amongst the worst offenders. The level of accidents, lifelong injuries and appalling treatment of the workers is off the chart. All to keep a conveyor belt of animals heading into the mouths of people who expect meat at every single meal.
They often use cheap immigrant labour and when things go wrong there is practically nothing in the way of compensation. In comes the next poor and desperate person to replace them. All to keep the main conveyor belt of profit going. If they don’t care about humans, you can imagine how much they care about the animals.
@SerotoninWars: my brother in law kept sheep and I bought one. First of all we had to catch one. Then his system was to tie it up in his workshop, sit down and drink a couple of beers until the animal relaxed. And without warning then hit it with a lump hammer, before proceeding to kill it.
Butchering an animal yourself is not easy.
Anybody who has a bit of land can keep a pig.
@offside again: I can imagine. None of it is pretty in the end. I’m not overly romanticising that aspect even if I’d like to think there are nicer ways of doing it! But if it has to happen, and enough humans make sure it will, then something that equates to fewer animals, better lives and living conditions up to the point of death, and less recklessness when it comes to the environment, seems more desirable.
The money in the industry is enormous. Huge amounts are spent on lobbying and what is hard to describe as anything other than propaganda. I go back to my point that even if people don’t care about animals they need to wake up to the fact that so much of the denier stuff being pumped into media and social media, is by people with a vested interest in making people apathetic and cynical about any moves to curtail consumption. That might mean less profit shock horror.
The industrial meat industry is a disaster for humans as much as animals.
@offside again: hey bff, so the story goes { allegedly} something like this……. Choose the victim, catch the victim, relax with a few duffs…you know… Just chilling, chewing the fat….& Then when everyone’s got a decent buzz going….. Whip out a lump hammer & whack the poor guy…… Gotta ask…… You been watching reruns of the sopranos??
@SerotoninWars: full belly cheap = big profit. I believe a certain Austrian said : ‘it’s good for leaders that men do not think’.
@Kevvy kerrr: your talent is wasted here !
@Kevvy kerrr: Hey Joey Sheeps! Don’t wurry it’s not a nursing home! It’s a retirement community!
Money well spent Good on zoo
For once money we’ll spent.
Elephant in the room no doubt
@Phillip Smyth: ah Phillip c’mon, that was 2/10 at best….. Larry Betts standard
@Kevvy kerrr: I know couldn’t resist.
They should not be on view, zoos are a thing of the past animals should allowed to run free, that’s the elephant in the room, poor creatures bobbing back and forth in tiny spaces, they are brought to a strange land to here, away form their natural habitat, basically to just die in a tiny area totally alien to them.
@Phillip Smyth: now Kevvy K the elephant in the tiny room.
@Phillip Smyth: 100% right. Zoos are totally inappropriate for these huge majestic creatures. At the very least, they need the space of a national park, for roaming and for privacy away from their most deadly enemy, us.
Give a lump sum from the TV licence
the budget …..vanished from your articles .
Good job you understood we had enough
There is a beautiful tribute in an article on here to the late, great and stunningly beautiful Mary O’Rourke, by Mary Hanafin, whose dad Des was a great man too, opposed, divorce, opposed gay marriage, opposed abortion., all values in Fianna Fail we hold dearly.
There should never be elephants in captivity In such small spaces. These majestic animals can travel hundreds of kilometers per day in the wild. At the very least, they need the size of a national park to roam. No matter what you do in Dublin Zoo, it’s a 28 hectare site. Calling it the African Plains doesn’t make it so. Some animals do ok in captivity, but these huge beautiful beasts need space and privacy. Gorillas, Tigers, Lions, bears and Rhino should only ever be kept in captivity to prevent extinction, and then only in huge national park-size enclosures. If you want to see Elephants, there is about a million hours of footage on YouTube thanks to David Attenborough et al.
Just isolate the elephants who are sick you absolute clowns.
@Buster Lawless: Out of curiosity, how long did you study to be a vet?
@Jack Jack: this is basic science, isolate the spread. These cockatiels are murdering the elephants.
@Jack Jack: study? Buster Lawless? Funniest comment of the day!
@Buster Lawless: the ilness doesnt show until v sick by which time all may have caught it. I got that by reading about it at the tome . You’re the clown
@damien leen: your trolling knows no bounds. Show some respect here punk, elephants are dying.
@uXGdMXx5: tome? Did you learn that in the circus while abusing the donkey? Sicko.
@Buster Lawless: Please join Fianna Fail.
@Fintan Pox: they must remove usc it is essential
@Buster Lawless: No party going to do that, shur jaysus, we had to bring it in when we bankrupted the country, and you gonna vote for us if we got rid of it! Bleedin sap lol
@Buster Lawless: there isn’t the space.
have your say