Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU)

In October 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union in Manchester. The Independent Labour party (ILP) was the main suffrage movement however, Pankhurst believed that they were not very committed to women's rights, using limited actions. As a result, from the very beginning, the WSPU created the motto, 'deeds not words', which they aimed to live by.

Although the WSPU did not start out as a militant movement, they later became one, arguably, due to the government. In 1906, the liberal Party came to power which brought hopes of women's rights as liberalism literally means 'a political philosophy focussed on equality'. However, political reform did not come about, making the suffragettes angry and causing controversial acts. The women thought the more militant and hard their actions were - for example, going to prison rather than paying a fine - the more headlines they would get for their cause, which was most important to the movement. Emmeline's daughter, Christabel wrote, 'This was the beginning of a campaign the like of which was never known in England, or for that matter in any other country...we interrupted a great many meetings...and were violently thrown out and insulted. Often we were painfully bruised and hurt.' These radical actions were so different to those of any other suffragettes at the time who were merely polite and gentle. The WSPU believed they had to force the government to give them what they wanted otherwise it would never happen.

It was argued that the WSPU were only focussed on political rights rather than equality on all levels. For example, women were still payed less than men in the exact same job and were generally considered a minority under men regardless of their political rights such as being able to vote. For this reason, many were against the WSPU.

The WSPU were often in a level of danger as the police manhandled them frequently when they interrupted meetings and often misused their powers. Commoners and thugs who didn't agree with the group would try to set them as outcasts, often interrupting their meetings and trying to stop the movement.  

The actions of the WSPU before the war can be categorised into three separate phases:

1. 1905-1918: publicity seen as 'good' and the only major acts were disrupting political meetings.
2. 1908-1913: Threats to public order, although kept to a minimum. This included smashing windows and chaining railings. The aim here was to embarrass the government through hunger strikes in prison, etc.
3. 1913-1914: Attacks on properties of significance such as churches and Westminster Abbey.