Women Suffrage Movements - Term Paper Example

?Women Suffrage Movements in 1873–1913 Participation of women in politics and governance of a country has been a contentious issue in many countries.Although the issue is associated with countries in the developing world, it was a major issue in European history. Participation of women in a countries decision-making process is a social issue that is experienced in the political field. This is because their participation depends on how they participate in making decisions at the domestic level. Their ability to make decision at the domestic level determines their chance of making decision at the national level through the voting process. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the question of whether women have a chance to vote was a major question in European politics1. Women suffrage could not have achieved success if women did not fight for their rights. This essay will therefore analyze European women suffrage between the late nineteenth century and the dawn of the twentieth century. The essay will focus on major movements, key figure, and beliefs of women suffrage across Europe. The French revolution of 1789 is believed to have been the source of the notion of citizenship. This notion changed people view and attitude towards their countries2. The notion of citizenship caused people to have interest and responsibility over their home countries. Voting in a national election comes as a responsibility as well as an obligation for every citizen. After the French revolution, women in most European countries started to consider themselves responsible for their country’s development and decision-making. Unlike other major European revolutions, the French revolution proved that both women and men had obligation in their country’s governance. Women suffrage begun by the drafting of Olympe de Gouges, this declaration recognized women as equal stakeholders in a country’s governance. The publication argued that women should be accorded voting rights similar to men. Women participation in governance issues was not realized immediately after the French revolution. At the end of the nineteenth century, Europe had experienced limited changes on issues concerning the position of women in the society and governance. Events and revolutions that took place during the upper half of the nineteenth century are considered to have paved way for major changes and revolutions across European societies. The ideology of nationalism during the dawn of twentieth century also contributed to the field. As an ideology, nationalism identified people according to their national boundary, ethnicity, political boundaries, history, and culture3. The rise of nationalism and French revolution are considered as the main factor that triggered women suffrage. Although the two movements seemed insignificant to women suffrage campaigns, they laid a foundation that other future movements could use to launch their campaigns for women rights in European societies. This indicates that establishing women’s rights in governance was a demanding issue. Different ideologies across Europe determined women’s suffrage across various European countries. The rise of ideology paved way for actual campaigns for women’s rights across Europe with their emphasis being the right to vote among women. Although women’s suffrage campaign had a common source, the campaigns were different across the different European countries. This is because each individual country had its own unique political system. Countries with hereditary monarch system of government such as Austria, Russia, Spain, and Hungary did not have voting rights for both their men and women4. Lack of national unity was also a common issue in some European countries such as Denmark, Germany, and Ireland. This implies that establishing women’s rights in such country was a complicated as well as a difficult issue. Lack of national unity and democracy in most European countries hindered women's suffrage movements. Absence of democracy and national unity in European countries also indicate that suffrage activists in such countries did not have a chance to launch their movements and campaigns. Democracy endows citizens in a country with the rights to participate in the governance of the country as a basic right. This implies that people in a democratic country have the rights to determine how the country is run. A democratic nation also allows its citizens to criticize the governance and policies of a country. Lack of democracy in European nation implied that its citizens did not have the rights to challenge the governance of their country or any of the policies set by the government to protect national interest. Movements established to enhance women suffrage in most European countries were against the national interest of most countries. This indicates that such movements were not welcomed by most countries and governments. Lack of democracy in most European countries also implies that the countries lacked democratic institutions through which women in the country could advocate for their rights. Lack of democratic practice and institutions in most European countries also indicates that women had trouble while advocating for their rights. Most nationalities did not recognize women as full citizens and hence women did not have full political rights. Lack of political rights among women implies that women were allowed neither to vote nor to participate in their country’s governance. The question of whether women should be allowed to vote was a controversial question in most European countries during the rise of the nineteenth century. Most women’ suffrage advocate argued that both women and men had equal national rights and hence the rights to vote should be extended to women. The advocates also argued that Europe would achieve the required developments if both men and women had equal chances to make decisions. Women suffrage also co-existed with the controversial of imperialist movements. In Britain, supporters of suffrage argued that granting women their voting rights would improve the country’s superiority over other European countries5. This indicates that despite the difficulties in various European countries, people in such countries had a chance to raise women suffrage campaigns. The Women’ Social Political Union (WSPU) was the first movement establish to advocate for equal voting rights across Europe. Unlike other movements, WSPU advocated for direct tactics as the only means that could bring the much-needed reforms. Such tactics include heckling speakers during political rallies, smashing windows, mass demonstrations and chaining themselves to parliament gates. Although most of these tactics strengthened the opponents of women's suffrage, the question of whether women should be allowed to vote began attracting supporters across all European societies. The tactics also delayed any proposed political reforms. This indicates that although women suffrage proponents across Europe applied all possible measures to secure the position of women in their society, there was an overwhelming opposition. The existing government and opponents of women suffrage proved to be a major challenge to the movements. This caused in the persecution of major suffrage activists in most European countries. Suffrage activists went through experiences of imprisonment and hunger strikes before women in European countries were granted their rights to vote. Extension of voting rights to women began in 1914 in Scandinavian countries such as Finland, Denmark, and Norway before spreading to other European nations. In Russia, the extensions were however delayed and women in the country gained their full voting rights during the 1917 revolutions. Conclusion The need to establish democracy in European countries raised the issues of the position of women in the society. In most European countries, women were not considered as full citizens and hence they did not have voting rights. This implies that European women had no chance in national decision-making process. Women suffrage was established alongside major European movements to advocate for voting rights among European women. Although most countries lacked supportive facilities such as democracy and democratic institutions, women suffrage advocates had determination to press on for women voting rights. This implies that equal voting rights for European men and women could not have been achieved without struggles. Persecution and hunger strikes are some of the hardships that European women had to endure so that their countries could realize full democratic rights for both men and women. Bibliography Christopher Fletcher, Laura E. Mayhall, and Philippa Levine. Women's Suffrage in the British Empire: Citizenship, Nation, and Race. New York: Routledge, 2000. David Morgan. Suffragists and Liberals: The Politics of Woman Suffrage in England. Oxford: Blackwell, 1975. Laura E. Mayhall. The Militant Suffrage Movement: Citizenship and Resistance in Britain, 1860-1930. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Roger, Fulford. Votes for Women: The Story of Struggle. London: Faber and Faber, 1957. Robert Shoemaker and Mary Vincent. Gender and History in Western Europe. New York: Arnold Press, 1998. Read More