---
title: "Women's Suffrage Movement Peak"
year: 1913
country: "United Kingdom"
canonical: "https://recap.at/1913/british-suffragette-movement"
slug: "british-suffragette-movement"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "1913-01-01"
---

# Women's Suffrage Movement Peak

> The suffragette movement in Britain reached its crescendo with mass demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience, demanding women's voting rights.

In 1913, the British suffrage movement reached a breaking point. Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union escalated from protests to property destruction and hunger strikes, forcing the government to confront a question it had dodged for decades: why shouldn't women vote?

## Summary

Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Historically, women rarely had the right to vote, even in ostensibly democratic systems of government. The 19th century saw many movements advocating "universal [male] suffrage", most notably in Europe and North America; following this, movements for women's suffrage became prominent, and between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, women's suffrage was accomplished in Australasia, then Europe, and then the Americas. By the middle of the 20th century, women's suffrage had been established as a norm of democratic governance. Extended political campaigns by women and their male supporters played a central role in changing public attitudes, altering norms, and achieving legislation or constitutional amendments for women's suffrage.

## Sources

- [Women's suffrage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_suffrage) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/1913/british-suffragette-movement