The pankhursts and the war: suffrage magazines and first world war propaganda

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1 Women's History Review ISSN: (Print) X (Online) Journal homepage: The pankhursts and the war: suffrage magazines and first world war propaganda Angela K. Smith To cite this article: Angela K. Smith (2003) The pankhursts and the war: suffrage magazines and first world war propaganda, Women's History Review, 12:1, To link to this article: Published online: 20 Dec Submit your article to this journal Article views: 2753 View related articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at Download by: [ ] Date: 24 December 2017, At: 08:24

2 Women s History Review, Volume 12, Number 1, 2003 The Pankhursts and the War: suffrage magazines and First World War propaganda ANGELA K. SMITH University of Plymouth, Exmouth, United Kingdom Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 ABSTRACT With the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst dramatically changed the course of their militant campaign. Instead of fighting against the Government, they joined forces with their old Liberal adversaries, including Lloyd George, to support the war effort. Accordingly, they employed their periodical of the preceding years, The Suffragette, as a valuable resource for spreading the new word, renaming it Britannia to reinforce their patriotic and imperialist intent. On the other side of London, in the East End district of Poplar where she had set up her headquarters, Sylvia Pankhurst, the renegade sister, also changed the emphasis of her social campaigning. Sylvia had broken with her mother and sister two years earlier, when it became clear that the differences in their political ideas were irreconcilable. Sylvia s path lay in the fight for social reform for the working classes of the East End; men, women and children. A feminist she remained, but a socialist feminist, and, with the onset of the War, a pacifist as well, fervently articulating her views on all three ideologies through the mouthpiece of her organisation, The Woman s Dreadnought. This article explores the literary response of the Pankhursts and their associates to the War, contrasting the patriotic zeal of Britannia with the radicalism of The Dreadnought, asking how these New Women used the press to win support for their various ideas. What devices did they employ and how successfully were they received by their contemporary readers? On 7 August 1914, three days after Britain declared war on Germany, Christabel Pankhurst addressed the issue directly from her position as editor of The Suffragette, the organ of the Women s Social and Political Union (WSPU): As I write a dreadful war-cloud seems about to burst and deluge the peoples of Europe with fire, slaughter, ruin this then is the World as 103

3 Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 Angela K. Smith men have made it, life as men have ordered it. A man-made civilisation, hideous and cruel enough in time of peace, is to be destroyed.[1] In this very early response, there is an uncomfortable ambivalence about Christabel s words. Although the War, with its deluge of fire, slaughter, ruin is surely a bad thing, its consequence, the destruction of man-made civilisation, is not without its bonuses. The militant branch of the suffrage movement, the WSPU, led and endorsed by Christabel and her mother Emmeline, had been fighting on a smaller scale for just such an end since the turn of the century. Since the scale and the cost of the War in human terms could not yet be known in August 1914, it appears to be an appropriate strategy to deploy patriarchal errors to attack patriarchal structures, using the powerful rhetoric for which Christabel had become known: The great war... is Nature s vengeance is God s vengeance upon the people who held women in subjection, and by doing that have destroyed the perfect human balance.[2] However, after the shattering of the British Expeditionary Force at Mons, it became apparent that the War would present a longer term problem, and the Pankhursts began to shift their attitudes. The militant activities of the WSPU were suspended for the duration of the War [3], and instead they adopted a fervently patriotic stance, supporting their former enemies, the liberal politicians, and campaigning for the war effort through their retitled weekly publication, Britannia. But not all the Pankhursts were united. When the WSPU was founded in 1903, the two younger Pankhurst sisters, Sylvia and Adela, were likewise involved in the campaigning. However, before the outbreak of the War, Adela had retired from activism and Sylvia had parted company with her mother and sister, the painful split coming in 1913 when Christabel concluded that the activities of Sylvia s East London Federation of Suffragettes (ELFS) were too closely aligned with those of the Independent Labour Party (ILP).[4] Sylvia s socialist beliefs, nurtured by her close relationship with Keir Hardie, had led her down a different road, focusing more fully on the plight of working women in the East End districts surrounding her headquarters in Poplar. Her periodical, The Woman s Dreadnought, campaigned equally for feminist and socialist causes, keeping the conditions of everyday life for the poor high on the agenda. In August 1914, Sylvia s conscience directed her to oppose the War, not support it as her mother and sister were to do, just as many other suffragists chose the path of pacifism.[5] The Dreadnought carried her message with equal power, arguing against the War and highlighting social injustices, often exacerbated by war policy. This article examines the oppositional periodical publishing of the Pankhursts between 1914 and 1918, exploring the way in which they each used propagandist rhetoric and 104

4 THE PANKHURSTS AND THE WAR Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 images to argue their case. The views represented tend to be extreme, and the juxtaposition of their polemic can work to promote an understanding of the passion of the women s press during the war years. The self-marketing of all the Pankhursts is very important. Both Emmeline and Christabel were presented as very feminine figures, celebrating rather than sacrificing their womanhood. Though they are New Women in deed, their retention, even exploitation, of a conventional femininity operates to soften their public personas and make their bitter messages easier to swallow. In Britannia, 10 August 1917, Mrs Pankhurst, The Suffragette is described as follows: And so one wondered whether there was anything feminine left in this woman-rebel with a glorious revolutionary past, who tolerated imprisonment and great political persecution. But she did remain a woman... She is an ardent patriot in the best sense of the word... There is strong will and feminine kindness in her, as well as dialectics and romanticism, revolutionary strength and natural kindness, political wisdom and touching womanhood.[6] She is presented as a feminine paradox, embodying a variety of conflicting impressions of womanhood.[7] Her daughter Christabel cultivated a similarly contradictory persona. She and her suffragettes often dressed in white, implying and promoting that most feminine of virtues, chastity, endowing her with a kind of innate self-righteousness. This is reinforced by her ardent campaigning against masculine vices, particularly sexually transmitted diseases. The style of her writing and oratory, her choice of language, her points of focus and unyielding arguments seem to belie these impressions of conventional womanliness, suggesting a much tougher core. It is a paradox which makes her a fascinating, if rather difficult, figure. Sylvia Pankhurst presents a different image. Poised and pensive, she often appears much more down to earth, pictured among her East End working women. Like her sister, she never married, but unlike her, she did have two long-term relationships with men, and in 1928 gave birth to a son, suggesting that the radical politics of her public life were paralleled in private. Both Sylvia and Christabel were prolific writers and worked extremely hard as editors of their respective papers. Britannia and The Woman s Dreadnought shared many themes, from the benefits of Montessori schooling and communal kitchens, to the continuing serious business of securing the vote. But these similarities are significantly outweighed by the passion of their difference. It is very difficult to predict how many papers these opposing organisations managed to sell weekly. It seems likely that Britannia s circulation was marginal, given the fragmented nature of the suffrage movement by 1914, and the fact that even the militants within the campaign were divided in attitude to the War. In contrast, although perhaps not widely 105

5 Angela K. Smith read, The Woman s Dreadnought was taken very seriously in left-wing circles, and continues to be considered an important feminist/socialist publication.[8] Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 Figure 1. Cover page, Britannia, 1.5, 15 October By permission of the Women s Library, London Guildhall University. The physical make-up of these two periodicals is interesting. Britannia tended to be bolder in appearance, with large, striking and emotive cover images. For example, the issue of 15 October 1915 indicates a typical layout (Figure 1). The title, Britannia, is presented in large, bold letters, 106

6 Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 THE PANKHURSTS AND THE WAR representing the patriotic identity of the nation at war within the famous symbol of the woman warrior, thus encompassing both strands of the Pankhurst dogma. This image, and the quotation from Rule Britannia, capture the eye and pull in the reader, appealing to the patriotic conscience. This is reinforced by the smaller, but still bold words, For King For Country For Freedom. But it remains the official Organ of the Women s Social and Political Union, incorporating The Suffragette. The womancentred origins of the paper are never diminished. Following the Representation of the People Act in January 1918, the WSPU was replaced by the Women s Party, indicating a shift in the direction of the campaign. Figure 2. Cover page, Britannia, 38.6, 1 March By permission of the Women s Library, London Guildhall University. 107

7 Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 Angela K. Smith The issue dated 1 March 1918, much later in the War, takes a rather different approach (Figure 2). Instead of an illustration, a poem is used to draw the reader in. On the cover some rather sickly, patriotic verses are reproduced, allegedly written by a soldier who, we are told, subsequently achieved the martyrdom he apparently desired. At this point the War had been raging for nearly four years, with no end in sight. Civilian morale was extremely low, worn away by material deprivation and further crushed by the continual terrible death rates.[9] For many people, this kind of sentiment, embodied in the posthumous publications of Rupert Brooke, had begun to be replaced by the more bitter, ironic impressions of Siegfried Sassoon and others. But their use here, to inspire a jaded population, indicates the continuing importance of propagandist rhetoric.[10] The Woman s Dreadnought is rather understated in comparison, as the cover page from 14 November 1914 illustrates. The name, conjuring the image of a fearless iron-clad battleship, perhaps ironically militarises the cause, while retaining feminist implications.[11] The title is still prominent, although less so, and boasts no obvious political affiliation beyond that of its suffragette publishers. But the items incorporated on the front page speak volumes through their preoccupation with social gatherings, basic provisions, mothers, babies and suffrage news. The only real reference to the War is the small central image, which links women s participation in the conflict with the right to vote. The physical layout of this publication perhaps suggests a rather smaller budget many words are crammed onto each page, leaving much less space for the visual image; or perhaps Sylvia just has more to say. Later editions place much more emphasis on political activism, as we shall see, but the interest in the welfare of local women always remains prominent and is often used to give a greater poignancy to the politics. The papers were funded by the revenue that they generated and subscriptions to their respective organisations. Even with the distraction of the War, the WSPU was bigger and more widespread than the localised ELFS. It also made greater use of advertising space in the pages of its publication, although these advertisements, most of which were for clothing stores, became less prominent as the War progressed. Both Christabel and Sylvia spoke publicly, on at least a weekly basis. Christabel published many of her speeches in pamphlet form and this must have provided further resources. The two publications appear to have been produced from opposite ends of the political spectrum, and this is manifested in a number of ways. Their attitude to the War is obviously of primary importance. Britannia was fiercely patriotic, perceiving every dissenting voice as pro-german. Most objectionable of all were the pacifists [12]: 108

8 THE PANKHURSTS AND THE WAR Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 I consider the Pacifists a disease. They are a disease to which old nations seem to become subject. They are a disease which comes of over-prosperity, and of false security... Yes, and very infectious, as so many diseases are a very deadly disease which you will find has afflicted every dead nation of the past.[13] Christabel s word s come from an article, No Compromise Peace, which records the text of one of her regular speeches from July 1917, in which she argues for the complete destruction of the German nation, suggesting that anyone who disagrees should be branded along with the pacifists; for example, economic pacifists : Some people pretend they are not Pacifists, yet say that we must merely crush Berlin militarism but not be anti- German after the war.[14] Death, she argues, is better than being at the mercy of an economically powerful Germany. The country should be destroyed utterly if further war is to be averted. Politically, those who might desire this compromise peace are linked with Herbert Asquith, former prime minister and pet hate of Britannia. Pacifism itself is most closely associated with socialism and the ILP. There is a repetitiveness about many of Britannia s articles which can make them seem rather hollow despite the passion. Pankhurst constantly attacks her opponents, some of whom, like Asquith, seem unlikely to present a real threat. The cause itself is so righteous that there seems no need to actively defend it. Slightly later, in The International Danger, Christabel systematically attacks the Socialist Internationale, the idea of the League of Nations, the Vatican, Ireland and Sinn Fein, international finance, and Quaker pacifists all as pro-german. She uses the feminine, but very powerful, image of Elizabeth I standing alone against intruders to represent the righteous opposition to these dangerous forces, picking up on the careful selfpresentation of herself and her mother. For many modern readers it is easier to sympathise with the pacifist perspective than with Christabel s fiery bitterness, particularly with hindsight: the sinister knowledge of the dictates of the Treaty of Versailles and the subsequent growth of fascism.[15] However, despite her apparent extremism, it is important to remember that many of Christabel s blatantly propagandist ideas were closely aligned to those found in the contemporary mainstream press. In the edition of 5 April 1918, Britannia launched a direct attack on the pacifist press in an article called Patriots versus Pacifists : The onslaught of the Pacifist weeklies must be resisted, and the German attack on the Home Front thus defeated, by Britannia.[16] The Woman s Dreadnought, edited by Pankhurst s own sister, although not named, is a primary publication under attack. Yet this is, in fact, a thinly veiled campaign for more funding. Great sums of money are obviously being given by wealthy pro-germans to finance these demoralising and mischievous 109

9 Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 Angela K. Smith pacifist weeklies, especially in view of the fact that the cost of production of all papers is now so high. Readers are asked to make subscriptions to Britannia and create a counter attack through greater sales of the patriotic paper, bringing the War very close to home through the deployment of military language. Simultaneously, The Woman s Dreadnought produced articles which argued the opposite political line with equal conviction. In her weekly editorial, Sylvia Pankhurst attacks issues such as militarism, conscription and the munitions industry, using the powerful weapon of social injustice. The War Cure, 3 October 1914, argues against aspiring British militarism: Can we believe that we are fitted to dominate all other peoples, we, with those serious social failings towards our own people, especially towards women and towards children, which we share with all the so-called civilised nations, but in which, in some respects, we are the greatest sinners?[18] Sylvia s articles tend to be more complex and fully argued than Christabel s. She draws upon material evidence, statistics and acts of parliament, in order to prove her point, and relates all her ideas back to social inequality. Here, she begins by rallying against national violence, accusing Britain of all the crimes of militarism, then moves on from her original subject, applying the principles of socialism. Britain has no right to dominate other countries when her own internal social systems are riddled with flaws. Women and children struggle to survive in appalling conditions; women have no voice in national politics or the legal system, thus, half the population are excluded from so-called democratic government. Sylvia is just as impassioned as her sister, but her style differs. It is rather less blustering. Her politics induce her to defend as well as attack; she is the voice of the people. The East End Air Raid (5 June 1915) provides another good example of Sylvia s journalistic style: To see the result of the German Air Raid numbers of unaccustomed visitors came flocking to East London, well-dressed people in motor cars and taxis, journalists, photographers, high military officials, Red Cross nurses, policewomen, and travellers from all over the world.[19] Sylvia begins by describing the voyeuristic visitors, none of whom are working class, mocking them as they traverse the unfamiliar streets searching for bomb damage. But in her version of events, she does not allow them to find any.[20] Instead, the emphasis is placed on the squalid conditions of everyday life. It is these that the tourists discover and these that shock them the most: What a sight for the pretty ladies in dainty dresses with slender delicate throats, peering from taxi cabs, and for rather too comfortable business men and well-groomed officers in motor cars. Miserable dwellings, far 110

10 THE PANKHURSTS AND THE WAR Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 from fit for housing human creatures, poorly clad women with sad work-worn faces, other women covered, no more, in horrid rags, hopeless, unhappy beings, half-clothed, neglected looking little children a sadder sight.[21] The War is not Sylvia s agenda here, but more an opportunity to publicise other issues. Rather suddenly, the article takes another unexpected turn. Instead of air raid damage, it describes an anti-german riot which climaxes with the destruction of a German baker s shop and the beating of its occupants. Now she drops the ironic tone. The helpless German victims receive no assistance from the police, who stand by and watch the violence. She defends the innocents of war, and in so doing attacks systems of government and law-keeping: The Government fails to protect defenceless aliens, and will not even give them the safe-keeping of an internment camp.[22] And finally she gets in a dig at the propagandist press as she returns to the subject of air attack for her conclusion: Prominent newspapers fill their columns with articles intended to inflame the populace to anti-german riots, articles which consume ignorant, nervous, excitable people with a suspicious terror that transforms for them the poor Hoxton baker and his old mother into powerful spies, able at will to summon fleets of Zeppelins.[23] This is the very propagandist press to which her mother and sister contribute so significantly. Both papers use illustrations to reinforce their political ideals. For example, a cartoon from Britannia [24] shows the Kaiser decorating Ramsey MacDonald of the ILP, ironically suggesting the pro-german affiliations of the socialist movements. A more dramatic image from The Woman s Dreadnought [25] borrows the famous last words of executed nurse, Edith Cavell, reinterpreting them patriotism is not enough to justify militarism (Figure 3). There is a lot going on here. The central figure of crucified Christ makes a tragic focal point his death in vain to save a world now consumed by the fires of hell.[26] At his feet, desperate women and children look down on the lifeless bodies of their lost men, bodies which are trampled under foot by those who continue to fight, distorted by a demonic rage. The flags which ring the crucifix spell out that the blame lies with the greed of nations. Patriotism serves the needs of the few to the great cost of the many. As well as engaging with more abstract notions such as patriotism, all the Pankhursts created editorial space to address prominent issues on the home front. As feminist campaigners they had an inevitable interest in the way in which the War entered the lives of women. Many suffragists, whatever their attitude to the politics of the War, saw it as an opportunity for women to prove themselves worthy of the vote by their contributions to 111

11 Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 Angela K. Smith the war effort and general running of the country.[27] A great shortage of munitions in 1915 led many people to believe that the Government should allow women to work in all areas of the industry. The WSPU was particularly active in lobbying the Government, joining together with Lloyd George and organising a high profile campaign. Most prominent was the Great Procession of Women or the Right to Serve March, which took place on 17 July Women earned the right to undertake jobs which had previously been closed to them and Lloyd George earned the leadership of the newly formed Ministry of Munitions. Figure 3. The Woman s Dreadnought, 18 December 1915, p By permission of the British Library [Shelfmark 182]. 112

12 THE PANKHURSTS AND THE WAR Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 Having played an important role in getting women into the factories, the WSPU, through Britannia, became very suspicious of any movement which threatened productivity, and any such threat was, by definition, deeply unpatriotic. These fears are expressed in Shop Stewards (7 December 1917) [28], an article which warns of the dangers of allowing union control of industry, fed by the recent workers revolution in Russia. Perhaps inevitably, anything which threatened to hold up production must be the work of pro-germans ; consequently, The shop stewards movement has the Pacifists behind it, and is a most dangerous one.[29] It is the German intention to control British industry, which they will do through misguided union activism: Could you listen to an orchestra in which each person played according to his own ideas or the ideas of a committee instead of answering the beat of the conductor? Well, it is just the same in industry. There must be authority, control, discipline, individual responsibility.[30] And Christabel conveniently brushes aside questions of workers welfare and conditions with apparently common-sense arguments: The question of hours is not one to be settled by committees. The settlement of the hours of labour depends on various considerations, but it is, above all, a question of scientific management and organization. It is engineering and organizing experts and not committees, who are qualified to tell us in how many hours a day the necessary work of the country can be done Conditions in the Workshop This again is a question for specially trained and experienced minds to decide. It would be far better to consult a medical officer of health than a shop steward as to what factory conditions should be, for we may be sure that his standard of health-preserving conditions would be far higher.[31] Christabel goes on to argue that with professional supervision, productivity would increase. The result, therefore, would be a shorter working day which would relieve the monotony of repetitive manual work, and leave the worker with larger amounts of recreation time for self-development. The Pacifist fomenters of industrial unrest are really riveting more firmly the industrial and spiritual chains of the workers. They do not enlarge the horizon of the workers.[32] It is a stirring message, although perhaps just a little utopian. Sylvia Pankhurst s attitude to affairs in the munitions industry could not be more different. Lloyd George in Wonderland (9 February 1916) addresses Lloyd George s attempts to promote the idea of women working in munitions, focusing on his alleged failure to consider or secure acceptable pay and conditions. Much more empirical, she argues that many women were working weeks of up to ninety hours, up to thirty more than the number recommended by the Health of Munition Workers Committee. She 113

13 Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 Angela K. Smith discusses various union attempts to secure a living wage for women, many of which have not met with much success. Unlike her sister, she quotes statistical evidence to back up her arguments, citing a selection of regional figures: 10 shillings per week in Manchester, 7-16 shillings in the Midlands depending on age, in London as little as 3d per hour.[33] She argues that Women have come into munition work in tremendous numbers and in the overwhelming majority of cases they are employed at sweated rates in what has been a hitherto well-paid trade.[34] The unions are vital in this equation; without their involvement the women would be exploited beyond reason. The article goes on to discover similar injustice in other areas of women s war work. Nurses serving near the front have had their salaries cut by nearly half, she tells us, and attempts to generate a Women s Land Army are similarly tainted: Extensive efforts are being made to draw women into agricultural employment; the Government is appealing for 400,000 women for the work. It is proposed to pay them 2s. a day and it is hoped that they will overlook the low wage if they are induced to believe that they are taking part in a patriotic effort by the presence of a green armlet.[35] Sylvia s choice of language implies that the symbol of uniform (not even a complete uniform at this stage) may blind women to their exploitation. Her sister might argue that patriotism is enough; that it supersedes the lesser cause of social justice. The truth, whatever that may be, probably lies somewhere in between these two opposing poles. Despite these great differences of opinion, neither publication ever loses sight of the ultimate aim of the campaign; that is, winning the vote. Party politics aside, both sisters and both organisations want the same thing, and use their particular approach to the War as a way of reinforcing existing arguments regarding suffrage: All these things should spur women on to renewed efforts towards emancipation. We shall always be but feeble tools in the hands of the exploiter till we are organized industrially and have won THE VOTE.[36] In the issue of Britannia dated 2 November 1917, the newly formed Women s Party published its Programme for the War and After : its manifesto. It reiterates many of the ideas articulated earlier regarding the authority of democratic government, the control of industry for the greater good of the community and the upholding of empire. There are smaller sections calling for maternity and infant care, and children s right to education, which correspond with some of the aims of the Worker s Suffrage Federation, although the latter had been actively achieving these for some years in certain East End Districts.[37] The manifesto highlights the common ground as well as reminding the reader of political difference. 114

14 THE PANKHURSTS AND THE WAR Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 In April 1918, after the Representation of the People Act had awarded the first women the vote, Emmeline Pankhurst repeated many of the Party s ideas in her stirring Easter message on women s duty in the crisis of the war.[38] She calls upon the magnificent patriotism of the great army of women, a mighty force, intact and unimpaired, to push forward to a final victory. She states: The Women s Party has been formed to unite the women to fight for victory and national security, and afterwards to wage a campaign of social reform to secure better housing, better education, greater security for mothers and infants, and a system of industrial organization which will give good conditions of work, short hours, good wages, and at the same time greater efficiency and increased national wealth.[39] Despite the extremist rhetoric published in Britannia throughout the war years, these aims seem fair and reasonable, and not so much at odds with those of the ILP and other associated organisations. The Women s Party fielded many candidates in the General Election of 1918, including Christabel herself. However, none were elected. After the War, Emmeline Pankhurst was plagued with ill-health and financial hardship. She withdrew from activism for some years, although she was about to stand for Parliament at the time of her death in Christabel, too, left the political arena, spending more and more time in the USA before finally settling in California where she died in Sylvia continued to campaign for a variety of causes. In the 1930s she became involved in Ethiopian politics and was a fervent supporter of Haile Selassie. She eventually moved there with her son Richard, and died in The wartime periodical publishing of the Pankhursts makes fascinating reading. It is difficult to say for sure what kind of public impact it made, but these women, constantly in the public eye, with extraordinary force of personality, must have been difficult to ignore. Much of their writing articulates views which are uncomfortable in their extremism, particularly for the modern reader. But what also emanates from the pages is a strongly discernible sense of sincerity; of undeniable passionate belief. Whether it is the patriotic zeal of Britannia or the socialist radicalism of The Woman s Dreadnought, these weekly papers illustrate the rich and varied ideas and attitudes to the First World War expressed and widely consumed by feminists, by New Women throughout Britain. Notes [1] Christabel Pankhurst (1914) The War, The Suffragette, 7 August, p [2] Ibid. [3] Some breakaway organisations such as the Independent WSPU and the United Suffragists continued to campaign throughout the War. For more 115

15 Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 Angela K. Smith information, see Maroula Joannou & June Purvis (Eds) (1998) The Women s Suffrage Movement: new feminist perspectives (Manchester: Manchester University Press). For recent discussion of the Pankhurst women and the First World War see June Purvis (2002) Emmeline Pankhurst: a biography (London: Routledge), chapters 19, 20 and 21. [4] Christabel felt that the socialist aims of the ILP were often at odds with those of the women s suffrage campaign, with their prioritisation of the needs of working men. [5] The Women s Freedom League continued to campaign for the vote and to argue for peace. Other notable suffragists, among them Catherine Marshall, became leading pacifist agitators. [6] Boris Mirsky (1917) Mrs Pankhurst, The Suffragette, Britannia, 10 August, p. 78. This article was part of the coverage of Mrs Pankhurst s 1917 visit to Russia. [7] For more on Emmeline Pankhurst, see June Purvis s article in this issue. [8] The name was changed to The Workers Dreadnought in 1917 when the ELFS became the Workers Suffrage Federation, illustrating the alternative emphasis of Sylvia Pankhurst s work. [9] For further information, see J.M. Winter (1988) The Experience of World War I (London: Guild). [10] It is interesting to note that this issue was published at a crucial time in the War. It pre-dates the last German offensive by just three weeks, and corresponds with the serious acceleration in the deployment of American troops; two events which were to be decisive in concluding the War. [11] On 18 March 1916 the East London Federation of Suffragettes became the Workers Suffrage Federation, indicating the prominence of socialist tendencies within Sylvia Pankhurst s association. [12] For an example of such a voice, see Sybil Oldfield s contribution to this issue. [13] Christabel Pankhurst (1917) No Compromise Peace, Britannia, 3 August, p. 72. [14] Ibid. [15] The peace treaty was signed on 28 June 1919 at the Palace of Versailles and imposed bitter penalties on the defeated Germany. A further five treaties were signed in the fourteen months following the Treaty of Versailles. See Winter, Experience of World War I, p See also Alan Sharpe (1991) The Versailles Settlement: peacemaking in Paris 1919 (Basingstoke: Macmillan); Eric Hobsbawm (1994) The Short Twentieth Century (London: Joseph Michael). [16] Patriots versus Pacifists, Britannia, 5 April 1917, p [17] Ibid. [18] Sylvia Pankhurst (1914) The War Cure, The Woman s Dreadnought, 29, 3 October, p

16 THE PANKHURSTS AND THE WAR Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 [19] Sylvia Pankhurst (1915) The East End Air Raid, The Woman s Dreadnought, 2.12, 5 June, p [20] Many of Britain s cities were bombed during the First World War. From 1915 onwards the danger came in the form of the Zeppelins, giant airships. From 1917 two-engined Gotha aircraft took over the task. Civilian casualties were generally light, but the East End of London suffered particularly, perhaps because of the close proximity of the munitions factories and the docks. [21] Pankhurst, The East End Air Raid, p [22] Ibid. [23] Ibid. [24] When William Comes to London, Britannia, 24 August 1917, p. 96. Originally from Punch. [25] Patriotism is Not Enough, The Woman s Dreadnought, 18 December 1915, p [26] See Kabi Hartman s discussion of suffragette use of Christian iconography in this issue. [27] Millicent Fawcett, a prominent leader of the National Union of Women s Suffrage Societies and an internationalist, found it difficult to support the War itself. But despite this she urged women to use it as an opportunity to prove themselves worthy of citizenship. For more information, see Ray Strachey, (1989) The Cause, p. 338 (London: Virago; first published 1928). [28] Christabel Pankhurst (1917) Shop Stewards, Britannia, 6.27, 7 December, pp. 209, 216. From a speech in the Aeolian Hall, 4 December [29] Ibid. [30] Ibid. [31] Ibid. [32] Ibid. [33] It may be significant that it is not always clear where Sylvia s statistical evidence originates. [34] Sylvia Pankhurst (1916) Lloyd George in Wonderland, The Woman s Dreadnought, 2.48, 19 February, p For The Dreadnought, Lloyd George seems to be a figure equivalent to Herbert Asquith for Britannia. [35] Ibid. [36] Ibid. [37] Sylvia Pankhurst s organisation had set up mother and baby clinics and nurseries such as the Mother s Arms and ran a variety of other programmes to provide welfare and support for women and children in Poplar and Bow and surrounding districts. For further information, see Sylvia Pankhurst (1987) The Home Front (London: Hutchinson; first published 1932). 117

17 Downloaded by [ ] at 08:24 24 December 2017 Angela K. Smith [38] Emmeline Pankhurst (1918) War until the Victory, Britannia, 5 April, p [39] Ibid. ANGELA K. SMITH is a lecturer in English at the University of Plymouth, Douglas Avenue, Exmouth EX8 2AT, United Kingdom (aksmith@ plymouth.ac.uk). Her publications include Women s Writing of the First World War: an anthology (Manchester University Press, 2000) and The Second Battlefield: women, the First World War and modernism (Manchester University Press, 2000), as well as articles and reviews. She is currently working on a book exploring suffrage discourse and the First World War and editing a collection of essays on gender and warfare. 118