At the beginning of the 20th century, the voice of a Briton rose to demand the right to vote for women. In this new episode of "At the heart of history", produced by Europe 1 Studio, Jean des cars paints a portrait of a determined woman who was at the origin of the suffragette movement in Great Britain: Emmeline Pankhurst.
They fought a long fight for the right to vote. On the occasion of women's rights day, Jean des cars reviews the history of these British people who, at the beginning of the 20th century, overturned the patriarchal order. In this new episode of "At the Heart of History", produced by Europe 1 Studio, discover the story of British suffragists and their leader, Emmeline Pankhurst.
Minister of the Interior of the British Government, Herbert Gladstone (son of a Prime Minister of Queen Victoria) had challenged the suffragettes. In a speech to Parliament, he explained that in all the great crises of the 19th century, the results could only be obtained because the supporters of the reforms met by tens of thousands throughout the country.
He added, recklessly: "Women should not be expected to gather such crowds, but power belongs to the crowd and through this power a government can be pushed into action more effectively than under current conditions. "
A demonstration in the heart of London
In this way, the minister thought he would close the ceaseless demands of suffragettes to obtain the right to vote for women. It was to underestimate the president of the Social and Political Union of Women, Emmeline Pankhurst.
She immediately decides to take up the challenge. It fixes June 21, 1908 as the date of a huge demonstration in Hyde Park, in the heart of London. The largest crowd that had gathered there was 72,000. Emmeline is counting on 250,000 ... at least!
During the months preceding the demonstration, the movement spends more than 1,000 pounds on advertisements. London and the main provincial cities of the kingdom are covered with large posters. They represent the women who will chair the platforms from which speeches will be made. They also post the routes by which the seven processions must pass. For weeks, a small army of activists wrote chalk ads on the sidewalks. They distribute leaflets, go door to door to convince women to move. The movement invites everyone, including members of both Houses of Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
A few days before the demonstration, a certain Mrs. Drummond rents and decorates a small boat which goes up the Thames to the Parliament of Westminster at the hour when the deputies have a drink with their friends on the terrace. Everyone leaves the tables and gathers at the water's edge where the boat is stopped. In a loud voice, Ms. Drummond invited the Council of Ministers and parliamentarians to join the women's demonstration in Hyde Park. We call the police. But the boat is already far away when it arrives ...
A huge crowd, a triumph
Sunday June 21 is a bright day. The sun is shining on London and the crowd is immense. Let Emmeline Pankhurst speak: "When I climbed on my platform in Hyde Park, I assessed the impressive and innumerable crowds arriving from all directions, I was filled with astonishment mixed with fears. I never could have imagined possible to bring together so many people for a political demonstration. It was a grandiose spectacle, happy and magnificent, because the white dresses and the women's hats, trimmed with flowers, gave the park the appearance of a vast garden in full bloom " .
Bugles sound. They announce the speeches of the speakers of each of the twenty platforms. Without a microphone, only a third or half of the audience can hear the speeches. Despite everything, the public remains until the end. At 5 p.m., the bugles sound the end of the interventions. The big demonstration disperses after shouting three times: "Vote for women!".
Not an incident disturbs the dispersion. The next day, The Times writes: "The organizers had counted on the presence of 250,000 people. This objective was certainly achieved and probably doubled; it would even be difficult to contradict a person who claims that it has been tripled. As the distances and the number of stars, the facts were beyond the threshold of perception. "
As for the Daily Express, he said: "It is likely that never in England have so many people been gathered in one place; People who, years ago, had seen the great Gladstone protests saw that this was nothing compared to yesterday ". Will the government give in? Not sure ... But who is Emmeline Pankhurst capable of mobilizing so many people around her to defend her cause?
Emmeline Pankhurst: a committed and progressive woman
Emmeline Goulden was born in 1858 in Manchester into a wealthy, progressive and very committed family. One of his earliest childhood memories was that of a fair that was intended to raise funds to alleviate the misery of black slaves newly emancipated after the American Civil War. She then assisted her mother with a bag of surprises to collect money. His childhood readings are The Odyssey and The Box of Uncle Tom.
At 15, he was sent to Paris to complete his studies in a pioneering institution in Europe for the higher education of young girls. She spent four years in this chic and old house on avenue de Neuilly. Back in Manchester with her parents, her father pushed her to work for the Women's Vote Movement. Indeed, since the 1840s, the vote of women was defended by politicians like Disraeli and the philosopher John Stuart Mill. But Prime Minister Gladstone and Queen Victoria were fiercely opposed to it.
The first suffragette movement, these women asking for their right to vote, was founded in 1865 by Doctor Pankhurst, a lawyer, who ardently defended women attempting, in 1868, in Manchester, to register on the electoral lists. He's a friend of Emmeline's family. And she married him in 1879. She was then 21 years old. She deeply loves her husband, older than her. They will have four children. The two older children, Christabelle and Silvia, will later be their mother's collaborators.
But in 1898, her husband died. Emmeline has to take care of her four children alone. She has to work. She was appointed to the Civil Registry office for births and deaths in Manchester. The neighborhood in which she works is a working class neighborhood. She sees misery up close and realizes the sad condition of little girls in this working class city. She says she saw 13-year-old girls come to her office to register the births of their babies. In many cases, she discovers that the person responsible is the girl's own father or a close relative ...
Emmeline is aware that she must continue her husband's work. For her, only the right to vote of women will allow them to influence political decisions. After having militated with the Labor Party then with the Liberal Party, she realizes that only the men take the decisions.
This is what decides her to found, in October 1903, the Social and Political Union of Women, free from any affiliation to a party. Their motto is: "Actions, not words!" And their goal is to get the right to vote. They will be the walking wing of suffragettes.
Emmeline Pankhurst enters the campaign
They start by harassing politicians during their meetings. Still on the question of the female vote. One of their favorite targets is young Winston Churchill. In 1905, Emmeline's daughter, Christabelle, became his assistant, as well as a young girl, a textile worker, Annie Kenney. Very quickly, they realize that it is in London that the policy is made. They decide to settle there. They are trying to reach members of the government.
And as they are refused entry to Parliament, Christabelle and Annie begin to harangue the crowd. They are arrested, tried and given a week in prison. As a result, prison becomes the main threat that the government uses to silence the suffragettes.
On February 19, 1906, the first demonstration for the suffrage of women took place in London. Between 300 and 400 women, workers from the East End but also women from the bourgeoisie and certain aristocrats are with them. The Social and Political Union of Women sees an increase in membership. Any woman can become a member by paying a shilling. They must agree to adhere to their program and not to work for any political party, until the vote of women is obtained. Their interventions during election campaigns are often aimed at preventing the election of Liberal candidates who do not support them. They are successful but often also, they are ridiculed ...
They regularly go to Parliament to present messages to the Prime Minister asking him to intervene on their behalf. Failure is constant. Their desire to remain in place led to reprisals and arrests. But nothing discourages them!
Emmeline and daughter imprisoned
To mark a big blow, they decide to organize the big demonstration in Hyde Park, in June 1908, the one I told you about at the beginning of our story. As the Cabinet does not budge, Emmeline and her daughter Christabelle organize a large meeting in Trafalgar Square where they speak on the base of the Nelson monument. There is a crazy world! Even Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, ie Minister of Finance, attends! The police too, of course, who take notes during women's speeches. The next day, October 12, the mother and daughter are arrested. They are charged with committing an illegal act by distributing a leaflet calling on the public to rush to the House of Commons at 7:30 p.m. on October 15.
The trial takes place the next day. Christabelle, indicted, makes her first legal argument! She first asks to be tried before a jury because she considers herself a political prisoner. The magistrate refuses. At the next hearing, the first witness is Minister Lloyd George. Christabelle, who is still pleading, asks if in the speeches he heard at Trafalgar Square there were calls for violence or the destruction of property. The accused ridicules the minister! The trial still lasts several days.
And before the verdict, Emmeline asks to speak: "Our principle has always been to be patient, to show restraint, to show our so-called superiors that we are not hysterical, not to use violence but rather to offer ourselves to the violence of others ... We are here, not because we are outlaws, but we are here to become legislators. "
The statement brought tears to the public but the ruthless judge sentenced Emmeline, Mrs. Drummond and Christabelle to three months in prison in Holloway prison, north of London.
Petitions and hunger strike
The prison trial is tough for Emmeline. Inmates are only allowed one walk a day in the courtyard, in single file, one meter between them. They are forbidden to speak to each other. For Emmeline, it's unbearable not being able to talk to her daughter. After a fortnight, she rebels. She joins Christabelle in the courtyard, takes her by the arm. They start talking. The other prisoners applaud this audacity. All were sentenced to three days of isolation. For Emmeline, it's worse: fifteen days of isolation without a walk and without a chapel.
Ms. Drummond, sick, is transferred to the hospital. She recounts the mutiny of Emmeline and her punishment. Immediately, thousands of suffragettes parade around Holloway singing and shouting their support. The government yields: Emmeline and her daughter will be able to speak one hour a day, during the walk. They were released on December 8, 1908.
1909 will be, for the suffragette movement, a year of hopes and new disappointments. They decide to exercise the right of petition, enshrined in the Constitution since the 17th century. The delegation that comes to present the petition to the Prime Minister in June receives a negative response. The suffragettes refuse to leave Parliament. New arrest, new trial for Emmeline. This time, she will not go to jail. The other women, who demonstrated and smashed windows, are arrested. They will use a new weapon: the hunger strike.
This begins in July 1909. The strikers are more and more numerous. But as always, the government finds the solution: we are going to force-feed them, using a rubber tube inserted into their stomachs! It's a real torture ... Many doctors protest indignantly. A petition, signed by 116 famous practitioners, is addressed to the Prime Minister. They protest against the practice of forced feeding. They demonstrate, in detail, its grave dangers.
Emmeline Enthuses the United States
On October 27, 1909, Emmeline Pankhurst arrived in New York. She gives a lecture at Carnegie Hall. And she is hailed as a heroine. Likewise in Boston, Chicago and then in Canada. At this time, the movement for the vote of the women in the United States is in decline. Emmeline stimulates her listeners to resume fighting.
Back in London in December, Emmeline goes on the attack again. The death of King Edward VII seems to create an atmosphere conducive to concessions on all difficult questions, including the political emancipation of women. Events in support of this text are organized at the Albert Hall. A bill is drafted. But it will be another disappointment. There was a demonstration, this time violent: Black Friday, November 18, was suppressed by numerous arrests.
A long way to victory
In 1912, Emmeline was arrested again and released after starting a new hunger strike. Following feminist attacks, she was arrested again and this time sentenced to three years in prison in 1913. The First World War ended the suffragette demonstrations. Emmeline encourages them to participate in the war effort and to engage in the auxiliary services of the army. The long-awaited right to vote for women was finally granted in 1918, even if they had to be 30 years old, compared with 21 for men.
Emmeline Pankhurst then renounces his presidency of the movement. She will be a candidate for the Conservative Party in the House of Commons. She died in London in 1928 when a new law gave women complete electoral equality with men. She could die. She had won her fight.
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"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast
Author and presentation: Jean des Cars
Project manager: Adèle Ponticelli
Realization: Guillaume Vasseau
Diffusion and edition: Clémence Olivier
Graphics: Europe 1 Studio