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GCSE History · key term
Confrontational campaigning intended to put pressure on opponents; in the WSPU campaign this included law-breaking and damage to property.
Used by AQA and OCR
Paper 2
Confrontational campaigning that can involve breaking the law or damaging property to put pressure on those in power.
Revise: Women’s RightsMilitancy made the issue difficult to ignore. In 1912, a window-smashing campaign resulted in thousands of broken windows and more than 200 arrests. Such actions generated publicity and disrupted normal life, increasing pressure on the authorities.
Paper 1
Revise: Campaigns for the voteThe 1912 window-smashing campaign illustrates the scale of militancy: thousands of windows were broken and more than 200 suffragettes were arrested. It attracted attention, but attention was not the same as agreement. Damage to property could alienate people who might otherwise have supported voting rights.
Confrontational campaigning intended to force change, including disruption, window-smashing and, increasingly in the suffragette campaign, attacks on property.
Explain both sides of militancy: it attracted publicity and sympathy, but also provoked opposition and government repression.
Do not treat all campaigners alike: the WSPU intensified militancy, while the NUWSS continued constitutional campaigning and developed links with Labour.
For an evaluation, weigh militancy against other obstacles, including Asquith’s opposition, party calculations and competition from Irish Home Rule.
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