From the middle of the nineteenth century many women campaigned peacefully to obtain the right to vote In British elections. They organised themselves into groups, held meetings, sent petitions to Parliament and tried to persuade MPs to change the law to enable them to vote. However, the government ignored their idea. In 1903, the campaign for the right of women to vote took an important new turn. That year Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) and her daughters, Christabel and Sylvia, started the Women's Social and Political Union in Manchester with the motto 'Deeds not words'. They were referred to as the "Suffragettes". The Pankhursts and their supporters declared that the situation was so serious that they would have to pursue extreme measures of civil disobedience. They campaigned tirelessly and sometimes violently to achieve their aim: chaining themselves to the railings outside Parliament, disrupting political meetings and even committing acts of arson. Many women were imprisoned and, when they went on hunger strike, were force-fed. In 1913 Emily Davison died for the cause, when, at a horse race, she rushed out on to the course and stepped in front of the King's horse. In 1914 the First World War broke out. In the interests of national unity the Suffragettes suspended their campaign of direct civil action. Instead, they urged women to take over men's jobs, so that the men could go and fight in the war. Women were able to prove how indispensable they were in the fields and armaments factories. In March 1918 the government gave in to the pressure, and passed a law giving women over 30 the right to vote. Later that year it allowed women over 21 to become Members of Parliament, but they still couldn't vote in elections if they were under 30! It would take a further ten years to amend the age qualification and put men and women on an equal footing. *Read the passage and answer the questions. 1. What was the result of the nineteenth-century campaign to gain the vote for women? 2.Who established the Women's Social and Political Union? 3. What happened when the women went on hunger strike? 4. Why were the Suffragettes in charge of men's jobs in 1914? 5. What was strange about the position of women MPs between 1918 and 1928?