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Suffrage 1 Terror campaign
Suffragism becomes terrorism - the Suffragist Terror Campaign of 1912-1913

At first demonstrations by women determined to get the vote were limited to heckling at public meetings and mass public demonstrations. The 'Battle of Parliament Square' however changed things. Mrs Pankhurst, who to a large degree was the WSPU, decided that if men were willing to use such violence against women in peaceful demonstrations, then reciprocal violence was the only way in which they were likely to achieve change. She saw how Republican violence had driven Asquith's government into considering Home Rule, she saw how Sir Edward Carson, a respected politician was actively advocating and supporting public resistance to the will of Parliament and concluded that women needed to take the same approach.

The first steps were tentative. Women shopping in London would suddenly pull from their bags a hammer and smash a shop window, crying 'Votes for Women'. Newspaper reports however dismissed these events as the actions of cranks. Accordingly the level of action was stepped up.

On 1 March 1912, a co-ordinated attack by dozens of women took place across the West End. in Regent Street, Piccadilly, Bond Street, Oxford Street and Trafalgar Square. At precisely 3.00 numerous women began smashing shop windows in Regent Street. As police rushed to the scene, another group struck in Oxford Street, then another in Piccadilly, in Oxford Street, Bond Street and Trafalgar Square. Within an hour the main shopping streets of central London were covered with broken glass. Over the next few weeks similar actions took place in Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin Belfast and many other towns. In early June, the windows of London just repaired were again shattered. Mrs Pankhurst declared that she was ready for sedition, or anything else, so long as it would bring the vote for women. If men came to the House of Commons with plenty of sticks and stones she would be there.

It was these events which prompted the resignation of Lady Charlotte Fitzgerald and many others from the WSPU. Some turned away from the cause altogether, others formed new groups to work alongside men for universal suffrage and for wider social justice. The response of the Pankhursts was typically autocratic, expelling anyone who failed to follow them exactly. In one of her many letters, Lady Charlotte observed drily: ‘Mrs Pankhurst wants us to have votes, but she does not wish us to have opinions.’

On 12 August 1912, the tearooms in Regents Park were damaged by fire. Two days later, the refreshment pavilion at Kew Gardens was burned to the ground. There were sporadic attacks on wood yards and empty buildings for the next couple of months. In October, several suburban railway stations were destroyed by fire and there were numerous fires, some serious, at country houses from the West Country to Norwich, and from Derbyshire to Kent. In November, racecourse stands at Ayr in Scotland and Thirsk in the North Riding were burnt to the ground. Worse was to come.

On the afternoon of 13 December 1912, a police officer noticed a milk can attached to railings outside the Bank of England. As he examined it smoke began to escape from the top. He immediately grabbed the can and plunged it into the water of a fountain outside the nearby Royal Exchange which extinguished the fuse. The bomb, when examined proved to be sophisticated in design. It consisted of a large charge of high explosive surrounded by nails, with a timing mechanism made up of a watch and battery. Had it exploded in that crowded location opposite the Stock Exchange, it would certainly have caused serious injuries and probably deaths.
On 18th February, 1913, a bomb exploded in a house which Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was having built at Walton Heath in Surrey. The building was almost completely destroyed. A few days later, an unexploded bomb was found at Westbourne Park tube station. Over the next few months more bombs were discovered in dozens of locations including St Pauls, the National Gallery, government offices in Whitehall and various post offices. Letters bombs and packages containing dangerous chemicals were also sent; a letter bomb was found addressed to the chief magistrate at Bow Street court and a package containing acids, addressed to Asquith, the Prime Minister, injured a member of staff in Downing Street. Only chance had prevented serious loss of life.

On the afternoon of 11 June 1913, that finally happened. A huge explosion echoed through Westminster Abbey, caused by a bomb packed with iron nuts and bolts and so designed to cause as much damage as possible. It had been planted near the Coronation Chair and went off just as a party of visitors were passing by. In the event, it was something of a miracle that only three died. The blast was partly absorbed by the stonework on an altar was damaged and parts of the coronation chair were blown off.

On 12 July, another attempt was made to plant a bomb in the church of St John the Evangelist, which had already been damaged in an explosion that March. This time the woman planting the bomb was caught red-handed. On the same day however a railway station near Leicester was badly damaged in an explosion, injuring several railwaymen and an explosion occurred on a mail train from Blackpool to Manchester, injuring one and destroying most of the mail being carried.

By now the bombing campaign was exacerbating the stresses in the WSPU caused by the autocratic behaviour of Mrs Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel and the organisation was losing much of its support. Mrs Pankhurst was however undeterred even to the point of expelling Sylvia, her own daughter who had become involved with a group of working-class women and helped them to set up the East London Suffrage Federation. Her sister Christabel told her: ‘You have a democratic constitution for your East London Federation; we do not agree with that … You have your own ideas. We do not want that.”

Although they could not have known it at the time, the disruption being caused at what was already an unstable time, was having a significant impact - but not as they expected. The German Ambassador to London sent a telegram to Berlin saying, in the context of German planning for a possible conflict with Britain:
This country is close to revolution. Across the north of England, in Scotland and in Wales they are hard pressed to deal with communist and anarchist insurgents. In Ireland they face opposition from both the Unionists opposed to Home Rule and the Republicans who demand it. Even their women are in revolt, with several attempts on the life of Asquith and senior members of the Government. At the same time unrest is stirring in their colonies. If we can ensure they are kept occupied in this way, I do not believe England will be willing to face up to Germany in the event of war. They have too much to contend with at home.
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