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Campaign of Arson 1912

60 second histories

This video covers:  The escalation in militant tactics and some of the acts of arson undertaken to further the cause.

You know it didn’t matter what we did, we were getting nowhere with our protests, so, come nineteen twelve we decided to become more militant, taking direct action and so adopted arson as a tactic.  One thing that members of the government valued more than anything was property so we hit them where it hurt the most.  Over the next two years post boxes all over the country were set on fire, the refreshment house in Regent’s Park was burned to the ground, and a railway carriage was set alight.  We also buried a hatchet into the prime ministers carriage with the slogan ‘votes for women’ inscribed upon it. Other suffragettes used acid to burn ‘votes for women’ into golf courses used by MPs, and in nineteen fourteen one of our members, Mary Richardson, slashed a painting called Rokeby Venus by Velasquez in protest at my imprisonment.  Though our most daring deed had to be on the house being built for Mr Lloyd-George, which was partially blown up, by a bomb.  At last the press was beginning to take notice of our cause.
Eras: 
20th Century
Suffragette Movement
Topics: 
Key people
Suffragette Movement
Character: 
Emmeline Pankhurst
Key words: 
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