Editing Edwardian era (section)

====Women's suffrage====
{{Further|Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom}}
As middle-class women rose in status, they increasingly supported demands for a political voice.<ref>Martin Pugh, ''Women's suffrage in Britain, 1867–1928'' (1980).</ref><ref>[[June Purvis]], "Gendering the Historiography of the Suffragette Movement in Edwardian Britain: some reflections." ''[[Women's History Review]]'' 22#4 (2013): 576–590.</ref> There was significant support for woman suffrage in all the parties, but the Liberal Party was in control after 1906 and a handful of its leaders, especially [[H. H. Asquith]], blocked it.<ref>{{cite book|author=Martin Roberts| title=Britain, 1846–1964: The Challenge of Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gwc0Rlq8al4C&pg=RA1-PT80|year=2001|publisher=Oxford UP|page=8|isbn=9780199133734}}</ref>

There were numerous organisations which did their work quietly. After 1897, they were increasingly linked together by the [[National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies]] (NUWSS) led by [[Millicent Fawcett]]. However, front page publicity was seized by the [[Women's Social and Political Union]] (WSPU). Founded in 1903, it was tightly controlled by the three Pankhursts, [[Emmeline Pankhurst]] (1858–1928), and her daughters [[Christabel Pankhurst]] (1880–1958) and [[Sylvia Pankhurst]] (1882–1960).<ref>Jane Marcus, ''Suffrage and the Pankhursts'' (2013).</ref>

It specialised in highly visible publicity campaigns such as large parades. This had the effect of energising all dimensions of the suffrage movement. While there was a majority of support for suffrage in Parliament, the ruling Liberal Party refused to allow a vote on the issue; the result of which was an escalation in the suffragette campaign. The WSPU, in dramatic contrast to its allies, embarked on a campaign of violence to publicise the issue, even to the detriment of its own aims.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/womens-history/suffrage/|title=The Struggle for Suffrage {{!}} Historic England| last=England| first=Historic| website=historicengland.org.uk|access-date=2017-10-03}}</ref><ref>Melanie Phillips, ''The Ascent of Woman: A History of the Suffragette Movement and the Ideas behind it'' (Abacus, 2004).</ref>