Editing Trafalgar Square (section)

=== Terrorist bombings ===
{{see also|Suffragette bombing and arson campaign}}
The square was the target of two [[suffragette]] bombings in 1913 and 1914. This was as part of the [[suffragette bombing and arson campaign]] of 1912–1914, in which suffragettes carried out a series of politically-motivated bombing and arson attacks nationwide as part of their campaign for [[women's suffrage]].<ref name="BL">{{cite news |title=Suffragettes, violence and militancy |url=https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |access-date=2 October 2021 |work=British Library |archive-date=10 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910203912/https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The first attack occurred on 15 May 1913. A bomb was planted in the public area outside the National Gallery, but failed to explode.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Webb|first=Simon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2RtBQAAQBAJ|title=The Suffragette Bombers: Britain's Forgotten Terrorists|year=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78340-064-5|language=en|page=136}}</ref> A second attack occurred at St Martin-in-the-Fields church at the north-east corner of the square on 4 April 1914. A bomb exploded inside the church, blowing out the windows and showering passers-by with broken glass. The bomb then started a fire.<ref name="Webb"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bearman|first=C. J. |year=2005 |title=An Examination of Suffragette Violence|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3490924|journal=The English Historical Review|volume=120|issue=486|page=391|doi=10.1093/ehr/cei119|jstor=3490924|issn=0013-8266}}</ref> In the aftermath, a mass of people rushed to the scene, many of whom aggressively expressed their anger towards the suffragettes.<ref name="Webb">{{Cite book|last=Webb|first=Simon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2RtBQAAQBAJ|title=The Suffragette Bombers: Britain's Forgotten Terrorists|year=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78340-064-5|language=en|page=xiii}}</ref> Churches were a particular target during the campaign, as it was believed that the [[Church of England]] was complicit in reinforcing opposition to women's suffrage.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Webb|first=Simon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2RtBQAAQBAJ|title=The Suffragette Bombers: Britain's Forgotten Terrorists|year=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78340-064-5|language=en|page=65}}</ref> Between 1913 and 1914, 32 churches were attacked nationwide.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bearman|first=C. J. |year=2005 |title=An Examination of Suffragette Violence|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3490924|journal=The English Historical Review|volume=120|issue=486|page=378|doi=10.1093/ehr/cei119|jstor=3490924|issn=0013-8266}}</ref> In the weeks after the bombing, there were also attacks on [[Westminster Abbey]] and [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref name="BL"/>