How one group changed history

British women won the right to vote 100 years ago after an intense struggle marked by a violent fringe campaign that shocked the country but helped to change the world.

On February 6, 1918, the Representation of the People Bill became law and added to the voting roll around eight million women who were aged over 30 and met other conditions.

It was not until 1928 that British women gained the same voting rights as men, but the 1918 act was a major step towards it.

Among those involved in the decades-long British campaign, the Suffragettes stand out for militant actions that were unprecedented at the time.

Suffragettes chained themselves to railings, broke shop windows and blew up post boxes as part of their fight. They cut electricity lines, disrupted meetings and even bombed the house of a government minister.

It was a deliberate move into militancy preached by Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) which became known as the Suffragrettes.

In the most shocking act, Suffragette Emily Davison became a martyr to the cause when she was killed throwing herself under the king's horse at the 1913 Derby.

Hundreds of Suffragettes were jailed for their actions but they continued their protest in prison by refusing to eat. Many were force fed. Pankhurst was jailed and released 11 times.

Some historians credit the role of women in World War I as more important in securing voting rights than militant activism.

But in 1999 Time magazine named Pankhurst as one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century noting “the militant campaign was absolutely essential to moving the vote forward”.

When World War I broke out in 1914, Pankhurst called a halt to the militant campaign in support of the government's war effort.

Women stepped into crucial jobs vacated by men sent to fight. In a revolution of their role in society, they worked in fields, factories and beyond.

As the war wound down, the first steps towards equal right votes were allowed.