"The Women's Marseillaise" was the former

Women's Social and Political Union The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom founded in 1903. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership and p ...

(WSPU) official

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

. It was sung to the tune of

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by the First French Republic against Austria, and was originally titled "". The French Na ...

and included words about

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

written by Florence MacAulay. The song was sung by suffragists in both the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

About

"The Women's Marseillasie" was a former official

of the

(WSPU). The song included words written by Florence MacAulay and was sung using the tune of

. Macauley lead the WSPU office in Edinburgh from 1909 to 1913. The song was sung in many different settings, but most often as a form of protest or solidarity for women's rights in both the

and the

. The song was sung in order to lift the spirits of prisoners in

Holloway Prison HM Prison Holloway was a British prison security categories, closed category prison for adult women and young offenders in Holloway, London, England, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. It was the largest women's prison in western Europe, ...

in 1908. Between 1908 and 1911, the Mascottes Ladies Band often performed "The Women's Marsellaise." In 1913, "The Women's Marsellaise" was sung by a protester in Britain during the trial of two

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

s. In 1911, it was performed at a suffrage rally in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

. Suffragists in

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

also sang "The Women's Marsellaise" at an event in 1917.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Women's Marseillaise, The Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom Women's suffrage in the United States Protest songs Women's Social and Political Union Songs with feminist themes La Marseillaise Feminist anthems

About

See also

References