ABSTRACT
In the final years before the outbreak of the First World War, many of the more militant members of the campaign for women's suff rage already believed themselves to be at war. Having argued, constitutionaIly, for more than half a century, that women were entitled to equal citizenship with men, they had concluded that a belligerent motion was the only way forward. Real war interrupted the proceedings. Imprisoned suffrage 'soldiers' found themselves free again. The very citizenship for which they had already fought so bravely was under threat. As British men flowed over the channel to confront the new enemy, what should British women do at horne? Suddenly the old enemy didn't appear so bad. Should they carry on the fight or switch allegiance? How did the arena of internal political wrangling relate to the external world of international and imperial conflict?
