The History of International Women’s Day:

March 8th marks the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day.  For the next few weeks we will focus on different aspects of what this day means.

How did International Women’s Day get started?

In 1869 British MP and philsopher John Stuart Mill was the first person in the Parliament of the United Kingdom to call for women’s right to vote.

On September 19, 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to give women the right to vote. Women in other countries did not enjoy this equality and campaigned for justice for many years.

Women's Suffrage Poster, 1912

Clara Zetkin

In 1910 a second International Conference of Working Women was held in Copenhagen.  A woman named Clara Zetkin (Leader of the ‘Women’s Office’ for the Social Democratic Party in Germany) tabled the idea of an International Women’s Day. She proposed that every year in every country there should be a celebration on the same day – a Women’s Day – to press for their demands. The conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, representing unions, socialist parties, working women’s clubs, and including the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament, greeted Zetkin’s suggestion with unanimous approval; International Women’s Day was the result.

The very first International Women’s Day was launched the following year by Clara Zetkin on March 19th (not 8 March which is now the official day of recognition). The date was chosen because on March 19th in the year of the 1848 revolution, the Prussian king recognized for the first time the strength of the armed people and gave way before the threat of a proletarian uprising. Among the many promises he made, which he later failed to keep, was the introduction of votes for women.

Women's Suffrage Postacard, 1915

Plans for the first International Women’s Day demonstration were spread by word of mouth and in the press. During the week before International Women’s Day two journals appeared: The Vote for Women in Germany and Women’s Day in Austria. Various articles were devoted to International Women’s Day: ‘Women and Parliament’, ‘The Working Women and Municipal Affairs’, ‘What Has the Housewife got to do with Politics?’, and more. The articles thoroughly analyzed the question of the equality of women in the government and in society. All articles emphasized that it was absolutely necessary to make parliament more democratic by extending the franchise to women.

Next week: Ways you can celebrate International Women’s Day.

Research from International Women’s Day.

Other interesting articles: International Women’s Day, A Militant Celebration

Women’s Suffrage Poster and Postcard Courtesy of Dana Graves

Clara Zetkin Photo Courtesy of Lourdes Muñoz Santamaria