Polish women's journey to suffrage 1. Polish Women's Convention The first public Polish Women's Convention for women of all three partitions is held as early as 1905 in Kraków, resolving to advocate "gender-neutral suffrage". Such demand is made to the political parties of the day.The female activists mostly believe that the lack of gender equality is the effect of statelessness and the partitioners' policy of suppressing the Polish national identity; therefore, the path to change leads through the fight for the national cause., 2. Women's League of War Aid The year 1913 sees the establishment of the Women's League of War Aid in the Russian Poland, a pro-independence organisation championing for equal rights for women and men in an independent Polish state.The founders are Iza Moszczeńska and Zofia Daszyńska–Golińska. Since 1915, the Women's League of Galicia and Teschen Silesia has operated in the Austrian Partition (led by Zofia Moraczewska and Dorota Kłuszyńska).Both organisations merge in 1917 into the first Polish mass women's organisation, which is still active today., 3. World War I World War I accelerates women's emancipation but puts the fight for suffrage on halt as suffragettes across Europe largely quit protesting and support their countries. Likewise, the Polish women focus on the fight for independence.However, when the 1916 draft constitution proposed by the Provisional Council of State of the Kingdom of Poland (under the authority of the Central Powers) says nothing about women's suffrage, Justyna Budzińska-Tylicka calls the second Polish Women's Convention. This is the last chance to close ranks., 4. Activists call on Piłsudski In mid-November 1918, a delegation of feminist activists led by Ms Budzińska-Tylicka arrives at the doors of the villa in the Mokotów district of Warsaw where Józef Piłsudski has been staying for a couple of days after his release from the German prison in Magdeburg. They have to make their presence known by knocking on the window panes with their umbrellas. The Marshal receives them with sympathy, although he jokes a bit that women in the Sejm would probably pass a law on prohibition of alcohol.But the women's demands are accepted. His decision may be influenced by Aleksandra Piłsudska, his second wife and a former colleague from the Polish Socialist Party (PPS), associated with the Women's League herself., 5. Women go to polls As the Chief of State, Józef Piłsudski issues a decree on the voting system on 28 November 1918. It contains a provision that "every citizen regardless of their gender shall be an eligible voter". The authorities have a political interest in that move: women's votes can help win the elections but also determine the outcome of territorial plebiscites agreed at Versailles Peace Conference. Half of all eligible female citizens go to polls on 26 January 1919; this is the highest turnout in the history of the Second Polish Republic. However, only 8 females make it to the Parliament, comprising 442 members. They are very active in the field of education, social services and labour law and... they do regulate the production and sale of alcoholic beverages.