Independence and Partition

Independence and Partition

Exam Advice: generalAnswer the question, and the question only. Everything else is a waste of time.Always try to provide solid information: Who, what, where, when, why.Allocate a maximum time limit for each question. If you are not done in time, move on.Prioritise clarity: clear, separate paragraphs for each idea; short direct sentences.Dont give up: if you dont understand the text, read it over again and again (you have nothing to lose).Write your name on top!!!!

Exam Advice: English usageGuillemets (>) dont exist in English. does not mean etc. in English.Irish/English = adjective; Ireland/England = noun.Avoid the historic present (e.g. The Industrial Revolution grows quickly). When used with imperfect syntax/context, this simply reads like the the present tense, and is difficult to understand. The historic present is never necessary. Use the past tense to talk about the past.CONJUGATE THE THIRD PERSON, FOR PETES SAKE!Adjectives are never plural in English.No spaces before punctuation (? ; : etc.).Nationalities always get capital letters, even in adjective form.Eliminate these inappropriate phrases: Nowadays, In a nutshell, We can say that.

Aftermath of the Easter RisingThe Rising, and particularly the executions of its leaders, encouraged a new wave of nationalist activism in Ireland. Increasing desperation in World War 1 led the British to finally impose mandatory conscription in Ireland in 1918.At the same time, the Home Rule Bill was passed, which offered the possibility of Home Rule to Ireland but only if Britain won the war. The Home Rule Bill proposed devolution similar to the political status that Scotland and Wales are allowed today.It also proposed to set up to separate parliaments, one for Protestant Ulster, and one for the rest of the Island.Irish nationalists, however, didnt believe that Home Rule would ever be granted, and refused to engage with the British political process.

The Rise of Sinn FinSinn Fin (meaning Us, Ourselves, or We alone) was the political component of the IRB. Its task was to establish a political structure for the new Irish Republic. Sinn Fin members stood for election in the official British system, but when they won seats they refused to sit in the Westminster parliament. In the 1918 election, after the Easter Rising, Sinn Fin won 73 out of a possible 105 parliamentary seats attributed to Irish parties. Instead of taking their seats in Westminster, they proclaimed themselves an independent Irish parliament. This rogue parliament, named Dil ireann (Assembly of Ireland) was not recognised by the British State.The leaders of the Dil were mostly comprised of IRB members, those who had fought in the Easter Rising, and Gaelic Revivalists. The first act of the Dil was to create a Declaration of Independence for the Irish Republic. This initiated a War of Independence against the British state.The I.R.B Volunteer Army was reconstituted as the official Irish Republican Army, or, I.R.A.

Members of the First Dil

Michael Collins, 1916 rebel, became the Dils Minister of Finance

Eamon de Valera, Taoiseach (prime minister)of the Irish Republic

Constance Markievicz became the first woman elected to the UK parliament though she never took her seat, instead becoming Minister for Labour in the Dil.

Douglas Hyde a leading activist for the promotion of the Irish language, would eventually become the first president of the Irish Republic (a ceremonial role).

Irish Declaration of Independence: textWhereas the Irish People is by right a free people:And whereas for seven hundred years the Irish People has never ceased to repudiate and has repeatedly protested in arms against foreign usurpation:And whereas English rule in this country is, and always has been, based upon force and fraud and maintained by military occupation against the declared will of the people:And whereas the Irish Republic was proclaimed in Dublin on Easter Monday, 1916, by the Irish Republican Army, acting on behalf of the Irish People:And whereas the Irish People is resolved to secure and maintain its complete independence in order to promote the common weal, to re-establish justice, to provide for future defence, to ensure peace at home and good will with all nations, and to constitute a national policy based upon the peoples will with equal right and equal opportunity for every citizen:And whereas at the threshold of a new era in history the Irish electorate has in the General Election of December, 1918, seized the first occasion to declare by an overwhelming majority its firm allegiance to the Irish Republic:Now, therefore, we, the elected Representatives of the ancient Irish People in National Parliament assembled, do, in the name of the Irish Nation, ratify the establishment of the Irish Republic and pledge ourselves and our people to make this declaration effective by every means at our command:We ordain that the elected Representatives of the Irish People alone have power to make laws binding on the people of Ireland, and that the Irish Parliament is the only Parliament to which that people will give its allegiance:We solemnly declare foreign government in Ireland to be an invasion of our national right which we will never tolerate, and we demand the evacuation of our country by the English Garrison:We claim for our national independence the recognition and support of every free nation in the world, and we proclaim that independence to be a condition precedent to international peace hereafter:In the name of the Irish People we humbly commit our destiny to Almighty God Who gave our fathers the courage and determination to persevere through long centuries of a ruthless tyranny, and strong in the justice of the cause which they have handed down to us, we ask His Divine blessing on this the last stage of the struggle we have pledged ourselves to carry through to freedom.The Declaration of Independence adopted by Dil ireann, Dublin, Ireland, 21st January, 1919.

The War of IndependenceWhile the Dil had proclaimed the Republic in 1919, it was unrecognised by the British State.Ireland was still managed by a unionist police force (the Royal Irish Constabulary) and some 50,000 British soldiers (five times more than in metropolitan Britain). It was seen as the job of these police and the stationed military to crush the new Irish Republican Army.To aid this suppression, the British sent additional troops to Ireland mostly veterans from World War 1, who signed on as paid mercenaries. Since there was no official uniform for this hastily constructed army, they wore a combination of black and tan coloured fatigues. They thus became known as the Black and Tans. The result was a guerrilla war between the IRA, making secret ambushes on the authorities, and the Black and Tan troops, who led a terrorising campaign of intimidation, often burned entire towns suspected of colluding with the rebels.The Black and Tans were particularly brutal in their methods, and greatly fuelled the first of anti-British nationalism in Ireland.

Black and Tans in Dublin after an IRA attack

Black and Tan War as depicted in 2007 film The Wind that Shakes the Barley. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bVyy2m4oSk

Black and Tan Attack on Croke Park, 1920 as Depicted in the 1990s film Michael Collins The shootings were in reprisal for the recent murder of British spies by the IRA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOiQRkK1tyg

Black and Tans Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bVyy2m4oSk

The Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921After three years of guerilla war, international opinion had largely sided with Ireland.In 1921, the British government, headed by Prime Minister David Lloyd George at the time, offered a truce with the Dil and the IRA. The truce proposed that Ireland leave the United Kingdom, and become a Free State within the empire much like Australia or Canada. The northern, protestant province of Ulster was to be given the choice: it could join the new Irish Free State, or remain in the United Kingdom.

Problems with the treatyMany nationalists opposed the treaty immediately, since it did not establish Ireland as an independent republic, but as a Free State in the Commonwealth (i.e. it would still be part of the British Empire).Being part of the commonwealth meant that Irish citizens would still be under the jurisdiction of the British monarch, which many saw as treason to the nationalist cause. This meant, for example, that the Dils government ministers would have to swear an oath of allegiance to the British king. It also meant that the British could use Irish sea ports during war time.The choice for Ulster to remain in the UK or join the new Free State was obvious: the majority in Ulster were Unionist Protestants with a deep fear of being ruled by a majority Catholic republic. It was almost certain that they would choose to remain in the UK.This meant that if the treaty was signed, the island would be split in two.

Signing the TreatyMichael Collins, the Dils minister for finance, travelled to London to negotiate the treaty with Westminster.He signed the treaty, believing that further independence could be achieved in the future. The treaty established a Free State Government, referred to as Saorstt ireann. Ulster, as predicted, immediately voted to stay in the UK diving the island into Saorstat Eireann and Northern Ireland.

Opposing the Treaty The then-Taoiseach (prime minister) of the Dil, Eamon de Valera, opposed the treaty entirely.He refused to co-operate with the Free State Government, and instead continued to assert Republican claims. This spit in the Nationalist movement led to a year-long civil war in the new Free State.

The Civil War and its outcomesThe Civil war was a bloody conflict, which left deep political divisions in Ireland.The pro-treaty side preferred to work for full independence through long-term negotiation, while the anti-treaty side wanted to continue the war of independence until full Republic status was gained.After a year of fighting, the two sides entered the Free State government with the express aims of expelling all British power from the country.

Eamon De Valera and Fianna Fil

Eamon De Valera and the New RepublicDe Valera had fought in the 1916 rising and in the war of independence, and had become the first Taoiseach (prime minister) of the Dil. After the Civil War, he created Fianna Fil as a Republican party in the Free State. The party immediately gained majority control of the parliament and set about systematically removing British claims to Ireland from the constitution. In 1932: they abolished the Oath of Allegiance. Irish ministers no longer had to recognise the British Monarch.In 1932, too, they removed the office of governor general. The British no longer had any political representative in the Free State.In 1937, the President of Ireland titled Uachtarn na h-ireann replaced the British monarch as the head of state. All references to the British monarch were removed from the new constitution of the Free State. The name of the country was now changed from the Irish Free State to ire, and independent sovereignty was proclaimed.Irish was proclaimed the official language of the state, and English recognised as a secondary, foreign language.In 1939, De Valera declared the country neutral and refused to fight with the British in WWII.In 1949, the Free State government formally left the British Empire and Commonwealth, and changed its name to the Republic of Ireland. This removed all British political authority south of the border. The New constitution also reasserted claims to Northern Ireland as part of the new republic.

Free State National Anthem (Later National Anthem of the Republic of Ireland) as shown on the new Irish state media in the 1960s: Telifs ireann.

Lyrics to Anthem and TranslationSinne Fianna Fil,[fn 1]at faoi[fn 2]gheall ag irinn,Buon dr sluathar toinn do rinig chugainn,Faoi mhid bheith saorSeantr r sinsear feasta,N fhgfar faoin torn n faoin trill.Anocht a tham sa bhearna baoil,Le gean ar Ghaeil, chun bis n saoil,[fn 3]Le gunna scrach faoi lmhach na bpilar,Seo libh canadh amhrn na bhfiannA bhuon nach fann d'fhuil Ghaeil is Gall T sceimhle 's scanradh i gcrothe nmhadRoimh ranna laochra r dtredtinte is trith gan sprach anoisSin luisne ghl sa spir anoirS an bobha i raon na bpilar agaibhSeo libh, canadh Amhrn na bhFiannSoldiers are we,whose lives are pledged to Ireland,Some have comefrom a land beyond the wave,Sworn to be free,no more our ancient sireland,Shall shelter the despot nor the slave.Tonight we man the "bearna baoil",[fn 4]In Erin's cause, come woe or weal,Mid cannon's roar and rifles' peal,We'll chant a soldier's songSons of the Gael! Men of the Pale!The long watched day is breaking;The serried ranks of InisfailShall set the Tyrant quaking.Our camp fires now are burning low;See in the east a silv'ry glow,Out yonder waits the Saxon foe,So chant a soldier's song.

Ireland v. England Croke Park 2007https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSH7GxQtLn4

The Presidents Residence ras an Uachtaran (formerly vice-regal lodge)

The new Dail buildings

The Republic and WWIIOn the outbreak of World War II, Eamon De Valera caused enormous controversy by declaring neutrality for the Free State.Neutrality was essential, in De Valeras mind, for maintaining the Independent Free state.Following 1916, the War of Independence, and the Civil War, the Free State Irish population was not only full of hatred for Britain, but was also divided on the subject of partition. De Valera feared that if he asked the Irish to fight with the British army, that another civil war would break out and that the new state would collapse. Since Northern Ireland, still in the UK, did fight in the war, the neutrality considerably solidified political separation between the two parts of the Island. Declaration of Neutrality was a deliberate assertion of Irish independence from any British authority. After the War, Churchill tried to counter this by declaring that if he had needed Ireland to fight, he would have re-invaded the Free State.

Churchill on Irish Neutrality, 1945The sense of envelopment, which might at any moment turn to strangulation, lay heavy upon us. We had only the northwestern approach between Ulster and Scotland through which to bring in the means of life and to send out the forces of war. Owing to the action of Mr. de Valera, so much at variance with the temper and instinct of thousands of southern Irishmen, who hastened to the battlefront to prove their ancient valor, the approaches which the southern Irish ports and airfields could so easily have guarded were closed by the hostile aircraft and U-boats.This was indeed a deadly moment in our life, and if it had not been for the loyalty and friendship of Northern Ireland we should have been forced to come to close quarters with Mr. de Valera or perish forever from the earth. However, with a restraint and poise to which, I say, history will find few parallels, we never laid a violent hand upon them, which at times would have been quite easy and quite natural, and left the de Valera Government to frolic with the German and later with the Japanese representatives to their heart's content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UseZIQ5UlU8