Rivalry between Catholics and Protestants was tradition in Ulster so the unionists were set in their ways! Few on both sides respected or agreed ewith eachother’s point of view. The protestants political power became threatened and was reduced after the Secret Ballot Act of 1872 and the 1884 Reform act – they were in the majority in the UK yet if Home Rule came into play, they would be in the minority in Ireland. From 1885 to 1886, hr gradually became a greater possibility – this agitated Unionist and Protestants! The Irish Loyal and Patriotic Union was set up in 1885 – to help to fight home rule.
Foster (1989) concurs that the political vacuum created by the war was to the benefit of the rebels, aided by rising nationalist frustrations that Redmond’s Home Rule victory was simply a cheque continually post-dated (MacNeill’s description). Most historians regard Redmond’s speech at Woodenbridge in September 1914, pledging Irish support to the war, as a huge misjudgement. Redmond clearly believed that fighting the war together would unite
Introduction The Great War was critical for a number of reasons, not least for providing the opportunity to Irish Republicans seeking to rebel against British rule in Ireland. However, it would be foolish to ignore the impact of radical ideologies, significant individuals
The events mentioned were only a starting point, with many violent acts to come but they do provide the base of which the Nationalist feeling of unhappiness stems from. The events that lead to the immediate intervention by the British, being the riots of 1968, bloody Sunday and the Omagh bombings all helped to stem the conflict, illustrating that it was at the stage where external intervention was required, and tensions were present because of British imperialist action taken in the 17th century. Without the external intervention, the agreement which solidified the peace, the Belfast or Good Friday agreement, the peace process would have been significantly slower if present at all. Had Britain not have intervened in the Irish conflict for the final time with a true interest in ending the violence, we could well be seeing reports of terrorism on our nightly news broadcast today. To understand how actions in 1541 by the British fuelled the fire of conflict, the background of Irish history needs to be covered.
The Irish uprising of 1916 was the main reason that released Ireland from the British rule since the found rebellion as the only way to fight against home rule. The declaration exposed the aspirations and goals of the rebels. Its chief objective was to proclaim and state the independence of Ireland. It also declared that there was a new form of government. This new document was radical and controversial at the time.
The newly arrived immigrants were also taken advantage of by people who promised jobs, housing, etc. in exchange for money. They had to deal with the high crime rates in the cities and were often left without jobs because of economic changes such as depressions and panics that led to high unemployment. Another problem faced by the Irish was that their expectations and norms were different than those of white, middle class Americans. Most Americans were Protestant and the Irish were Catholic.
This patronage was important because of the threat from political extremists; the government needed a strong army of support that could withstand the persuasions of the extreme left and right winged groups, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the British Union of Fascists (BUF). In European counties such as Russia and Germany they had succumbed to fascism and communism. It could be argued that this takeover of political extremism in both countries was due to the weaknesses in foreign government. After Russia’s 1916 revolution they were left in a vulnerable position without a government meaning they were more susceptible to influences of a communist party who took advantage of the country’s instability therefore the country became communist. Similarly in Germany the economic depression and the downfall of the Weimar Republic left their country in a state of vulnerability that was taken advantage of by the fascist party.
There are also arguments for the plan as a means of defence, suggested by Russian mobilisation and fear of encirclement. In source one, A.J.P. Taylor explains, ‘One essential part of the Schlieffen plan was to go through Belgium’. When this part of the plan is highlighted it suggests that the nature of the plan was highly aggressive and caused reaction from the rest of Europe. The invasion of Belgium broke the treaty of London, meaning the European powers who had signed the treaty were immediately forced in to action.
With politics being a major part of Italian depression it had also taken great affect on Germany as well. With the Germans very upset about the outcome of the Treaty of Versailles and what they had to face they soon realized that their economic and political instability was not as great as it once was. With Hitler’s powerful use of words and the support of the Nazi party they soon began to persuade the people of Germany to
It can be argued that this was down to the work of O’Connell, as he was key in helping the movement build popularity and momentum. The Catholic Associations efforts to rebel against protestant land lords and vote with confidence for pro emancipation MP’s caused an evolution in British parliament, one which would cater to Irish nationalism, especially with the decline and downfall of Lord Liverpool, in 1829, and his replacement of George Canning, a man who was more willing to accept the ideas of Irish Nationalism, especially within the ideals of Catholic equality. Furthermore, it seems that the push from the Catholic association also bore more short term results; particularly that of the “Tory-divide” in which Canning and his followers were met with a large amount of resistance in regards to their leniency towards the Irish Catholics. This was an essential outcome to the efforts of O’Connell and his Catholic movement, as not only did it