Problems Faced by British Government

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What problems did Ireland present to British governments between 1848 and 1900? Between the years 1848 and 1900 the issue of Ireland proved to become a huge thorn in the side of the British governments as tensions grew rapidly after the Great Famine of 1845-1850. With the formation of groups such as the Irish Parliamentary Party, the Land League and the New Departure, greater pressure was placed upon the British governments to recognise the issues over land in Ireland and the desire for self-determination. The British governments also faced problems from the much more revolutionary wing of Ireland in this period as the Irish Republican Brotherhood and the Fenian Brotherhood who were founded in the late 1850s. They were not intimidated by the British government and were willing to use any means necessary to get their point across, as seen through the Fenian Outrages of 1867 and the Phoenix Park Massacre in 1882.The misjudgement and poor decision making from the British governments led to further problems as the issue of Home Rule and Land swept through Ireland causing mass unrest and discontent. The issue of Irish land and economy presented the British governments throughout the period which can be seen through the four different Land Acts brought into legislation. The Young Ireland Rebellion in 1848 introduced the notion of land war between the tenants and the landlords as a fundamental element of liberation, foreshadowing the grim reality of the 1870s. Gladstone had been somewhat hesitant and cautious in his approach to the Land legislation as he did not want to disrupt the current relationship between the landlord and the tenant. In 1860 the passage of the Landlord and Tenant Act (Deasy’s Act) marked an all time low for peasants as landlord-tenant relations were to be no longer based upon tenure or service, but by contract However the first Land Act was a
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