Irish independence

It took centuries of struggle and opposition for Ireland to gain its geopolitical independence from the United Kingdom. After many failures and abortive battles, Ireland finally found its salvation in the 20th century. Here’s how it all went down…

20th century Ireland: time for uprising

Context

It’s the early 1910s in Ireland. For centuries, the Emerald Isle has been under the yoke of the British Empire. Ireland was de facto considered an English territory: the British imposed their presence, abused the Irish by depriving them of their most basic civil rights, and exploited the island’s resources for economic gain.

At the time, the territory was fractured by ideological and identity-based conflicts. Firstly, because the Irish are predominantly Catholic (whereas the British are Protestant), but also because the Irish population is exhausted and severely impoverished as a result of British exactions in the past.

Ireland had suffered the Great Famine (1845-1848) a few years earlier. A crisis in which Great Britain was conspicuous by its wilful inaction, causing between 500,000 and 1 million deaths.

A situation that constantly crystallized tensions between the Irish and the British… until the 20th century.

During this period, many Irish intellectuals adopted the nationalist ideology. For them, it’s too much. Ireland was a country that had to win its independence and put an end to English colonial rule.
The time of the Easter uprising in 1916Dublin after the Easter Rising – Public domain

With Europe in the midst of a world war, Irish nationalists decided to foment an insurrection on April 24, 1916. The objective was clear: to seize the strongholds of Dublin, and proclaim the birth of the Irish Republic.

To achieve this, several pro-independence military groups were mobilized: the Irish Citizen Army, the Irish Volunteers Force and the Irish Republican Brotherhood. The three armed groups seized Dublin’s General Post Office, Mendicity Institute and Four Courts, Jacobs cookie factory, Boland mills and Westland Row station.

Patrick Pearse, one of the leaders of the Insurrection, proclaims the Irish Republic…

But unfortunately, the Insurrection didn’t mobilize enough men and women. The British army quickly mobilized, bombarding the independence armies and eventually neutralizing them.

As an example, most of the movement’s leaders were shot, creating indignation and a wind of revolt among the Irish population.
Insurrection leads to war of independenceIrish soldiers during the Civil War – Public domain

Although the Easter uprising failed, it consolidated the anger and will of the nationalists in their drive for independence. The nationalists soon set up a political party called “Sinn Féin”. The latter’s ideology was to achieve Irish independence, and it was immediately declared illegal by the London government.

From then on, nationalist leaders such as Michael Collins and Eamon De Valera decided to take up guerrilla warfare. They then organized attacks and fisticuffs via the armed wing of the IRA, an Irish nationalist militia.

Soon, the whole thing degenerates into a wider conflict. The war of independence broke out in 1919 and ended in 1921. On this date, the London government organizes talks with Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith… It has to be said that the war had cost England dearly: strangled economically, it decided to make concessions.

The “Treaty of London” was then signed, formalizing the creation of an Irish Free State pledging allegiance to England… In exchange, the United Kingdom keeps Ulster (Northern Ireland).

A decision that will not please the entire Irish population. The annexation of the North sounded to many like a scandal and a pure abandonment of a territory that was supposed to be Irish.

A civil war broke out, pitting the Irish against each other between 1922 and 1924. Eamon De Valera opposed Michael Collins, and there were many attacks and war scenes during this period.

By 1924, the war was winding down. The pro-independence movement could no longer cope and resigned itself to the idea of an Ireland split in two.

Much later, in 1931, the Statute of Westminster formalized the independence of the Irish state. The south of the country no longer owes allegiance to Great Britain, and is free from all interference…