Preview

How Did World War I Contribute To The Conflict In Ireland?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1685 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did World War I Contribute To The Conflict In Ireland?
During the early twentieth century, the armed conflicts that held many people’s attentions were those going on in France, Belgium, and Germany, and rightly so. However, just a couple years after World War One began, the United Kingdom found itself dealing with another conflict within its own borders, the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916. That conflict existed was no surprise, for political tensions had been high even before the beginning of the war, but the actual event itself may have been startling and generated much debate and change. Although the conflict in Europe and the conflict in Ireland are sometimes treated as very separate events, they were closely linked as pre-war tensions, wartime decisions, and changing attitudes affected the build-up of the Rising. At first, it seemed that World War One would bring about unity between conflicting groups, but it also increased division and anger between them, which may have contributed to the Rising. After 1916, the Rising would then go through a similar process of unifying some, dividing others, and possibly contributing to further conflict. At first, when the United Kingdom declared war in 1914, it seemed that the effect it would have on Irish political issues would be positive. With a much larger conflict looming on the horizon, the issue of Home Rule …show more content…
One issue in particular was the apparent hypocrisy of the British policy in that it was prepared to accept Irishmen into an army sent to fight for the freedom of foreign countries, but resisted giving that freedom to the same Irishmen when they returned home. Another problem was dissatisfaction with the terms of Home Rule, which offered only a limited Irish government. These problems and the growing political divisions may have encouraged revolutionary leaders to look for the opportunity to undertake a revolution, and the war provided a very good

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    In considering the process of change in the relationship between Ireland and Great Britain between 1801 and 1921, how far can the 1886 Home Rule Bill be seen as a key turning point?…

    • 1924 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Robert Pearce cites the work of ‘outstanding nationalist leaders joining together to oppose the tyranny of England and compelling her to retreat and abandon most of Ireland’. Whilst O’Connell campaigned for the emancipation of Catholics, uniting them and bringing about political advancement, his significance is questionable; after 1840 he had failed to bring about repeal. In comparison Parnell finally made the image of Home Rule a realistic possibility and Collins who ultimately brought about negotiations of the Anglo-Irish treaty; effectively leading Ireland to freedom. In assessing the significance of the Irish nationalist leaders we must first consider who actually achieved what they set out to, as well as the other factors that undoubtedly had an effect on the relationship between the two nations, such as the effects of the 1916 Easter Rising, and how it lead to the strengthening of Sinn Fein.…

    • 1769 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    When the colonists first came to the Americas they had very little impact on Britain, they expanded the empire, created new trading routes and opportunities between countries, and they were paying taxes to the British. Because of these reasons, the colonies were not a problem in the eyes of the British so they felt no need to pay much attention to them. Leaving the colonists in charge of themselves, and not effectively enforcing many British laws. Thousands of miles of ocean between the two countries also made it difficult to keep track of day to day events. This changed though in 1754 when the seven years’ war started.…

    • 1273 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Easter Rising of 1916 had profound and far-reaching effects on Ireland's subsequent history. It has been referred to as 'The Irish War for Independence' and was the pivotal event in ultimately securing independence for the Republic of Ireland. Many historians describe Easter Rising of 1916 as a disaster, there are several reasons why the revolution failed such as bad organisation, the fact the rising was pre-mature, and Irish were outnumbered by the British forces. The Easter Rising began when armed forced of Irish Republican army took over main building in Dublin the post office, immediately Patrick Pearse emerged from the general post office into the O’Connell street, where he had read an announcement of the Irish Republic to confused gathering of Dubliners. ‘’We hereby proclaim the Irish republic as a sovereign independent state ‘’. The seven member of IRB now describe themselves as provisional government.…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, Britain turned their back on the Memorandum signed by its own Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey. Then, Britain started growing maritime activities concerning the ships to stop trading with Germany and other members of the central Powers. Finally, the treatment of those who were taken into custody after they failed Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916 had greatly irritated the influential Irish-American community on American’s east coast. To many, Britain had lost the virtuous high ground and to some it seemed as if Britain didn't want peace at all. On November 7th, 1916, Wilson had won the presidential election.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For well over a century, there has been political turmoil throughout the Irish isle stemming from the British occupation of Northern Ireland. With this occupation goes a tradition of armed resistance to the British military and other political installations. This tradition generally only found effective expression when large sections of the Irish people, faced with the British government's denial of the legitimate demand for Irish independence, exercised the right to use armed struggle (Coogan 10). The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was formed after the Easter Rising of 1916, which was the first major uprising in Irish history. Their goal was to remove the British from the Irish isle and unite Ireland once and for all under home rule. Although many may consider the IRA to be nothing more than a terrorist faction that has had no political strength and puts its own best interests first, it is clear that their actions have influenced Irish and British politics and that, even through violence, they keep the best interests of their people at heart. To this day, however, the British maintain that their influence is needed in the north and have yet to show any signs of…

    • 2516 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    World War One Imperialism, nationalism, militarism, alliances, and the assassination in a way sort of all cause World War One. But the real question is which one caused the World War One more? We can definitely cross out imperialism and nationalism from being the most impacted on the World War One. Therefore that only leaves the other three that the most impact on World War One. Nationalism means being a supporter of a country’s rules and interest.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Starting around 1870 imperialism amplified and is a major cause of World War I due to the actions and emotions associated with imperialism. Imperialism was the practice of one or more nations trying to control another nation or people, thus reducing or even eliminating their sovereignty. While not all the Great Powers and Serbia hold equal blame, each country felt or stimulated imperialism from 1870 until 1914. To start, England believed that the sun never sets on her empire, thus she believed in the need to continually keep building geographically and militarily. British forces were bold, innovative, and caused irritation and “international friction” (Remak 30). In 1898, English and French forces collided in pursuit of Sudan. Sudan had been held by locals, however, under the rules of European imperialism the land should be controlled by, “...the fittest conqueror” (30).…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great War involved most of the adult population either 'head on' or discretely. On average, 6 million men served in Britain's armed forces during the course of the war. Many millions of innocent civilians had their lives affects to the overall changes, both economic and social that the war caused or added to. The impact of the war varied greatly between the different regions of the sommunity. There were many differences and considerations ; these being gender and social class, so it is had to dinstinguish and measure the war's exact impact on people's attitudes, beliefs and values.…

    • 1672 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Before we can discuss about the topic "Was the First World War a ‘total war '…

    • 2479 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first World War, The Great War, or what many like to call it, was an avoidable war that cost millions of military and civilian lives. The blood of both sides, mixed in the dirt and mud that soaked the uniforms of the sick troops, taking cover in trenches, praying to God that they aren't the ones to be bombed by the next mortar incoming; this barely scratches the surface when describing “The Great War”. World war 1 had many opportunities to end, however even if it didn't, it a least gave everyone in the world an insight on how terrible war is, and how its changed from the past.…

    • 2099 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    World War 1(WW1), also known as the Great War, was one of if not the most horrifying of wars in history. Spanning for 4 years from 1914 to 1918 millions of soldiers were killed. A still debated question however is the cause of the Great War; two major worldly forces grinding against each other or a single bullet fired by a rebellious Bosnian Serb? The 28th of June 1914, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was going to make a speech in Sarajevo, a Bosnian city under Austria-Hungary’s rule, where the Black Hand (a group of nationalist Bosnian Serbs who wanted independence from the Austrian-Hungarian empire) were preparing to assassinate him. He survived the first assassination attempt, but was killed later that day when his driver took a wrong turn…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The war that broke out in 1914 was one of the worst, if not the worst, wars in human history. It had left millions dead and a scar burned into European history forever. However, if we do not identify why war broke out in 1914, stopping others wars will be impossible. Clearly, we may never know the answer to this, but many sources give many interpretations. In this essay, I will try to recognise the key factors that led the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 and try to identify the most significant of these causes.…

    • 2689 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The modern political history of Ireland can be separated into two time periods. The first period is it's time spent under British rule as only one territory of the United Kingdom. The second period, which represents the beginning of the modern Irish state, took place during the early twentieth century. The road to national sovereignty was neither easy nor short as Britain was far from eager to let its dependent state go. The first organized movement towards independence occurred in 1916 when revolutionaries declared Ireland to be free from British rule on Easter of that year. Despite the ultimate failure of this initial push towards freedom Britain eventually granted the southern 26, of 38, counties dominion status in 1921. Further steps were taken in 1937 when Ireland drafted its constitution and was granted full sovereignty. The final phase in southern Ireland's independence came in 1949 when its status as a British commonwealth ended and the nation was declared a republic. However, even after disassociating itself from the United Kingdom the southern counties of Ireland wouldn't be completely satisfied as long as the remaining 6 counties that comprised Northern Ireland were still a part of Britain's empire. The predominantly protestant northern counties of Ireland have been a barrier to peace in the region from the first days of the Republic up to today. These counties are considered as a separate state but can also be considered as the same nation. This topic will be explored in more depth after the explanations of both the current Irish state as well as what can be considered the Irish nation.…

    • 1583 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The change in quality cultural that been made in Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operative and Consumerism one of it is the change of price control act 1946 that has been change to price control act and anti profiteering 2010. This implementation has their steps before you can implement it in the organization. Because to change the culture that been staying there for long time, they need a specific planning and activities for every part of branch in the organization. It have a phase of it before implementation it, because if we not doing gradually it will bring inconsistently and resist in implement it.…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays