The Irish War of Independence

The Irish War of Independence Not all revolutions are won all of the time. Most would say that freedom is something worth fighting for. Thomas Jefferson once said “Occasionally the tree of Liberty must be watered with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants”. Freedom is an inalienable right all people are born with. Some who have had their freedom snatched away by the hands of some foreign country, try to fight to get it back. That is exactly what Ireland did in the early 1900s. For both the Irish and the British, there were challenges to overcome, and their decisions on how to overcome them decided the outcome of the war. The Irish War of Independence can be related to other revolutions, like the one in Animal Farm by George Orwell. The Irish struggle for power revolved around two major events: The Easter Rising of 1916 and the Revolution of 1919. The Easter Rising united most of Ireland in active opposition to the British while the Revolution of 1919 resulted in the establishment of the Irish Republic (Fitzgibbon 5). The main reason for the uprising and the revolution was misunderstanding. The English did not understand the Irish way of life. The Irish were culturally superior, less brutal, less materialistic, more spiritual, more dignified, had infinitely less snobbery and class distinction, and they were directed more towards human happiness than to the pursuit of wealth (Fitzgibbon 5). The Easter Rising occurred on Easter Sunday April 23, 1916, after the British obtained a shipment of German arms meant for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) on April 21. The British authorities responded by expeditiously sending in reinforcements, which was effective in bringing rise to the unconditional surrender by the rebel leaders (BBC). Like many other countries, Ireland had been demanding home rule for over 100 years before they finally received it in 1912. In 1918, Irish voters showed their disapproval for British policy by giving Sinn Fein 91% of Irish seats in parliament.