The Irish nationalist leader James Connolly was shot twice, 300 innocent civilians, 60 rebels and 130 British soldiers lost their lives during the course of the rising – over 2,000 were injured.
As a result of the rising, Ireland was temporarily declared an independent republic, although the intention of the rising in the eyes of the rebels was seen as an event to aid Ireland, many people, mainly consisting of civilians, were angry and frustrated at the rebels as many innocent families were encountering losses. Once the rebels had surrendered, the British captured those who had a big input into the planning and formation of the rising and they were then arrested. The British decided to execute those arrested, the method in which they chose was slow and painful to exploit the rebels and make an example from them. Those captured were ordered to be executed individually on a weekly basis, this decision was seen as barbaric, gradually more civilians grew sympathy towards the nationalists and public opinions changed, nationalist supporters steadily grew. The executions turned out to work in favour of the rebels.
As supporters of the nationalists increased, it soon outnumbered those who were in favour of Unionists, people began to realise the aims of Sinn Fein and the IRA. This resulted in 73 election seats won by Sinn Fein, which lead to the War of Independence. This war consisted of a guerrilla attack against the British Government in Ireland by the IRA, 1000 lives were lost. The war was believed to have been conflicted from the succession of Sinn Fein, and resulted into the signing of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty.
The Anglo-Irish Treaty established Ireland as the Irish Free State within the British Empire. It was not compulsory for the north of Ireland to participate in the Anglo-Irish Treaty, so it chose to remain under the influence of the British government.
The outcome of this decision created the Irish Civil war in December 1922, the same year that the treaty came into force. The Civil War contributed to the suffering of Ireland, both North and South were not satisfied with what they had received, both sides were not willing to compromise. The Civil War commenced with the unsatisfaction from the Nationalists, they wished for a united Ireland, however it was not granted - Ireland continued to be separated.
I think that the Easter Rising contributed as a major factor to the development of Ireland’s partition, it was the source of the conflict and lead to many other events that occurred later on to form the partition. Ireland would have eventually divided, whether it was established or consciously separated; however the Easter Rising hastened the north-south division. The rising was an act caused by the want for independence, if the rising had not taken place, another event carried out for the same purpose would have replaced it. If Ireland had continued to be united, the deaths caused from the rising and the War of Independence would have been equalled but carried out over a much longer period of time.
Some people may state that the Easter Rising was a turning point because of the events that followed it, and it’s large impact it had on both England and Ireland. Others may disagree, the rising itself was simply another war between the rebels and the British, the executions that were carried out could be seen as the actual turning point, as it lead to an increase in power and supporters. I think that the rising was a result of the continuous increase of violence in Ireland and a turning point, as the aims of the nationalists was achieved over time, the events that followed formed the Irish Free State.
The Deployment of British troops in Northern Ireland, 1969
Britain sent troops into Ireland as an attempt to decrease the amount of bloodshed and to reinstate peace. The British Government thought that flooding the streets of Ireland with powerful figures would restore order and ensure that the civilians would behave, regardless of their belief; they were to impose their authority and be feared by the Irish so that the streets were cleansed from violence. The British Government had intended those employed to be mutual and fair, this was appreciated by the Catholic’s, it was beneficial to them at the time, as they were being discriminated against in important aspects including jobs, housing and gerrymandering. Catholic’s were under the impression that the new justified policing would include the end to their grievances. The Protestants did not share the same view on the deployment of British troops; the new troops were seen as a threat to their newfound power. They feared that the banishment of gerrymandering would result into a fair election; they were afraid as they are the minority in Ireland, the Catholic’s would be in charge and that they would not have the luxuries they obtained at the time.
Northern Ireland was the poorest part of the UK. Britain did not give enough money to overcome the problems of poor housing, poor health, education and unemployment. But in 1945 Britain began the Welfare State, This provided services such as free healthcare. As part of Britain, Northern Ireland took advantage of these services and benefits - for the first time, Catholics saw some things to help them.
In 1963 Terence O’Neill a protestant became Unionist Prime minister of Northern Ireland. He tried to unite Protestants and Catholics. He also believed that the North and South could help each other. He promised reforms to help Catholics; Protestant thought O’Neill’s reforms had gone too far, some extreme Protestant Unionists such as Ian Paisley formed an action group called the Ulster Volunteer Force to resist and changed in favour of the Catholics in Northern Ireland. Paisley believed that in a united Ireland Catholics would be able to outvote Protestants.
Martin Luther King was respected by Catholics and was seen as an idyllic figure, his peaceful campaigning influenced many to set up the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, a movement that did not retaliate to Ireland’s troubles violently. NICRA carried out most of their protests in marches, which began in August 1968. This peaceful approach to the situation in Ireland sparked the thought that it was a cover up for the IRA. The marches became violent; a march in Derry 1968 was aimed to walk through a protestant area, which caused brutal bloodshed and reminded the Catholics of the power in which the Protestants attained. ‘The Battle of the Bogside’ was produced when the Orangemen were greeted with violence, to the extent of which some were stoned. It was events like this that contributed to the deployment of the troops as shortly after, the troops were sent into Ireland to prevent these events from occurring.
The welcoming of the foreign troops predictably caused many consequences including both short and long term. The short-term consequences had an immediate effect. Upon the arrival of the army, Ireland was misleadingly at peace – there was less conflict, the presence of the foreign police seemed to work. The Protestants still maintained the thought that the troops as a whole was a Catholic guard, a thought that was neither agreed nor disagreed to by the Catholics
At first the troops were much welcomed on behalf of the Catholics, they misinterpreted the troops to be fair and treat both groups equally, to the extent in which some thought that the troops would work in their favour. As a result, Catholic housewives would attend to their every need; they would even supply food and drink, which contributed to the Protestants negative mind set. Protestants began to feel betrayed by Britain and started to resent both the British and the Catholics. Protestants were beginning to think that the British Government did not trust them to run Northern Ireland, they began to isolate themselves. Unionists now disliked Southern Ireland, Nationalists, Britain and their troops.
Once the troops began to settle into Northern Ireland, it was not long before it became apparent that the majority of the troops were Protestant, hence England being a Protestant country. The troops began to discriminate against the Catholics and at this, violence began to escalate. Catholics began to dislike the British as much as they resented the Protestants. Unnecessary curfews were put on those who lived in the Catholic Lower Falls area. Troops began to obtain more power; enough to ransack houses in an attempt to find weapons, coincidentally the majority of the houses being searched were Catholic. The searches seemed to find more anger than weaponry.
Following the Catholic uproar, Interment was introduced in 1971 as another attempt to restore peace. This meant that suspected terrorists were lawfully allowed to be imprisoned without evidence or a fair trial. This unjust law naturally resulted into more violence that opposed all of its aims to bring about peace. There were shootings and deaths of more than 100 people. Internment challenged basic human rights and had increased hostility between both religions as the blame was shifted to the other belief. Those who supported Sinn Fein held anti-internment protests, from then on the Catholic opinion on the newly deployed troops were 100% negative.
The deployment of British troops was a turning point, as it had lead to further isolation of all three groups. The Catholics felt more discriminated against, Internment increased their frustration. Protestants felt patronised by the British, as much as they wanted to be united with Britain, they were undergoing betrayal at the welcoming of the troops. The British had broken all the trust that had existed from the Protestants and the temporary trust it had gained at the start from the Catholics. On the whole, the event increased the troubles in Ireland.
Bloody Sunday, 30th January 1972
Bloody Sunday was caused from a violent Civil Rights March campaigning against Internment; the march resulted into the bloodshed of many innocent civilians. The march was carried out towards the Guildhall and through to the Catholic Bogside area. British Army officers from the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, who specialised in fighting vicious wars, were in charge of keeping the situation under control. The officers had little experience of a non-violent approach to situations such as Bloody Sunday, which lead to the march becoming out of control, this earned itself the name ‘Bloody Sunday’.
During the course of Bloody Sunday, 13 people lost their lives. No one claimed to have taken responsibility for the killings. The marches claimed that the Paras had begun to open fire, the situation was later investigated. The investigation revealed that the wounds seemed to have been found on the back of those murdered. This meant that those killed were attempting to escape. A report was ordered to be under taken by the British Government to find out exactly what happened, the report was known as the ‘Widgery Report’.
The City Coroner said at the inquest:
“It strikes me that the Army ran amok that day and they shot without thinking of what they were doing. They were shooting innocent people. These people may have been taking part in a parade that was banned – but I do not think that justifies the firing of live rounds indiscriminately. I say it without reservation – it was sheer unadulterated murder.”
This quote gives us an insight to the response of the actions carried out by the Army, it states that it ‘striked him that the Army ran amok’. The fact that the Army ran amok would have caused the Catholics to retaliate. The Army were sent to keep the situation under control, not to contribute to the violence. The reaction from the crowd was to throw stones and plastic bullets, none of which would cause permanent damage.
The response to Bloody Sunday did not die down; the British Government were concerned, as they feared a ‘complete breakdown of law and order’ in Northern Ireland. The short-term consequences include the reaction to the brutality of the British troops; this angered the public, especially the nationalists. The news had spread around the world through the use of television; the nation seemed to have shared a similar reaction to the Catholic’s response.
The Long-Term consequences were the lives that would never be regained, the loss within families. Those that contributed to Bloody Sunday or had the misfortune to be a spectator of the event, still bare the memories. Bloody Sunday created further hatred towards the British Army, especially the Catholics, however the nationalists gained the public’s sympathy.
Bloody Sunday created an increase in the supporters for the IRA from: the USA, southern Ireland and many other countries seemed to think that the actions of the British Army was barbaric, they shared the opinion that the Catholic’s did not deserve this mistreatment.
Television broadcasts, radio reports and newspapers had played a part in the spread of update of the event.
Bloody Sunday made the Catholics furious, violence in Northern Ireland was at it’s peak, a barricade was set up to segregate the two groups. The IRA had started to bomb the British as well as the Protestants; bombs were commencing to be set off in London as well as in Northern Ireland. However it was not only the Nationalists that carried out the attacks, the UVF bombed a car containing members of a famous singing group. Protestants had begun to use the same amount of violence towards that Catholics than the Catholics did to the British. Northern Ireland was out of control; the UVF started to carry out threats and continued to bomb cars as well as pubs.
Yet again, the British Government felt the need to interfere. Many people were still disturbed by the reaction of the troops on Bloody Sunday, the British felt that they had to compensate those who had been scarred. Another inquest was ordered to discover the events that occurred on the 30th of January. It stated:
“There was no general breakdown in Army discipline... soldiers who identified armed gunmen fired upon them in accordance with the standing orders in the Yellow Card. Each soldier was his own judge of whether he had identified a gunman... At one end of the scale, some soldiers showed a high degree of responsibility, at the other... firing bordered on the reckless.”
The British Government had decided that in March 1972, Mr Heath (the conservative Prime minister) decided that there was nothing left to do but end the Northern Irish Parliament. Northern Ireland was to be ruled directly from London.
Bloody Sunday was a turning point in Irish history, during the course of the event, it became more apparent to the public that the British were mistreating the Catholics. The event worked in the favour of the Catholics, but at the price of many innocent civilians. The Protestants had gained the link with the British parliament that they had always desired. The events of Bloody Sunday are still remembered today, it was an unforgettable memory, and during the course of the event the true colours of the British were exploited to the nation via the media. A man from the Daily Telegraph stated” I was one of more than a 1000 people lying flat on their faces as the shooting continued. Pinned to the ground, it was impossible who fired the first shots.”
All three events had an impact to shape the peaceful Ireland we have today, the events contributed in their own way. All three events seemed to work in favour of the Catholics, during the course of the events, the Nationalists would arguably be the one’s to start the violence; however the extreme response they received would never seem to justify their actions - which lead to the gain of the public’s sympathy. I think Bloody Sunday seemed to have the biggest impact during the conflict in Ireland, as it was a battle between the Catholic’s and the British. The advanced technology enabled the dramatic increase in public sympathy to occur, the disgust towards the British troops lead to the banishment of the Northern Irish parliament.