The political history of Ireland is largely one of some 800 years of uneasy submission to British rule. In addition to Irish resentment of British political and economic control, the last four centuries have seen the Irish-English relationship intensified by religious strife. A devoutly Catholic people, the Irish unsuccessfully resisted efforts by English rulers to impose and enforce Protestant spiritual supremacy. (We’ve seen the Irish experience with Cromwell and William III.) In order to build a Protestant population base in Ireland, the English government in the 17th century displaced Catholic Irish landholders and encouraged the emigration of Protestants from Scotland to Ulster, the northern region of Ireland. In time these Scotch-Irish “Orangemen” became the majority population in Ulster and retained a strong loyalty to the British crown.
In the 1801 Act of Union the British government brought Ireland directly into the United Kingdom, allowing the election of Protestant Irish MPs to the British House of Commons. The right to vote and hold office was extended only to Irish Protestants who met British qualifications for voting and election. In 1829 Britain revoked the 1691 Penal Code and allowed Irish (and English) Catholics legally to practice their religion. Irish Catholics who met the British qualifications could vote and hold office. In the mid-19th century, Ireland was wracked by the Great Potato Famine, which caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands and the emigration (largely to the US) of some two million. The Famine devastated Ireland, causing both economic and social disruption. Irish nationalists accused the British government of purposely denying effective relief in order to rid itself of the “Irish problem.” In the late 1850s a militant Irish resistance movement for independence, the Fenians, was founded. Fenian opposition to British rule even extended beyond Ireland. In 1866 an armed force of Irish-America Fenians from Buffalo invaded Canada. (They were defeated by British troops at the Battle of Ridgeway near Crystal Beach.)
The British government, seeing the Irish problem as a troubling nuisance to its overall interests in other areas, began to take steps to alleviate Irish opposition by considering “home rule.” Home rule meant granting the Irish their own parliament and allowing limited autonomy for domestic policy while remaining under British sovereignty. A Home Rule Bill sponsored by Gladstone’s Liberal Party was introduced in Parliament in 1886 and was defeated following bitter debate. A second (1893) Home Rule Bill was also defeated and home rule was removed from the British political agenda. Conditions for Irish Catholics in Ireland improved, however, as Parliament passed several laws making it easier for Irish to purchase lands. Home rule, if not independence, however, remained the desire of most Catholic Irish and opposition to British rule remained. In 1899 Irish separatists founded Sinn Fein (Gaelic, “We Ourselves”), a nationalist political party pledged to secure Irish independence. In Ulster, the Protestants were becoming increasingly uneasy about the prospects of Catholic home rule.
In 1912 a new Home Rule Bill was introduced but was strongly criticized as being unjust to the Ulster Protestants as they would become the minority under a new Irish legislature. The bill passed twice in the Commons but was defeated in the Lords. In 1913 militant Ulster Protestants, fearing the loss of their privileged position, organized an armed force pledged to resist home rule. In 1914 the government offered the Ulster Protestants a compromise - voters in Ulster could decide to exempt their counties from the new law should it pass. Presented before Parliament a third time, the Home Rule Bill was approved. Because war with Germany had begun, the promulgation of the home rule law was suspended until after the war.
With the outbreak of World War One in 1914 and the Home Rule Act being suspended, militant Irish opposition to British rule was rekindled. With Britain preoccupied with the war, Sinn Fein and other armed groups, such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood, moved to seize control of Ireland. In the bloody week long 1916 Easter Rebellion in Dublin, British troops crushed and dispersed Irish resistance. Several leaders of the Rebellion were arrested and executed; others, including Eamon de Valera of Sinn Fein, were granted amnesty and released. This did not mean the end of Irish opposition. De Valera and others met to draw up a constitution for an independent Ireland of which de Valera would be president. He was again arrested. Meanwhile in 1919 Sinn Fein candidates were elected to represent Ireland in the British Parliament. These men then refused to attend parliament and proclaimed themselves to be the Dail, the legitimately-elected parliament of an independent Ireland. De Valera escaped from prison to the US. Britain suppressed the Dail and outlawed Sinn Fein.
A significant result of the suppression of the Easter Rebellion would be the formation of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Organized in cooperation with Sinn Fein, the IRA would function as an illegal military force and wage a war of resistance and sabotage against British rule in Ireland. In 1919 - 1921 IRA guerrillas engaged British soldiers in combat in Ireland.
Despite the developing difficulties in Ireland, Britain attempted to deliver on home rule. In 1920 a new law replaced the 1914 Home Rule Act. Ireland would remain under British sovereignty but would have its own parliament. Ulster (Northern Ireland), however, would be separate from the rest of Ireland and have its own legislature as well. Thus, the Protestants would remain in control of the north. The law called for a council of the two Irelands to work together on common affairs. In the first elections (1921) Northern Ireland’s voters chose a majority of delegates favoring continued union with Britain. In the south, Sinn Fein won a majority of seats in the new Irish parliament. Meeting separately, the Sinn Fein legislators again declared themselves the Dail of an independent Ireland and rejected the British law! Seeking to avoid a wider conflict, the British government met with Irish leaders and agreed to allow southern Ireland Dominion status. Consequently, there would be two Irelands.
Formally established in 1922, the new Ireland took the name Irish Free State. It would be self-governing but would remain a dominion of Britain subject to British foreign policy. The new arrangement was unsatisfactory to de Valera and others in Sinn Fein who wanted Ireland to be a republic. In 1937 the Irish Dail officially proclaimed Ireland to be the independent state of Éire. Ireland did choose to remain part of the British Commonwealth of Nations. A new constitution in 1938 established the office of president over a parliamentary government. De Valera was appointed Prime Minister, but a Protestant (Douglas Hyde) was elected President. It was hoped that Hyde’s election would signal the north that Protestants would be welcome in a unified Ireland. That was not to be. In 1938 elections in Northern Ireland again returned a unionist majority to the Ulster legislature. When World War Two broke out in 1939, Ireland remained neutral. Following the war, Ireland proclaimed itself to be a republic and withdrew from the British Commonwealth (1949). In 1959 De Valera was elected President, a position he would hold until 1973.
Throughout Ireland’s existence as a political entity separate from Britain, the primary focus of its policy has been reunification with the North. When Ireland made its final break with Britain in 1949, it claimed sovereignty over all of Ireland. Britain officially recognized Ireland’s sovereignty but not over the six counties of Ulster.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland two general groups would emerge: republicans - those who favored unification with Ireland, and unionists - those who favored continued union with Britain. The republicans were largely Catholic; unionists were largely Protestant. In the late 1960s they would go to war with each other. At first the conflict was seemingly sporadic acts of random violence - a killing here, a bomb blast there. On one side was the IRA; on the other, a Protestant paramilitary force calling itself the Ulster Defense Association.
The period of violence in Northern Ireland was known as “The Troubles.” The Troubles began in 1969 with huge demonstrations by Catholics in Belfast and Londonderry demanding abolition of property qualifications for voting in local elections. As violence between Catholics and Protestants intensified, the British government intervened by declaring a state of emergency and sending troops to Northern Ireland in 1971. The military occupation of Northern Ireland was known as "Operation Banner." It would last until the summer of 2007. In 1972 Britain abolished the Northern Irish legislature and placed the region under the direct control of London. The violence spread as extremist elements on both sides attacked each other - usually through car bomb explosions - and the British soldiers sent to separate them. A major factor underlying the violence was the IRA. Illegally supported with funds and arms from the south and from Catholic Irish communities abroad, the IRA targeted both Protestants and the British. Communities were torn apart as neighbors took sides. In Belfast a no-man’s land patrolled by British soldiers was created between the Protestant and Catholic areas of the city. In Londonderry in 1972 an incident known as “Bloody Sunday” saw British soldiers fire into a Catholic demonstration indiscriminately killing 13 innocent civilians. A culture of reprisal developed as one act of violence was met with one in response resulting in a widening spiral of revenge attacks and killings. Between 1969 and 1998 the Troubles claimed some 3600 lives and some 30,000 injured.
Both the British and Irish governments cooperated with each other in seeking to end the violence and sought a peaceful solution to the problem of a divided Ireland by bringing the Northern Irish parties to the peace table. Ireland, of course, wanted unification. The British position had been to let the people of Northern Ireland decide for themselves the future of Ulster. The latter position meant continued union with Britain as Protestants outnumbered Catholics. Until the demographics change - and they will over several decades as the Catholic population increases, any popular referendum will reject union. Nonetheless, the spiral of violence seemed to compel a peace effort. In December 1993 the British and Irish governments agreed on a plan to resolve the issue and the warring parties expressed interest. Conciliatory statements made by the Northern Irish Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams, gave rise to expectations that peace might be possible . In late summer 1994 the IRA announced a cease-fire giving hope that Sinn Fein might be accepted in the negotiations. (Britain had refused to include Sinn Fein because of its association with the IRA.) When the peace talks seemed to stalemate, the IRA broke its truce in February 1996 with a massive car bomb attack on an office complex in London. Two persons were killed and over 100 were injured in. More than 200 were injured when another IRA bomb exploded in downtown Manchester (England) in June, 1996. With the change in British government in the spring of 1997, the IRA resumed its cease-fire. The new British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, moved to resume negotiations including Sinn Fein.
The parties to the peace talks reflected the full scope of the political spectrum. The most influential of the Northern Irish republican groups was the Social Democratic and Labor Party led by John Hume. The most controversial of the republican groups was the Sinn Fein. Because of Sinn Fein's association with the IRA, unionist parties had refused to negotiate with Sinn Fein which they saw as sanctioning acts of IRA terrorism. On the unionist side, the most influential party was the Ulster Unionist Party led by David Trimble.
The Northern Ireland peace negotiations were facilitated by American mediation. In the spring of 1994 President William Clinton had extended a visa permitting Gerry Adams to visit the US. Adams’ visit was controversial as a US visa to the Sinn Fein leader offended British sensitivities. Nonetheless, the American visa brought Adams some diplomatic respectability and caused him to become more conciliatory in relation to efforts being made to seek peace at home. After the IRA cease-fire in 1994, Clinton also established contacts with Northern Irish unionists and caused them to see the US as a friend in the peace process. In 1995 Clinton visited both Dublin and Belfast and was welcomed as a peacemaker. In 1997 Clinton sent former Senator George Mitchell (Maine) to Belfast to work with the parties in seeking a settlement. Working without an official title or salary, Mitchell tirelessly committed himself to Irish peace. It was agreed to set up an International Commission on Decommissioning (disarmament) to oversee the future disarmament of the factions. In April 1998 Mitchell’s efforts brought both Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern to Belfast. On April 10, after Clinton spent an exhausting day and night in a series of personal phone calls with Blair, Ahern, Adams, Hume and Trimble, the negotiating parties agreed to a plan for settlement.
Known as the “Good Friday Peace,” the plan called for the re-establishment of a Northern Irish legislature wherein any laws or policies must be approved by a 70 % majority vote (thus assuring consensus among Catholics and Protestants); the disarming of Catholic (particularly the IRA) and Protestant paramilitary groups through a voluntary surrender of weapons; an investigation of arrests and sentences of prisoners being held on terrorist-related charges; and formation of a North-South council whereby both Ireland and Northern Ireland can work on common interests such as commerce and tourism. Ireland would formally amend its constitution revoking all claims to sovereignty over the North. The plan was ratified by a popular referendum in both Ireland and Northern Ireland in May 1998.
While the plan was overwhelmingly approved by sizable majorities in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, extremists (both Catholic and Protestant) refused to accept it and occasional acts of violence continued. As both sides distrusted each other, continued cooperation proved difficult and required the intervention of Blair, Ahern, and Mitchell to mediate and resolve deadlocked negotiations. In December 1999, the newly-elected Northern Irish Assembly met for the first time and chose Trimble as its First Minister.
The optimism of December was shattered six weeks later. In February 2000 when the IRA refused to begin “decommissioning” (voluntary surrender of) its weapons, Trimble threatened to resign. The British and Irish governments both attempted to save the settlement by appealing to both Sinn Fein and Ulster Unionists to cooperate in preserving all that had so far been accomplished. In order to prevent the loss of the settlement, the British government suspended Northern Irish autonomy and temporarily restored direct rule. The British action came just prior to an announcement from General Jean de Chastelain, the Canadian who headed the international disarmament commission, that discussions with the IRA had secured a statement from the IRA that it would put its weapons “beyond use, in a manner as to assure maximum public confidence.” Despite Chastelain’s announcement, there was no further movement towards disarmament, but Trimble agreed to the IRA’s proposed extension of the deadline to mid-2001. In May 2000 Britain restored Northern Irish autonomy.
In both 2000 and 2001 the annual “Marching Season” saw renewed sectarian violence (shootings, firebomb attacks) that took additional lives. When the IRA failed to meet its June 30, 2001 deadline to begin disarmament, Trimble followed through on his promise and resigned. The Ulster Unionists threatened to resign from the Assembly. The fragile peace seemed doomed.
Again, the British and Irish governments took action. Blair met with Ahern in late July and by early August the two leaders hammered out a proposal called the “Way Forward” and submitted it to both sides. The “Way Forward” called for a new Northern Irish police force with a larger Catholic presence; acceleration of the timetable for the reduction of British forces in the province; an amnesty for fugitive suspects accused of terrorist activities; and an international tribunal to investigate politically-motivated killings with alleged police acquiescence. In response, the IRA announced a new disarmament plan, which although not publicly disclosed, was hailed as a breakthrough by both Chastelain and the Irish government. The Ulster Unionists cautiously applauded the IRA announcement but made no immediate statement of commitment to the “Way Forward” which was to have been accepted by both sides by August 6th. As there was no final agreement by the required date, the British government suspended the Assembly and restored direct rule for a period of one day. This tactic enabled the extension of the deadline for acceptance of the “Way Forward” for another six weeks. Despite difficulties over the next several months (including another 24-hour suspension of the Assembly), the IRA moved further toward disarmament and both sides accepted enough of the agreement to give hope for the future.
That hope, initially, hung on a very slender thread. Extremists opposed to accommodation could easily derail the peace. In the fall of 2001 Protestant extremists in Belfast took to the streets and harassed Catholic children on their way to school. In sporadic attacks, a Catholic journalist, a postal worker, and a former police officer were assassinated. In January 2002 a Protestant group calling itself the Red Hand Defenders issued a death threat to Catholic teachers and postal workers. The question of the IRA's commitment to actual disarmament continued to stymie political consensus.
Yet there were signs of progress. In an unprecedented visit, Queen Elizabeth II traveled to Belfast to meet with both Protestant and Catholic leaders. Irish President Mary McAleese likewise traveled to Northern Ireland and met with Unionist politicians. Regional elections in 2004, however, saw the Sinn Fein and Unionists returned as the largest parties. As both parties represented the political extremes, it seemed as if further progress would be stalemated if not doomed. In 2005 the IRA announced that it would disarm and assume a purely political role in Northern Ireland's future. A new multi-party agreement in 2006 called for power-sharing. In May 2007 Britain, satisfied that political peace was sustainable, ended its military occupation of Northern Ireland.
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The listing of sources for The Great Powers of the 19th Century: Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia follows the section on Russia (16.6).