6: Ulster, HR Crisis, New Nationalism

Question 1

What features made Ulster distinct from the rest of Ireland by the mid 19th Century?

Answer 1

• Most prosperous
• Industrial rather than food producing
• Pace and scale of industrialisation surpassed any other province

Question 2

Why did Ulster grow faster than the rest of Ireland?

Answer 2

It had more in common with England and stronger links to Liverpool and Glasgow

Question 3

When did the linen industry undergo rapid modernisation?

Answer 3

From the 1820s. Similar to the cloth industry 50 years earlier in Britain

Question 4

How much linen was produced at various points through the period?

Answer 4

1750s: 11M yards (mostly in Ulster)

1815: 43M yards

1830: 50M yards

Question 5

What two exports did linen overtake due to industrialisation?

Answer 5

Corn and cattle

Question 6

What happened to Irish woollen cloth and cotton trade in the 18th century?

Answer 6

It was overtaken by GB exports

Question 7

When did the Irish cotton industry briefly prosper?

Answer 7

In the late 18th and early 19th Century

Question 8

What proportion of cotton mills in Belfast closed in 20 years (from 1820)?

Answer 8

Over half

Question 9

3 railway companies of Ireland? When did they merge?

Answer 9

Dublin and Kingstown: 1834
Dublin and Drogheda: 1836
Ulster Railway: 1836

They merged in 1876

Question 10

Early shipbuilding in Belfast mechanics (1790s-1850s):

Answer 10

50 ships launched between 1820-50, small and wooden

Question 11

Charles Connell & Sons shipbuilding Co. example mechanics (1790s-1850s):

Answer 11

Produced ships for a global market out of Belfast

Launched the Aurora in 1838, largest ship out of Belfast.

Question 11

Later shipbuilding mechanics (1850s-1900s):

Answer 11

• Belfast becomes world leader by 1800s
• Transition to iron with Robert Hickson in 1853
• Robert Hickson company sold for £5000 (worth £12M today)
• Harland and Wolff along with White Star Line build the RMS Titanic and sister ships

Question 12

Why did Ulster Unionism emerge?

Answer 12

• Re-emergence of nationalism
• Rise of HR Party
• Home Rulers captured the Catholic vote with franchise increases
• Gladstones HR Bills

Question 13

Loyalist Anti-Repeal Union:

Answer 13

• January 1886
• Made in response to general election and Gladstone’s HR movement
• Made by influential Ulster groups (landowners, businessmen etc.)
• Held public meetings and held speakings in public

Question 14

Ulster election results:

Answer 14

1880: 3/33 Nationalist seats

1885: Parnell wins 17/33

1886: Unionists win 17/33 majority (BARELY)

Question 15

Playing the Orange Card:

Answer 15

• Lord Randolph Churchill wrote to a friend that he planned on “playing the Orange Card”
• February 1886 in Belfast Churchill declares that “Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right”

Question 16

First Home Rule Bill:

Answer 16

• 1886
• Defeated by the Commons

Question 17

Gaelic League:

Answer 17

• Formed in 1893
• Aimed to deanglicise Irish culture

Question 18

Second Home Rule Bill:

Answer 18

• 1893
• Defeated by the Lords lifting Ulster’s immediate danger

Question 19

Conservatives “Kill HR with kindness” policy:

Answer 19

• 1895 and 1900 general elections
• Passed the 1898 Local Gov Act, 1903 Wyndham’s Act and 1904 Devolution Scheme

Question 20

Local Government Act:

Answer 20

[1898] Gave power to middle class, strengthening MC unionists in Ulster and MC Catholics in Southern Ireland

Question 21

Wyndham’s Act:

Answer 21

[1903] Virtually solved the land problem.

• Organised landlord buy outs at a reasonable price
• Allowed tenants to purchase the land they farmed through low rate gov interest loans (reasonable loans)

Question 22

Devolution Scheme:

Answer 22

[1904] Proposed an Irish Council that could partially control important internal affairs (including finance)

• Denounced as HR baby unionists when leaked
• Undermined trust between unionists and conservatives (as they provided a good thing to nationalists)

Question 23

What were the main concerns of the Liberal party in the period 1900-1910?

Answer 23

• Formation of the Labour Party in 1900, won 29 seats by 1906 General Election
• IPP re-unified (potential difficulty)
• By 1905 Balfour’s Conservatives were declining

Question 24

Liberal Party leaders:

Answer 24

• Henry Campbell 1899-1908 (PM 1905-8)
• Herbert Asquith PM 1908-1916
• Lloyd George PM 1916-1922 (Also chancellor of the exchequer before)

Question 25

Aims of the Liberal Party:

Answer 25

• Reorganise and reunify
• HR policy (but more practical)
• “step by step” HCB approach to the Irish question

Question 26

1906 General Election:

Answer 26

Conservatives and Lib Unionists - 156
Liberal Party - 399
Labour Party - 29
Irish Nationalists - 82

[Liberals not dependent on any IPP support so only offered a revised Unionist Bill]

Question 27

Social Reform post-1906:

Answer 27

• *1906 Free school meals
• *1909 People’s budget: Taxes on the wealthier to pay for social reform
• *1911 National Insurance Act: Origin of the NHS

*They did more reforms but these are some of the simplest/important ones

[Likely a very social policy due to Labour Party votes]

Question 28

Why did Liberals call for an election in 1909?

Answer 28

House of Lords rejected the People’s Budget. Against constitutional convention. Libs wanted a mandate to force the Lords to pass it.

Question 29

First General Election:

Answer 29

[January 1910]

• Centred around the issue of HoL reform.
• Asquith gave a definite commitment to HR in Dec 1909 Royal Albert Hall speech (knew he’d need support from IPP).
• People’s Budget was passed but the 1910 Parliament Bill was rejected

Led to another general election

Question 30

Second General Election:

Answer 30

[December 1910]

• Dead tie between Liberal Party snd Conservatives and Liberal Unionists.
• Needed IPP support to pass
• Felt obliged to introduce a HR bill as a result
• HoLs veto gets abolished, can only hold up a bill for 2 years

Question 31

Terms of the Third HR Bill:

Answer 31

• Powers of Irish Parliament more limited
• Ulster included in HR
• Ireland represented by 42 Westminster seats

Question 32

Problems with the Third HR Bill:

Answer 32

Ulster wasn’t considered in this arrangement. But at the same time, nationalists wouldn’t consent to “mutilation of the Irish nation”.

Question 33

Result of the Third HR Bill

Answer 33

• Passed in 1912 but rejected by HoLs (delayed for 2 years)
• Ulster Unionism intensified. They felt like they had 2 years to make some noise
• April 1912 Ulster Volunteer Force form

Question 34

Timeline Mechanics of Ulster Resistance:

Answer 34

• 1910 Unionist Council open an armament fund
• 1911 50,000 attendee anti-HR demo
• 1912 500,000 Unionists sign the Covenant
• 1914 Multiple gunrunning incidents

Question 35

Ulster County Analysis:

Answer 35

• 5/9 Counties had HR majorities

Little basis for whole Ulster exclusion

Question 36

Sir Edward Carson:

Answer 36

• Only in politics for “the sake of the Union” (Devoted to Unionism)
• Liberal sympathies
• Legal background fueled distaste for lawless nationalism
• Leader of Ulster Unionists
• Brinkmanship tactics but “not for a mere game of bluff”

[Acted as the political side of the Ulster Unionists]

Question 37

James Craig:

Answer 37

• Affection for Ulster and Britain, emotionally inspired
• Arranged first big demonstration outside his own house
• Whiskey millionaire (provided funding)

[Acted as the public facing side of the Ulster Unionists]

Question 38

1st Anti HR Demo:

Answer 38

[1911]
- 50,000 Orangemen and Unionists speech by Carson

Question 39

What proof is there that Ulster resistance increased throughout 1912?

Answer 39

Orange Lodges and Unionist Clubs applied for more drilling licenses and practiced it frequently.

Question 41

Anti HR Demo (The big one):

Answer 41

[1912]
- 100,000 Ulstermen
- 4 mile long march
- 70 Conservative MPs present
- Bonar Law and Carson were main speakers

Question 42

Formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force:

Answer 42

[1913]
- Prior sporadic drilling organised by the UUC into a paramilitary organisation
- *Received advice from Field Marshal Lord Roberts [legitimised their threat]
- Most didn’t possess arms
- *Illegal organisation yet supported by Carson and Craig

Question 42

Solemn League and Signing of the Covenant:

Answer 42

[1912]
- 500,000 men and women signed
- Pledged to use “all means necessary”