Causes of the Easter Rising: World War I Flashcards
Did it cause discontent with the IPP and the idea of Home Rule?
> Redmond proclaimed in 1914 at Woodenbridge to “fight wherever the firing line extends” to Irish Volunteers, for the reasons that he can prove to the British that the Irish will be reliable allies, and to help finish the war quicker (Reckoned it would be over by Christmas).
> Kitchener refused initially to make an Irish Division (although he eventually did create the 16th Division), but the Ulstermen had their own (the 36th!). The War Office was showing favouritism.
> Gallipoli in 1915 War Weariness had set in as Irish casualties rose and the war’s end was not in sight.
> Home Rule became postponed; people became tired of waiting for it.
> Redmond’s refused to join the coalition while both the Unionists and Conservatives had done so!
It caused a split in the Irish Volunteers
Redmond’s Woodenbridge speech split the IV between the minority Advanced Nationalists (numbering 8,400 according to British estimates on eve of Easter Rising) and the Redmondnite National Volunteers (Numbering 104,000 according to British estimates on eve of Easter Rising).
Ultimately this split allowed for the smaller, more radical force of Irish Volunteers to be commandeered by the IRB, and it was.
“England’s Difficulty is Ireland’s Opportunity”
Britain now had to focus most of its resources not at home, but overseas on the continent. This could only mean that the revolutionary force could organise the rising with greater ease.
“Gallant Allies in Europe”
- Casement went to Germany hoping that the Germans would provide diplomatic and logistical support, as well as arms and perhaps even an invasion force.
- It was arms from Germany Casement tried to bring back on the Aud.
What does Jackson say about the impact of the war for the rising?
Without it the Easter Rising would be “virtually unimaginable”
What does Allan say about the impact of the war for the Rising?
“The war did not cause the rising, but facilitated pre-war ambitions”
