Irish Rebellion/Proclamation of the Irish Rebellion - Research Paper Example

Irish Rebellion/Proclamation of the Irish Rebellion Proclamation of the Irish Rebellion Before the rebellion, the United Kingdom of Great Britain had Ireland as one of its own. However, owing to a part of the population who felt that the British were oppressing them, a wave of bitterness and rebellion spread throughout Ireland. On the day, popularly known as the Easter rising, several men led a rebellion in Ireland. As such, the paper seeks to determine the actors, what they sought to do, what transpired, what they did, to who were their actions directed towards, where they undertook their actions, why the place they conducted their actions is of importance, and the relationship of their actions and place of act to revolution and revolutionary violence. The wave of rebellion and bitterness against the United Kingdom of Britain can be catalogued and outlined through a series of events that took place. They include 1913 during winter when the Citizen Army was formed as the industrial strikes went on in Dublin. The Citizen Army was slightly armed, a reaction from the employers to help them fight coercion by the striking workers. In December of the same year, intelligence indicated that there was smuggling of arms from foreign nations. As a consequence, a declaration was issued that no arms should be imported into Ireland under the Customs Consolidation Act. In spite of the decree, a huge batch of arms from foreign nations was delivered to Howth on July 1914. The arms were to be used by the Irish National Volunteers. As it occurred, the members of these union overrun the officers at the customs offices, took, and distributed the arms. The army was called in to have the arms retrieved after the Dublin police were unable to get the arms back. However, only a few arms were retrieved.1 Nevertheless, it was notable that the government failed in its mandate because no further action was taken. In addition, and over time, the Sinn Fein movement championed for treachery gradually decreasing patriotism among Irish citizens. In 1915, letters of agitation along with pamphlets that encouraged violence were distributed by the heads of the Irish Volunteer Party. There were newspaper circulations in support of sedition. 2 Actions were taken to stem and step the spread of the rebellious newspapers. However, the actions only seemed to fuel the popularity of the same sentiments.The actions undertaken by the British in Ireland, especially with brutality and force, made the rebels famous heroes. The result was a public change of opinion, which was in favor of the rebels.3 On 24 April 1916, which was on Easter Monday, a group of seven men led a revolt decreeing the founding of the Republic of Ireland. They appointed themselves as the government of Ireland. As part of the revolution, there was the Irish volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army. The leaders of these groups were Patrick Pearse and James Connolly respectively. James Connolly the leader of the Irish Citizen Army was one of the signatory. Patrick Pearse was to be the commander of the army of the Republic of Ireland and the head of the interim government. Thomas Clarke masterminded the revolt. He was the first signatory and contributed greatly to Fenian movement in the Eighteen Seventies. The other two men who signed the proclamation were not physically there at the moment of the declaration. However, they were situated at the headquarters of the rebel powers. These men were Sean Mac Diarmada and Joseph Plunkett who was involved in creating the military plans of the movement. Eamonn Ceament and Thomas MacDough were commanders of Battalions associated to the rebellion.4 One of the nominal leaders of the rebellion was professor MacNeill. MacNeill tried to stop the revolution, but he failed.5 He tried by putting an advertisement in one of the Newspapers on Sunday notifying members of the public who were ready to take part in the rebellion that it had been cancelled. Nevertheless, the military council objected an called on its members for the Monday.6 On that day, following orders from the military council, women and men congregated at Liberty Hall. The Irish Volunteers were not as many as the Citizen Army who came in large numbers. The reason for a small number of the Irish volunteers was due to the notice that had been issued earlier in The Irish Independent.7 Estimative numbers indicate that there were around 1,600 men and women on that day. The uprising, or the Easter Rising was largely confined in Dublin. Dublin functioned as a strategic position because it was viewed as the capital city of Ireland. In fact, on that day, the army formed by the rebels, though they were ill-equipped. Only a small number of the men had the entire green uniform. However, they exhibited signs of good-training as they acted on the orders of their commanders. By noon, the army was strategically placed in Dublin. Their strategic positions included the Mendicity Institution, the bakery of Boland, the South Dublin Union, and the Four Courts. Why did they do chose these strategic locations in Dublin? They selected them in order to close and command the major routes going in and out of Dublin. They had also considered the positions of the British military Barracks.8 However, not everything went as planned. First, the British confiscated an arms consignment from Germany headed to Ireland. They were alerted to it by the Americans who obtained the message bound for Germany. The confiscation was due to a change of plans by the military council that wanted the arms delivered after the Easter Rising to confuse the British. It was the first indication of the imminent failure of the rebellion. One of the reasons MacNeill tried to stop it. On the same day, the rebellion seemed a success as the British acted slowly; hence, little fighting was reported. All targeted locations and sites were taken over with minimal resistance. They used the GPO as their headquarters and positioning of the interim government. The reason for the slow response by the British was due to their lack of knowledge on the number of rebels along with minimal troops. As such they had to wait for reinforcements. The British forces then cut off the GPO, supposed headquarters of the rebels later on in the week forcing them to surrender. The Easter rising leaders then ordered their followers to surrender, which inevitably ended the uprising.9 Considering the acts of the Easter rising, the relationship with revolution and revolutionary violence cannot be understated. For one, the Easter rising was triggered by the proclamation of the Irish Republic as shown in the appendix. It was the culmination of a long and hard journey influenced by the want for the cessation of the rule Britain had over Ireland. As in many other revolutions world over, it was a case where a part of the Irish citizens, led by individuals felt that they had a right to be a republic and sovereign nation without the influence of a foreign power. Revolutions do not occur in one day, they take place over time, evidenced by spontaneous bouts of violence here and there in the supposed nation as was the case in Ireland. In addition, as is the case with revolutions, there was the opposing and the government side. In fact, the Proclamation of the Irish Rebellion, attached as an appendix, takes note of the major partakers of the rebellion. The Irish Republican Brotherhood, the Irish Citizen Army, and the Irish Volunteers, all of whom have been mentioned in the paper. The proclamation was motivational, as evidenced by the words, “We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible.” (287)10 However, in spite of their planning and action on Monday, 16, April 1916, the revolution only lasted a week, a sign of its utter failure but one, which sent a message to the British. Bibliography Appendix Diagram: Proclamation of the Irish Republic Proclamation of the Irish Republic.11 Read More