IB Irish War of Independence

Reasons for British colonization of Ireland from 12th to 17th century

Portrayed as a civilizing mission

Made up stereotypes of the Irish being brutes, stupid, and drunk

Acts of Union 1800

Abolished Ireland as a separate kingdom and made it apart of the UK

Established Church of Ireland

Great Famine

The result of four years of potato crop failure in the late 1840s in Ireland, a country that had grown dependent on potatoes as a dietary staple

Increased Irish resentment of the British - Irish thought it was their responsibility to feed the starving people

Home Rule

Local self-government

Failure of Irish rebellions

Wolfstone Rebellion, Young Ireland Rebellion, and Fenian Uprising all failed because they weren't well planned or organized

Test Act of 1673

Charles II's Parliament said that only Anglicans could hold military and civil offices

Catholic Association

An organization begun in Ireland by Daniel O'Connell to work for the civil rights of Catholics in Ireland and England

Catholic Emancipation Act

Allowed Irish Catholics to vote and hold political office

Tithe War

Catholics had to pay takes to the Church of Ireland for its upkeep

March 1831 resisters refused to pay and violence broke out between resisters and police

British eventually backed down and reduced tithes

Irish Tenant League

formed to fight for fair rent and compensation for evicted tenants

Overall Purpose of the Land Acts

to stop Irish catholics from voting

How did WWI cause the Easter Rising?

Many of the Irish didn't believe that this was their war and they used Britain's distracted state as an opportunity

Why did the Easter Rising Fail?

There was little support from Irish citizens

Rebels were outnumbered

A German ship carrying weapons for the rebels was intercepted by the British

Impact of British reaction to the Easter Rising

Leaders of the rising were sentenced to death

This turned public opinion against the British

Caused the failed rising to be a catalyst for Irish independence

Rise of Sinn Fein

Sinn Fein was thought to be involved with the Easter Rising

it combined with and absorbed other militant nationalist bodies and its party branches spread nationwide

Eamon de Valera elected as leader

New agenda was broadly committed it to the goal of an Irish republic

Conscription Crisis of 1918

Conscription was implemented in Ireland

Sinn Fein Organized strikes

British backed down and failed to implement it

General Election of 1918

Sinn Fein leaders ran and won but refused to take their seats and met in Dublin to declare independence

Dail Eireann

the lower house of the parliament of the Irish Free State

Declaration of independence (1919)

Eamon De Valera

became First President of Sinn Fein. After the civil war between the Irish moderates and extremists, resigned his presidency and organized a resistance to the treaty.

Michael Collins

A revolutionary leader who helped to form the Irish Republican Army. This leader developed guerilla war tactics during the War of Independence, and fought for the Free State during the Civil War.

Government of Ireland Act 1920

The act that created the state of Northern Ireland

Twelve Apostles

Assassins organized under Michael Collins that took out British spies and individuals

Cairo Gang

Group of British intelligence agents who were sent to Dublin during the Irish War of Independence to conduct intelligence operations against prominent members of the Irish Republican Army

Black and Tans

special police force that terrorized the Irish population that supported the Irish Republicans. Kept in Ireland by the British gov.

Flying columns

Small units of IRA that ambushed British forces during the War of Independence

Role of women in the War

Hid arms, provided safe houses, and monitored the enemy's movements

Bloody Sunday

British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians during a peaceful protest march against internment

The Irish Bulletin

Newspaper whose aim was to provide those outside Ireland with the Government's case and the facts of the war that it had to wage

Anglo-Irish Treaty

created an independent state in the south and a separate region known as Northern Ireland in the north

Occupation of the Four Courts

Why the free state won in conventional vs. guerrilla warfare

It was widespread, well-planned, and organized

Public Safety Act

emergency legislation which allowed for the execution of those captured bearing arms against the State during the Civil War

Liam Lynch

He was the Chief of Staff of the anti-Treaty IRA, its commander in chief and his death signalled the effective end of the Civil War

Formation and goals of the fianna fail

established by Eamon de Valera

Formation and goals of the Cumann na nGaedheal

Statute of Westminster

the law that changed the British Empire into the British Commonwealth; all commonwealth countries to be considered equal in status with Britain and able to make their own laws

Irish role in WWII

Neutral but participated in giving helpful "weather forecasts" telling allies the whereabouts of the central powers

Republic of Ireland Act

declared that Ireland may be officially described as the Republic of Ireland