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| The executions marked a change in Irish opinion, much of which had until now seen the rebels as irresponsible adventurists whose actions were likely to harm the nationalist cause. As freed detainees reorganised the Republican forces, taking advantage of a temporary British retreat from heavy-handedness , nationalist sentiment began to swing behind the hitherto small republican Sinn Fein party, ironically not itself involved in the uprising. | The executions marked a change in Irish opinion, much of which had until now seen the rebels as irresponsible adventurists whose actions were likely to harm the nationalist cause. As freed detainees reorganised the Republican forces, taking advantage of a temporary British retreat from heavy-handedness , nationalist sentiment began to swing behind the hitherto small republican Sinn Fein party, ironically not itself involved in the uprising. | ||
| The general elections to the ] in December 1918 resulted in a Sinn Fein landslide in Ireland, most of whose MP's gathered in Dublin to proclaim the Irish Republic afresh (January 21, 1919) under the presidency of ] (who as commandant of the Volunteers' 3rd Battalion had escaped execution in 1916 because of his U.S. birth, as Britain was hoping for ] intervention in ]). | The general elections to the ] in December 1918 resulted in a Sinn Fein landslide in Ireland, most of whose MP's gathered in Dublin to proclaim the Irish Republic afresh (January 21, 1919) under the presidency of ] (who as commandant of the Volunteers' 3rd Battalion had escaped execution in 1916 because of his U.S. birth, as Britain was hoping for ] intervention in ]). | ||
| The Rising is generally seen as having been doomed to military defeat from the outset, and to have been understood as such by its leaders: critics have seen in it elements of a "blood sacrifice" in line with some of the romantically-inclined Pearse's writings. Though the precursor to Irish statehood, it did nothing to reassure anti-nationalist ]s in the north of Ireland, and the all-Ireland republic proclaimed on Easter Monday 1916 remains elusive to this day. | The Rising is generally seen as having been doomed to military defeat from the outset, and to have been understood as such by its leaders: critics have seen in it elements of a "blood sacrifice" in line with some of the romantically-inclined Pearse's writings. Though the precursor to Irish statehood, it did nothing to reassure anti-nationalist ]s in the north of Ireland, and the all-Ireland republic proclaimed on Easter Monday 1916 remains elusive to this day. | ||
Revision as of 09:30, 18 November 2002
Irish Republican revolutionary attempt of April 24-30, 1916, in which a part of the Irish Volunteers led by Padraig Pearse and the smaller Irish Citizen Army of James Connolly seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic independent of Britain. The event is seen as one of the most important in Irish Republican history.
The Rising marked a split between Republicanism and mainstream Irish nationalism, which had hitherto accepted a promise of postwar autonomy under the British crown. The bulk of the Volunteers (a force set up in November 1913 in support if the aims of the Irish Nationalist Party) had been ordered not to take part in any actions following the British interception (April 21) of an arms delivery from Germany and the arrest of the revolutionaries' emissary, Sir Roger Casement.
Outnumbered by some 4500 British troops and 1000 police (the insurgent Volunteers are estimated at about 1000 and the ICA at only 250), the rebels were shelled into submission: hundreds were killed and wounded, including civilians caught in the crossfire, some 3000 suspects were arrested and 15 leaders (including all seven signatories of the independence proclamation) were executed (May 3-12), among them the already mortally wounded Connolly, shot in a chair because he was unable to stand.
The executions marked a change in Irish opinion, much of which had until now seen the rebels as irresponsible adventurists whose actions were likely to harm the nationalist cause. As freed detainees reorganised the Republican forces, taking advantage of a temporary British retreat from heavy-handedness , nationalist sentiment began to swing behind the hitherto small republican Sinn Fein party, ironically not itself involved in the uprising.
The general elections to the British Parliament in December 1918 resulted in a Sinn Fein landslide in Ireland, most of whose MP's gathered in Dublin to proclaim the Irish Republic afresh (January 21, 1919) under the presidency of Eamon de Valera (who as commandant of the Volunteers' 3rd Battalion had escaped execution in 1916 because of his U.S. birth, as Britain was hoping for American intervention in World War I).
The Rising is generally seen as having been doomed to military defeat from the outset, and to have been understood as such by its leaders: critics have seen in it elements of a "blood sacrifice" in line with some of the romantically-inclined Pearse's writings. Though the precursor to Irish statehood, it did nothing to reassure anti-nationalist Protestants in the north of Ireland, and the all-Ireland republic proclaimed on Easter Monday 1916 remains elusive to this day.