Mr Fitzgerald's History



Ireland in the 20th Century

In 1900 Ireland was part of the U______ K__________. Those who thought that the UK was bad for Ireland were called N___________. Those who thought the UK was good for Ireland were called U__________.

U___________ voted for the U____________ party led by Edward C________ and James C________. N____________ voted for the H______ R______ Party, led by John R__________ in 1910.

Cultural Movements

Nationalists wanted Ireland to have its own government. They said that the Irish were different to the English. But throughout the 19th Century Ireland was becoming more like England. New cultural organisations were established to protect Irish identity.

The GAA was founded in 18__. Its founding member was M_______ C________ from county Clare. Its function was to promote hurling, football and handball.

The Gaelic L______ was set up in 1893, by Douglas H_____ and E____ Mac N_______. It wanted to end the decline in the Irish language. They set up Irish classes, encouraged Irish dance and music and printed books in Irish.

Another movement led by W.B.Y_____ and Lady G_________ wrote plays and poetry in English that celebrated the Irish nation. This is called the Anglo-Irish Literary Revival. In 1903 Y_____ and G_________ founded the A________ theatre to promote Irish writers.

1913 Dublin Lockout

Most of the people living in the cities in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th Century lived in awful conditions. People worked for low wages and lived in slums, they could barely afford food for their family or to send their children to school.

In 1908 Jim L_______ set up the ITGWU (a trade union) to improve the wages and conditions of the workers. Employers became worried at the success of the union. William M_______ M_________ opposed the union and demanded that his workers resign from the union. When they would not their employers l__________ them out. During the next few months James C__________, another union leader, set up the Irish C_________ Army to protect the workers from attacks by police.

Home Rule

In the 1910 General Election in Britain, the Irish Parliamentary Party (H_____ R_____ Party) held the balance of power. The leader of the Home Rule Party, John R_________, promised to support the L_________ party and Herbert A_________ if they agreed to introduce a HR Bill. In 1911 PM A________ passed the Parliament Act, this meant that the House of Lords could only v____ (block) a bill for two years. In 1912 the Home Rule bill was passed by the House of C_______ but was rejected by the House of L_____. In two years time, 1914, it would become law.

The leader of the Unionist party, Edward C_______ was determined to oppose Home Rule. In September 1913, over 400,000 Unionists signed the Solemn L_______ and C__________, stating that they would resist HR by “any means necessary,” some signed in their blood. In 1913 the Unionists also set up the Ulster V__________ Force, to oppose HR by force, if necessary. They imported guns into Ireland at L______ in County Antrim.

Nationalists were worried that the Unionists would block HR. They set up the Irish V__________ in response to the UVF. The founder member was E____ Mac N_____.

Ireland looked to be heading for a Civil War over HR, until WWI started in August 19__.

Easter 1916

As soon as the Great War started, the IRB (Irish R____________ B____________) began to plan a rebellion in Ireland. They had a saying England’s d___________ was Ireland’s o____________. In 1915 a 5 man IRB Military Council was set up. Its leaders were Padraig P________ and Thomas C________. In 1916 the plotters invited James C_________ and the Irish C________ Army to join them.

Roger C__________ was sent to G___________ to get support for the rebellion. They wouldn’t send soldiers but they agreed to send weapons. The ship, the A___, was to arrive in Kerry, Easter 1916. For the Rising to be successful the IRB would need the help of the Irish V___________. Eoin MacN_____ had to be tricked into allowing them to fight. A letter called the Castle D_________ was forged by the plotters declaring that the leaders of the Volunteers were to be arrested. When MacN_____ found out that the A___ had been captured and that he had been tricked he put a notice in the Sunday I___________ announcing that all plans for a rebellion were cancelled.

Even though the leaders knew the chances of success were small, they sent out word that the Rising would go ahead on Easter Monday. Because of the confusion only about 1,500 turned up. From the steps of the G__, Pearse read out the Proclamation of the Republic. The rebels took over several buildings in Dublin, the Four C______, Boland’s M_____, the College of Surgeons, Jacob’s Factory and the G___. They were convinced that the British would not use heavy artillery on their buildings, they were wrong. By Wednesday a gunboat, the H_______, shelled the buildings from the Liffey. By Friday the G___ was in flames and P_______ had no choice but to surrender.

3,000 people were rounded up and half of them sent to prisons in Britain. 90 men and women were sentenced to be executed. 15 were shot, including all the members of the IRB Military Council. The executions turned the public’s opinion against the British. Eamon de Valera had his sentence changed to life in prison. Within a few months the dead leaders of the rising were celebrated as heroes.

Sinn Fein 1918

Sinn Fein was set up in 1905 by A_______ G__________. He resigned as leader in 1917 to allow Eamon de V_______ take over as leader. Sinn Fein wanted complete independence from Great Britain, they wanted a r___________. They planned to get MPs elected who would not go to W_____________ in London but would set up a parliament in Ireland called D____ Eireann. Support for Sinn Fein grew because the British mistakenly called the 1916 rising the S___ F_____ Rebellion. They also got credit for the anti-C____________ campaign and the G________ Plot. The 1918 election was a massive success for Sinn Fein, the HR Party were seen as old and out of touch and were virtually wiped out by Sinn Fein, who now had 73 seats.

Irish War of Independence

On 21st of January 1919, the first meeting of D____ E________ was held. On the same day in Solohedbeg in T___________, the first shots in the War of Independence were fired. The Volunteers were now more commonly known as the IRA and were run by M__________ C___________. Collins used g__________ w__________ (hit and run) against the British. Groups of fighters were known as f___________ c___________ due to the speed of their attacks. Collins set up a small group of assassins called the S_______, whose job was to murder anyone suspected of being a British spy. The British dealt with the increasing lawlessness in Ireland by sending in former British soldiers to police the country, these became known as the B________ and T____ and soon became hated for their ruthless methods.

Main events in the War of Independence

• Hunger strike of Sinn Fein mayor of Cork, Terence Mac S_________. He died after 73 days.

• 21st November 1920, the S______ killed 11 British secret service men. In retaliation the B______ and T____ opened fire in C_____ Park, killing 12 people.

• In December 1920 Tom B______ flying column ambushed British auxiliaries in K__________, County Cork. One week later the Tans burnt much of C____ city to the ground.

By the summer of 1921 a truce was signed. The IRA had run out of guns and ammo and the British were being criticised around the world and in Britain being carried out by the Black and Tans.

The Anglo Irish Treaty 1921

After the truce, talks began on a peace treaty. De Valera sent G_______ and C________ over to London to negotiate a treaty. They wanted a republic completely free from Britain and they wanted to end partition by bringing NI back under Irish rule. Eventually in December 1921 the British PM L______ G_________ offered these terms:

• Ireland would be called the Irish F____ S______.

• The F_____ S______ would remain part of the British C______________.

• The British king would continue to be head of state.

• All TDs had to swear an O____ of A___________ to the British King.

• The British Navy would continue to control three ports in Ireland, C____, B____________ and Lough S_______

• A B___________ C____________ would be set up to decide the border between Northern Ireland and the Free State.

L______ G________ threatened war if they didn’t sign. Nationalists were divided over the treaty. Many were glad that peace had come. Some IRA leaders did not want to settle for anything less than a republic. The Dail voted 64 to 57 to accept the Treaty. Sinn Fein split over the Treaty with De Valera walking out of the Dail after the vote. The IRA also split over the Treaty, those who went against the Treaty were called the I__________ (anti-treaty IRA). In April 1922, the I__________ led by Rory O Connor occupied the F_____ C______. Collins was forced into acting against them when they kidnapped General O’Connell of the Free State Army. The bombing of the F_____ C_______ was the beginning of the Civil War.

The Civil War saw over 900 people killed. It led to the death of Michael Collins in an ambush at B_____ na mB______ in Cork. The country was deeply divided. Damage and destruction was estimated at €40 million. The two largest political parties in the country came out of the Pro Treaty (Fine Gael) and Anti Treaty sides (Fianna Fail).

Cumann na nGaedheal 1922 to 1932

After the Treaty and the Civil War, S____ F_____ was split in two. The pro – treaty supporters formed a new party called Cumann na nGaedheal, while the anti-treaty side kept the name Sinn Fein. The leader of the C na G government was W.T. C__________ and Kevin O’H________ as the Minister for Justice.

Achievements of C na G 1922-1932

• Introduced a new constitution.

• Kevin O’Higgins set up a new police force (An Garda S__________) to replace the R___. This new police force was unarmed.

• The court system was reorganised.

• The government insisted that Irish language be taught in schools.

• The Public Safety Act allowed the govt to arrest irregulars and restore law and order.

• They set quality standards for irish food exports (meat, eggs, butter). They improved animal breeding methods, they set up ACC to provide cheap loans to farmers.

• They created the S_________ S_________, to build a hydroelectric power station on the River Shannon.

• The E__ was set up to distribute electricity throughout Ireland.

• The Free State government worked with other Commonwealth countries to have the S_______ of W____________ passed in 1931. This statute allowed Commonwealth countries to make their own laws and meant that laws previously passed in W___________ were no longer binding. This meant that the treaty could be dismantled.

Crises faced by C na G

The A_____ Mutiny: caused by dissatisfaction in the Army at the plan to reduce the size of the army. Kevin O’H_______ took firm action against the leaders. Richard M___________ Minister for Defence was forced to resign.

The Boundary Commission

Nationalists hoped that this commission set up by the treaty would return large parts of the North to the Free State. The commission decided to make only minor changes to the border, they even took some land from the Free State and gave it to the North. W.T. C__________ complained to the British government and the border was left the same.

Fianna Fail 1932 to 1948

After the Civil War, de Valera and Sinn Fein TDs refused to take the O____ of A________ and take their seats in the Dail. Dev knew this could not continue as they would lose support so he left to form a new party F_______ F_____ in 19__. In 1932 they won the most seats in the general election and formed a new govt with the help of the Labour party. C na G had become unpopular due to the recession following the W____ St C_____ of 1929.

Dev immediately set out to demolish the T________. He abolished the O____ of A__________. He boycotted the G_________ General and eventually abolished the office in 1937. He removed the king as head of state in 1936. In 1937 he introduced a new constitution (B_________ na hEireann). The name of the country was changed to E____. The head of state was the President and the first one appointed was D_______ H_____. Articles 2 and 3 claimed control of all the island of Ireland.

Economic War 1932 to 1938

Dev stopped paying the land a_________. The British govt responded by placing a 20% tariff on all a_____________ goods from Ireland. People stopped buying Irish food in Britain. Dev retaliated by placing a 5% tax on British goods coming into Ireland. Unemployment rose in Ireland and exports of cattle collapsed.

The Economic War ended with the A_____ Irish A___________ of 1938. Land A_________ were abolished with the Irish govt paying a once off fee of £10m. GB and Ireland reduced the tariffs on each other’s produce. The T_______ ports were handed back to Ireland as the British wanted to have good relations with Britain with a war in Europe looking likely.

The Emergency (World War II in Ireland)

Ireland chose to remain n_______ during WWII. It showed that Ireland had an independent foreign policy to Britain. This is what the majority of Irish people wanted. Ireland would have been too weak to fight any of the stronger countries. And Ireland couldn’t fight with Britain while the island was p_____________ (divided).

Ireland was short of raw materials during the war. S______ L__________, Minister for Supplies introduced r____________ of food. Coupons from ration books were exchanged for food in shops. Inspectors called G____________ men, called to houses to ensure that people were not using gas or electricity outside the allowed hours. Trains ran on t____ instead of coal. Only d_________ and p________ were allowed drive private motor cars. Farmers were forced to grow wheat under the Compulsory T_______ Scheme.

Weather forecasts were c___________ during the war years. German planes bombed Ireland on May 1941. 34 people were killed when bombs dropped on N______ Strand in Dublin. A German invasion plan was made Operation G________, but we were never invaded. In addition to the army a Local D________ Force was set up. Even though we were officially n________, the Irish govt favoured the A______ (GB, USA, USSR). This policy meant that Allied planes could fly over D_________ from NI. German airmen were imprisoned but British pilots who crash landed were sent over the b_________. W__________ f___________ were given to the Allies, significantly in the lead up to the D-Day landings in 1944.

Ireland was spared the destruction suffered by the rest of Europe. The decision to remain neutral had shown the world that Ireland was neutral from GB. The partition between North and South became more definite. The GB govt was grateful to the North for its help in the war.

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