Irish Republicanism national liberation movement and political position that generally support the creation of an entirely independent and united Irish Republic and opposition to all forms of British rule in Ireland.
History
Irish Republicanism first emerged as a distinct political philosophy after the French Revolution and the rise of Republicanism in Europe. In May 1798, the first explicitly Republican revolt against British rule in Ireland was started by the Society of United Irishmen, a predominantly Protestant group and the smaller predominantly Catholic Defenders. This rebellion was supported by Revolutionary France and led by Theobald Wolfe Tone. By September the British had defeated the rebellion and executed most leaders and many other participants[1]
In 1803, the United Irishmen, led this time by Robert Emmet, staged a smaller revolt against British rule in Dublin. This rebellion too was quickly defeated, and Robert Emmet and many other revolutionaries were executed or forced into hiding or exile.[2]
In 1848, the Young Ireland movement, whose name was inspired by other Republican movements in Europe at the time such as Young Italy, attempted a rebellion in Tipperary. The rebellion failed after a short gunfight.[3] The leaders went on to found the Fenian Brotherhood in America and the Irish Republican Brotherhood(IRB) in Ireland.[4]
The Fenian Brotherhood and the IRB engaged in several acts of armed resistance. From 1881 to 1885, the groups orchestrated a series of bombings against various infrastructure, government, and military targets in Britain.[5] They also attempted a rebellion in 1867 through a series of small risings in Dublin and the Irish countryside.[6] Along with several other major actions.
The IRB, along with the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizens Army, Cumann na mBan and several other groups began the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916.[7] This rebellion was defeated in about a week, but eventually led to the larger Irish Revolution, starting in 1918. During the Irish Revolution, the Irish Republican Army, from then on the leading force in militant Irish Republicanism was formed.[8]
After the Irish Revolution, the IRA split into two groups, the Pro-Treaty IRA, which supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty and later became the Army of the Republic of Ireland, and the Anti-Treaty IRA, which opposed it, starting the Irish Civil War.[9]
In 1969, the Anti-Treaty IRA, by this point just called the IRA, split into the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA. Sinn Fein, then closely associated with the IRA, also split between Official Sinn Fein, Later Sinn Fein Workers Party, and Provisional Sinn Fein.[10]
Various Irish Republican groups participated in the Troubles between the 1969 and the late 1990s and early 2000s, opposing the British Army and Unionist Protestant terrorist gangs supported at times by the British Government and Apartheid South Africa, whose arms to supply the gangs were in turn supplied by the Zionist Entity.[11][12][13]
Irish Republicanism is supported by a variety of groups today. However, outside of some sporadic actions, armed resistance has mostly ceased.
Socialism/Communism
Like with most national liberation movements, Irish Republicanism has many links with Socialism and Communism. Proto-Socialist ideals and rhetoric was employed in the United Irishmen risings. Theobald Wolfe Tone, the leader of the 1798 rising, stated that, "Our independence must be had at all hazards. If the men of property will not support us, they must fall; we can support ourselves by the aid of that most numerous and respectable class of the community, the men of no property."[14] Additionally, another leader of the 1798 rebellion, Henry Joy McCracken, stated, “You will no doubt hear a great number of stories respecting the situation of the country, its present unfortunate state is owing entirely to treachery, the rich always betray the poor.”[15] Later, the issue of Irish freedom and Irish Republicanism came up several times at the International Workingmen's Association, also called the First International, including being mentioned by Karl Marx, who drafted a resolution on Irish political prisoners being held by Britain.[16] Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels also wrote extensively on Ireland and its fight for freedom.[17]
Abstentionism/Electoralism
Groups
- ↑ Pat Murphy (2023-2-7). "1798: Ireland's Year of Liberty" Workers Liberty.
- ↑ "The 1803 rebellion Ireland and Robert Emmet" (2017-9-20). Workers Solidarity Movement.
- ↑ "On This Day: The Young Ireland rebellion against the British comes to a quick end" (2020-7-29). Irish Central.
- ↑ The Fenian Brotherhood in New York and the US (2018). [PDF] State University of New York Press.
- ↑ MARK MOLONEY (2013-9-1). "Behind Enemy Lines – The Fenians’ bombing campaign in Victorian Britain" An Poblacht.
- ↑ MÍCHEÁL MAC DONNCHA (2017-2-13). "Fenian Rising - 150th anniversary - 5 March" An Poblacht.
- ↑ Cillian Gillespie (2016-4-20). "Ireland: 100 years since the 1916 Easter rising" Socialist Party UK.
- ↑ "Irish War of Independence". National Army Museum.
- ↑ John Dorney (2012-7-2). "The Irish Story" The Irish Civil War – A brief overview.
- ↑ MÍCHEÁL MAC DONNCHA (2020-1-9). "The Republican Movement split of 1969/1970" An Poblacht.
- ↑ Erin Blakemore (2022-4-8). "What were the Troubles that ravaged Northern Ireland?" National Geographic.
- ↑ "UK agents 'worked with NI paramilitary killers'" (2015-5-28). BBC.
- ↑ Peter Taylor (1999). Loyalists : war and peace in Northern Ireland (p. 189).
- ↑ "Wolfe Tone In His Own Words". Sinn Fein.
- ↑ WELLRED BOOKS (2022-12-1). "Ireland: Republicanism and Revolution – “The rich always betray the poor”" The Communist.
- ↑ Karl Marx (1869). Draft Resolution of the General Council on the Policy of the British Government towards the Irish Prisoners. [MIA]
- ↑ Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels. "Marx & Engels on Ireland" Marxists Internet Archive.