#625Lab – History, marked 78/100, detailed feedback at the very bottom. You may also like: Leaving Cert History Guide (€).
The factors that contributed to the partition of Ireland between the period 1912 to 1920
Essay credit: Ruth Byrne
In this essay I will discuss the factors that contributed to the partition of Ireland between the period 1912 to 1920. The main cause of which was the chasm of unionist and nationalist divide. Since the plantation of Ulster in 1609, there was a protestant majority in the six north- eastern counties, with a Catholic majority filling out the rest of the island. The Catholics felt that Britain was hindering their progress and the majority wanted Home Rule or total independence. There was inevitable resistance from the Protestants who felt that the island would be ruled by the Catholic church. This divide led to ‘The Government of Ireland Act 1920’ which separated the majority of these two groups into having two different parliaments, one in Belfast and one in Dublin. This was the penultimate step into solidifying the split, leading to the following year’s Anglo-Irish Treaty which was set in stone albeit reluctantly by Sinn Féin, with this treaty lasting to this day.
When Herbert Asquith introduced the 3rd Home Rule bill in 1912, the contents were similar to the past two bills, it stated that Ireland would have a parliament to deal with internal affairs and Westminster would govern the external ones. The House of Lords indeed vetoed it like the previous bill, however, this time would be different. The Parliament Act 1911, sought to limit the power of the House of Lords, by replacing a veto from being an outright rejection of a bill to instead being a two-year delay. This change meant that the Asquith’s Home Rule Bill would be passed in 2 years, in 1914. There was inevitable uproar about the situation and soon groups formed to either halt or ensure the bill coming into effect
That same year the bill was proposed, the Solemn League and Covenant was signed by half a million people. Launched by Unionist leaders James Craig and Edward Carson, it stated that those who signed it pledged to do anything in their power to stop Home Rule, even going against the Government. As FSL Lyons states in his book ‘Ireland since the famine’, “As loyal subjects to the King’s government, they pledged themselves without any conscious irony to oppose the King’s government.” Carson and Craig mainly focused on garnering support from the six counties, which we know as Northern Ireland today, due to their high concentration of Unionists. This closed off Unionists from nationalists, as they pledged themselves in a signed agreement, creating a further distance from the other group, this was only the start of a widening of a gap between the two groups. Unionists also set up the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) which was a paramilitary group that was composed of 100,000 members at its peak, the group was willing to take military action against the threat of Home Rule, practicing frequent rifle and military drills. This showed the seriousness and dedication of the group to counteract Home Rule, they were indeed a threat to the movement. When Asquith demanded they disband, officers in Curragh threatened to resign, which led Asquith to withdraw his demand. The UVF had shown their power when dealing with the government. The Larne Gun Running wherein £1 million worth of arms and ammunition were smuggled into Larne also proved that the group were preparing to use terror and violence if necessary, to prevent Home Rule from happening. These moves by the UVF, made the British government listen and, in an effort, to appease them, led to the exclusion of Ulster (with the exception of the more nationalist Donegal) from Home Rule later on.
In retaliation to the UVF, nationalists set up the Irish Volunteer Force as a means to ensure the implementation of Home Rule, with Eoin Mac Neill as their leader. Now there were two armed forces who were fighting for the opposite outcomes, both willing to take decisive military action to help their cause. This could prove dangerous if not properly and promptly dealt with, along with the fact that members of the British army declaring that they would not take military action against the UVF if the situation arose. This led the British government to seriously consider the possibility of partition. All affairs pertaining to partition and Home Rule ceased when World War 1 broke out. Unionists willingly joined the army, unlike nationalists. Redmond felt that nationalists would look bad in comparison to unionists and therefore offered the support of the nationalists on their behalf, in this case it would have been a better move for Redmond to use the support of the nationalists as a wager to ensure Home Rule after the war. However, by the end of the war, after the 1916 rising, the Irish situation had changed greatly, and it was clear that independence was the only thing nationalists would now accept.
The 1916 Easter rising was organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) who were extreme nationalists, decided to launch a rebellion in order to gain full independence while Britain was busy at war, as they believed “England’s difficulty is Ireland’s Opportunity”. Unionists saw this as treachery and deemed nationalists untrustworthy, again further distancing the two groups from each other. 1916 was probably the event that solidified partition, indeed it was a failure, however the events following the rising led to irreversible change in public opinion, with the city destroyed, loss of innocent lives, executions of leaders like Connolly, Pearse and Plunkett who were seen as heroes and martyrs for the cause. Home Rule was no longer an option, independence was what nationalists needed, leading to the rise of the Sinn Féin Party.
Sinn Féin replaced the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) as the main party, they demanded full independence. They were invited to a discussion about partition and Home Rule, but they did not show up, showing they did not see means for discussion they would not toy with any idea other than independence. Meanwhile unionists were still campaigning for the Ulster counties. Sinn Féin started the ‘War of Independence’ to try and gain independence, the war lasted two years and tactics like guerrilla warfare and terrorism were used by both sides. The two sides were now crystal clear about their demands, and neither would back down. David Lloyd George passed the ‘Government of Ireland Act’ in 1920 to put a stop to the war, it effectively began the steps to permanent partition. It split the county in two in both a metaphorical and physical sense, with two parliaments, one in Dublin and one in Belfast.
Due to both cultural differences and differences in opinion, the country was partitioned. With Britain in control of the unionist counties. Due to factors of religion war and rival military groups, the partition was necessary to prevent total destruction due to the ongoing war. However, the partition although meant to be only a temporary measure, the next year in the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921, Sinn Féin reluctantly agreed to the new 26 county republic, giving 6 counties to Britain in what would become Northern Ireland. Although a number of issues were to blame for the partition, they all fall under the blanket of religious divide. Redmond’s failure to solidify Home Rule before it was too late ultimately killed the idea of it and the underlying sympathy by the British for the unionists meant that partition was a matter of when not if.
Feedback: This is a really good essay that answers the question well. Your introduction is strong as it provides much needed background information and sets up the essay well. Try to avoid using ‘I’ and other personal phrases though – it will help you to seem objective (as historians should be). Your conclusion is also good, but you should make use of it to sum up your points and really drive home your argument, while also wrapping up. You make really good use of quotation and your essay is packed full of relevant factual information. You do a good job of linking each paragraph to the question – make sure it’s always clear how the info is relevant! As a tiny presentation note, you should spell out numbers under 100 – so ‘six’ instead of ‘6’ etc. You make some good commentary.
Cumulative mark: This would probably achieve about 45/60 for its cumulative mark – this isn’t because the essay isn’t good, it’s because you only have 7 paragraphs! If you could bump up the number of paragraphs (by finding another few points and/or splitting some of your existing paragraphs) you’ll achieve 60/60 easily.
Overall evaluation mark: This would achieve 28/40 for its overall evaluation mark. This is a strong mark, awarded for essays that are good but that don’t show evidence of wider reading or detailed analysis.
Total: 78/100