Ireland And World War I
During World War I (or the Great War) (1914–1918), Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which entered the war in August 1914 as one of the Entente Powers, along with France and Russia, when it declared war to halt the military expansion of the Central Powers, consisting of the German Empire, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulgaria.
The Irish experience of the war was complex and its memory divisive. At the outbreak of the war, most Irish people, regardless of political affiliation, supported the war in much the same way as their British counterparts, and both nationalist and unionist leaders initially backed the British war effort. Their followers, both Catholic and Protestant, served extensively in the British forces, many in three specially raised divisions, others in the Imperial and United States armies. Over 200,000 Irishmen fought in the war, in several theatres and just under 30,000 died. A small, more radical element of Irish nationalists took the opportunity of the war to launch an armed rebellion against British rule, with some German help. In addition, Britain's intention to impose conscription in Ireland in 1918 provoked widespread resistance and as a result remained unimplemented.
Finally, the Great War was immediately followed by the Irish War of Independence (1919 – 1922) and the Irish Civil War (1922 – 1923) after which Ireland was partitioned and much of it left the United Kingdom as the Irish Free State. For this reason, many nationalists were reluctant for many years to recognise the part that Irishmen had played in the world war on Britain's side.
Read more about Ireland And World War I: Recruitment, Irish Divisions, Casualties, Demobilisation and Post War Experience
Famous quotes containing the words world war i, ireland, world and/or war:
“One ... aspect of the case for World War II is that while it was still a shooting affair it taught us survivors a great deal about daily living which is valuable to us now that it is, ethically at least, a question of cold weapons and hot words.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)
“Come, fix upon me that accusing eye.
I thirst for accusation. All that was sung.
All that was said in Ireland is a lie
Breed out of the contagion of the throng,
Saving the rhyme rats hear before they die.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The world was a huge ball then, the universe a might harmony of ellipses, everything moved mysteriously, incalculable distances through the ether.
We used to feel the awe of the distant stars upon us. All that led to was the eighty-eight naval guns, ersatz, and the night air-raids over cities. A magnificent spectacle.
After the collapse of the socialist dream, I came to America.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“Then down came the lid—the day was lost, for art, at Sarajevo. World-politics stepped in, and a war was started which has not ended yet: a “war to end war.” But it merely ended art. It did not end war.”
—Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957)