Definition
Physical force Irish republicanism has usually been marked by a number of features:
- A commitment to an Irish republic which stressed the rights of the Irish people as a community to independence and the ownership of Ireland rather than to individual rights, such as the rights to private property;
- The holding of a series of rebellions or campaigns, sometimes with minimal support, but some of which impacted upon parliamentary nationalism;
- A demand to break all links with the United Kingdom through the use of force.
- The use of secret societies to plot and organise rebellions; especially the Fenians/Irish Republican Brotherhood.
The most prominent physical force rebellions and campaigns were:
- 1798 rebellion of Wolfe Tone and the Society of the United Irishmen
- 1803 rebellion associated with Robert Emmet and the United Irishmen
- 1848 rebellion associated with Thomas Davis, Charles Gavan Duffy and the Young Ireland movement
- 1867 rebellion associated with James Stephens, Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa and the Irish Republican Brotherhood
- 1867–1885 Fenian Dynamite Campaign associated with the Irish Republican Brotherhood
- 1916 Easter Rising associated with Padraig Pearse and James Connolly
- 1919–21 Irish War of Independence
- 1922–23 Irish Civil War
- 1939–1941 Sabotage Campaign (Irish Republican Army)
- 1942–1944 Northern Campaign (Irish Republican Army)
- 1956–1962 Border Campaign (Irish Republican Army)
- 1969–97 Provisional IRA campaign 1969–1997 during The Troubles
- 1998–present Dissident Irish republican campaign
Read more about this topic: Physical Force Irish Republicanism
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