Definition of Easter Rising

Ireland is one of those nations that has had to fight for its independence politics. A key event to galvanize this struggle, even if it did not directly achieve independence, was the so-called Easter Rising.

The 1916 Easter Rising was an attempt by Irish organizations to establish a independent republic, to rise militarily taking advantage of the weakness of the United Kingdom, bogged down in the First War World.

The uprising coincided on dates with the Easter holiday of 1916 (hence its name), and lasted six days. It took place mainly in Dublin, with some isolated actions in other parts of the country.

It was not the first uprising that took place in Ireland against the British occupiers, but it was one of the most important and, without a doubt, the most momentous.

For this uprising, the Irish independentistas wanted to have the help of the German Empire.

I have said before, that he took advantage of the participation in the First World War and therefore it was logical to apply the maxim “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.

The interest of the Germans seemed initially sincere (whether or not for the Liberty of the Irish, in the end it favored their interests), and there was even talk of the shipment of arms and the landing of a force German expeditionary on the island in order to contain the foreseeable British counterattack.

For the Germans, this could have meant the opening of a second front against Great Britain, which would have led the country to distract troops from its European front and, therefore, to weaken the French position, which depended on the aid of the Allied troops to maintain the front.

At the moment of the truth, the German interest declined - probably because it considered impractical to carry out port his participation in the plot-, and although he canceled the dispatch of the expeditionary force, he maintained that of the weapons. Unfortunately for the Irish, the German ship with the weaponry was detected and sunk by the Royal Navy.

East incident He alerted the British that something was going to happen (and they were right in targeting a revolt action), and delayed the plan one day, also demobilizing a part of the volunteers, but did not stop it.

Early on Monday, April 24, 1916, Irish volunteers from various organizations who had conspired for the plot, occupied various dependencies and proclaimed the Republic.

The main of these dependencies, and which became a symbol of the uprising (today it houses a museum dedicated to him) was the central post office, in which the republican flag was made, and from where the independence proclamation was read.

Although enthusiastic, the fledgling Republican militants made a few mistakes, such as not occupying Dublin Castle (symbol of British domination in the city and on the island) being even in numerical superiority in this case compared to their adversaries.

Despite the fact that British intelligence was alerted to the possibility of events, this information had not been communicated to the army (probably because the investigation process was still open), so the British troops in the city were taken by surprise.

This meant that, despite the failures such as the one mentioned in Dublin Castle, or Trinity College, the independentists could consolidate the occupied points of the city.

During the following days, the British forces added reinforcements brought directly from the Kingdom United, thanks to the fact that the Irish had not been able to take control of the two ports of the city.

Unaware of the real size of the forces they were facing, the British troops first proceeded cautiously to probe the enemy, recovering some positions such as the city council, until they delimited the different “rebel” foci and realized that they could isolate and attack them separately thanks to their vast numerical superiority and material. Outside of Dublin there were some specific actions, nothing of relevance.

The British artillery wreaked havoc (the Irish increased their cannons).

Crossfire in infantry was scarce, as the British, aware of their advantageous position, were limited to bombarding the Irish positions waiting for the inevitable surrender, since these positions were unsustainable under artillery fire without having anything with which to respond to it, nor being able to receive reinforcement.

During these days, some British attacks that suffered heavy casualties thanks to the skill of the Irish soldiers, were answered with massacres of civilians sympathetic to the cause independentista. In view of the situation, the Irish troops surrendered on Saturday 29 April.

In his surrender statement, Patrick Pearse (military commander of the movement at that time) argued the desire to avoid more civilian casualties.

The curious thing about the Easter Rising is that it was a posteriori success, that is to say, that at the time it could be classified as failure, but it led to such repression by the British that it turned public opinion on the side of the independentistas.

In the 1918 elections, Sinn Féin won the overwhelming majority of seats, which it would not take, to instead form the first sovereign parliament of the Republic of Ireland.

This would lead first to a armed conflict against the British, the recognition of Ireland as a commonwealth afterwards, and finally the proclamation of the republic.

Themes in Easter Rising