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British Opinion, Ireland, and the War, 1916–1918*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

David G. Boyce
David G. Boyce
Affiliation:
University College of Swansea
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Extract

In the January 1916 issue of the Nineteenth Century the Reverend Robert H. Murray contributed the first of two articles on Irish insurrectionary movements during the wars with France at the end of the eighteenth century. He prefaced his text with some homilies directed at the British government of his ow n time:

During the early months of the present War the prospects of the invasion of these islands by sea as well as by air were discussed and prepared for by naval and military authorities. As the struggle developed month by month there has been less discussion of such contingencies. The magnificent work of our Fleet has lulled us into a complete sense of security. We do not foresee an attack upon the East Coast of England: we have almost forgotten our fears with regard to the West Coast of Ireland.

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Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 17 , Issue 3 , September 1974 , pp. 575 - 593
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

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References

1 The Reverend Canon Murray, Robert H. (d. 1947), chaplain of the Royal Hibernian Military School, Dublin, 1904–11; chaplain to the Forces, 1914–16; canon of Worcester Cathedral, 1933–40.Google Scholar

2 ‘Ireland in Two Wars’, in Nineteenth Century, LXXIX (Jan.-06 1916), 153–72.Google Scholar

3 ‘Humbert's Invasion of Ireland in 1798’, ibid, LXXX (July-Dec. 1916), 191–208.

4 For a forceful statement of these points see Rosenbaum, S. (ed.) Against Home Rule – the Case for the Union (London, 1912), especially pp. 11–12Google Scholar, and the essays contributed by Lord, AdmiralBeresford, Charles on ‘Home Rule and Naval Defence’, pp. 189–94, and by the Earl Percy on ‘The military disadvantages of Home Rule’, pp. 195–203.Google Scholar

5 There was also, of course, the calculation by both Nationalists and Unionists that in helping the war effort they were thereby establishing a claim on the gratitude of Great Britain which would stand them in good stead when the home rule struggle should be renewed.

6 5 Hansard, LXV, col. 1829, 3 Aug. 1914.

7 Jackson, J. A., The Irish in Britain (London, 1963), p. 124.Google Scholar

8 5 Hansard, LXV, 1824, 3 Aug. 1914.

9 ‘Ireland's Message to the Nations’, issued at the Mansion House, Dublin, , 21 Jan. 1919, in Ireland's Request to the Government of the United States for Recognition as a Sovereign Independent State (1919), pp. 121–2.Google Scholar

10 For a discussion of the arrangements made between the parties see Hazlehurst, Cameron, Politicians at War: July 1914 – May 1915 (London, 1971), pp. 135–42.Google Scholar

11 For Redmond's insistence on this, see Savage, D. W., ‘The Irish Question in British Politics, 1914–16’, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Princeton University (1963), pp. 21–39.Google Scholar

12 5 Hansard, LXVI, 882–93. Redmond declared that the government's action had transformed Ireland from ‘“the broken arm of England” into one of the strongest bulwarks of the Empire’ (col. 912).

13 Hazlehurst, , op. cit. pp. 139–40Google Scholar. See also SirPetrie, C., Life and Letters of Sir Austen Chamberlain (London, 1939–1940), II, 5–14.Google Scholar

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16 The History of The Times, the 150th Anniversary and Beyond, pt. II (London, 1952), p. 545Google Scholar; Ayerst, D., Guardian: Biography of a Newspaper (London, 1971), p. 390.Google Scholar

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19 Daily Telegraph, 27 and 28 Apr. 1916. See also Daily Mail, 27 Apr. 1916; Daily Express, 26 Apr. 1916.

20 Nottingham Journal and Express, 4 May 1916. In the fighting at Lower Mount Street, the Sherwood Foresters suffered losses of 4 officers killed and 14 wounded, and 216 other ranks killed and wounded (Phillips, Alison, The Revolution in Ireland, 1906–1923 (London, 1923), p. 101).Google Scholar

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24 15 rebels were executed by the British army between 3 and 12 May 1916. The verdict of Captain Cyril Falls on the executions is that ‘the number actually executed was very small by comparison with that usually following a revolt in such circumstances’ (‘Maxwell, 1916, and Britain at War’, in Martin, F. X. (ed.), Leaders and Men oj the Easter Rising: Dublin 1916 (London, 1967), pp. 203–13). It is a verdict worth remembering in the light of subsequent feeling in Ireland over the executions.Google Scholar

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26 ‘Headings of a Settlement as to the Government of Ireland’, Cd. 8310 of 1916. There was more than one draft of the Lloyd George proposals, but the official version does not differ substantially from the other drafts.

27 Middlemas, Keith states this in his introduction to Tom Jones, Whitehall Diary (London, 1971), III, 1.Google Scholar

28 Quoted in Lyons, F. S. L., John Dillon: a biography (London, 1968), p. 288.Google Scholar

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31 ‘You can render a service to Ireland, Great Britain and the Empire, the extent of which no man can reason’, he wrote to George, Lloyd on 23 May 1916 (D 14/1/9).Google Scholar

32 It is possible to trace the process by which southern Irish Unionists pressurized Long in letters from Long to George, Lloyd, 29 May, and 11 and 12 June 1916Google Scholar, Lloyd George papers, D 14/1/37, D 14/2/28, 33. See also Stewart, G. F., vice-chairman of the Irish Unionist Alliance, to Long, 31 May 1916Google Scholar, D 14/1/45. Southern Unionist activity is documented by P. J. Buckland, in ‘Southern Unionism’, chap. VIII. Buckland's verdict is that ‘the southern Unionist agitation precipitated the Cabinet crisis in the summer of 1916 and prevented a moderate solution of the Irish question’ (p. 214). The southern Unionists also launched an impressive propaganda campaign in Great Britain, using especially the Morning Post (Buckland, , op. cit. pp. 235–7).Google Scholar

33 Lloyd George papers, Long to George, Lloyd, 11 June 1916, D 14/2/28.Google Scholar

34 Asquith papers, Asquith, to the king (cabinet letter), 27 June 1916, MS Asquith 8, fo. 171. Landsdowne explained his objections in a cabinet paper, ‘The Proposed Irish Settlement’, 21 June 1916, Cab. 37/150.Google Scholar

35 Bonar Law papers, memorandum by Cecil, Lord Robert, 26 June 1916Google Scholar, 63/C/62. See also Cabinet Paper by Cecil, Lord Robert, [5] July 1916, Cab. 37/151/11.Google Scholar

36 Asquith Papers, Chamberlain, Austen to Asquith, , 23 June 1916, MS Asquith 16, fo. 207.Google Scholar

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38 Addison, Christopher, Politics from within (2 vols., London, 1924), pp. 258–9Google Scholar. See also Wilson, Trevor (ed.), The Political Diaries of C. P. Scott (London, 1970) pp. 222–4.Google Scholar

39 Asquith papers, Asquith to the king (cabinet letter), MS Asquith 8, fo. 171.

40 These letters are in the Bonar Law papers, 53/3/8.

41 See e.g. Scotsman, 27 June 1916; Sheffield Telegraph, 27 June 1916; Western Morning News, 28 June 1916.

42 Riddell, Lord, War Diary (London, 1933), p. 201.Google Scholar

43 Austen Chamberlain papers, Chamberlain, Austen to Lansdowne, , 30 June 1916, AC 14/5/9.Google Scholar

44 Asquith Papers, Asquith, to the king (cabinet letter), 5 July 1916, MS Asquith 8, fo. 179.Google Scholar

45 Ibid, same to same, 19 July 1916, MS Asquith 8, fo. 185.

46 5 Hansard, LXXXIV, 1427–70, 24 July 1916. Redmond had earlier warned Lloyd George of the dangers of tampering with the settlement (Lloyd George papers, Redmond to Lloyd George, 7 July 1916, D 14/3/49). See also Gwynn, Denis, The Life of John Redmond (London, 1932), pp. 519–20.Google Scholar

47 Daily Express, 25 July 1916.

48 Daily Mail, 26 July 1916.

49 Lloyd George papers, prime minister of Australia (W. M. Hughes) to Lloyd George, telegram received on 29 and 30 Dec. 1916, F 32/4/14. See also war cabinet minutes, 21 Dec. 1916, and 1 Jan. 1917, Cab. 23/1.

50 Lloyd George papers, copy of extract from a letter from Sir Cecil Spring Rice to Lord Hardinge, 5 Dec. 1916, F 60/2/1. For Full discussion of the impact of the Irish question on Anglo-American relations see D. W. Savage, op. cit. chs. III and v, and Ward, Alan J., Ireland and Anglo-American Relations, 1899–1921 (London, 1969), chs. v and vii.Google Scholar

51 Lloyd George papers, Scott, C. P. to George, Lloyd, 4 Mar. 1917, F 45/2/6. For British newspaper comment see e.g. Yorkshire Post, Birmingham Post, and Liverpool Courier, 8 Mar. 1917; Daily Telegraph, 9 Mar. 1917; Observer, 11 Mar. 1917; Daily Mail, 23 Mar. 1917.Google Scholar

52 War cabinet minutes, 22 Mar. 1917, Cab. 23/2.

53 5 Hansard, xci, 2137, 22 Mar. 1917.

54 Taylor, A. J. P. (cd), Lloyd George: a diary by Frances Stevenson (London, 1971), p. 155.Google Scholar

55 Ibid. p. 156.

56 War cabinet minutes, 16 May 1917, Cab. 23/2. The proposals were announced in the house of commons on 21 May (5 Hansard, xciii, 1995–2039).

57 Taylor, A. J. P., Lloyd George: a diary by Frances Stevenson, p. 158Google Scholar. For a full account of the Irish Convention see McDowell, R. B., The Irish Convention (London 1970) and P. J. Buckland, ‘Southern Unionism’, chs. ix–xiGoogle Scholar

58 Western Morning News, 17 May 1917.

59 Daily Telegraph, 17 May 1917.

60 Daily Mail, 22 May 1917.

61 Lloyd George appealed on 21 May 1917 for ‘no publication, authorized or unauthorized’ of its proceedings until its conclusions were arrived at (5 Hansard, xciii, 1998).

62 Dawson, to Phillips, Alison, History of The Times, p. 551.Google Scholar

63 For an account of the earlier conscription measures and the whole conscription question see Hayes, Denis, Conscription Conflict (London, 1949)Google Scholar, chs. XII–XXI, and Rae, John, Conscience and Politics (London, 1970). Walter Long, for one, had pressed hard to have Ireland included in the 1916 bill.Google Scholar

64 It has been argued that in fact the manpower reservoir in Ireland was much lower there than elsewhere. The Irish Registrar Geneial and the War Office admitted that ‘the male population of Ireland is chiefly composed of young men up to 18 and over 50 as a large proportion of the remainder emigrate …’ (Edward, Owen Dudley and Pyle, Fergus, 1916: The Easter Rising (London, 1968), p. 110).Google Scholar

65 On 5 Jan. 1916 John Dillon gave the numbers of new Irish recruits to the British army up to 15 Dec. 1915 as 91,555, of which 50,196 were Roman Catholics and 41,353 Protestants (5 Hansard, LXXVII, 1043).

66 Though Punch, as early as Oct. 1916, dropped some strong hints in a cartoon entitled ‘Another Injustice to Ireland’: a ‘gallant Irish soldier’ was depicted asking an ‘able-bodied civilian’, ‘An' who's to fill the gaps in th' ould rig'ment if ye don't join up?’, to which the civilian replied: ‘Sure, it's myself that'd go willingly if they'd only compel me’ (Punch, II Oct. 1916). On the performance of Irish soldiers in the Great War see Henry Harris ‘The other Half Million’ in Edwards, O. Dudley and Pyle, Fergus, 1916: The Easttr Rising, pp. 101–15.Google Scholar

67 Hayes, , op. cit. pp. 306–13.Google Scholar

68 Riddell, Lord, War Diary, pp. 239–40.Google Scholar

69 War cabinet minutes, Cab. 23/5. See also ‘A minutes’, 1 Apr. 1918, Cab. 23/14.

70 War cabinet minutes, 5 and 6 Apr. 1918, Cab. 23/6. The Report of the Irish Convention was published as a command paper, Cd. 9019 of 1918.

71 Manchester Guardian, 6 Apr. 1918. See also 8 Apr. 1918, ‘emancipation must come first recruitment afterwards’.

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73 Lloyd George papers, Guest, F. E. to George, Lloyd, 15 Apr. 1918, F 21/2/19.Google Scholar

74 Edward David, ‘The Liberal Party divided, 1916–18’, in HJ, XH, 3 (1970), 509–33. Asquith did lead a mass abstention of the Liberal opposition on the second reading of the Military Service Bill. Some 30 Liberal back-benchers, with Labour and the Irish members, joined in the opinion that ‘this measure diminishes the naval and economic power of the nation without adding commensurate military strength’.

75 Wilson, T. (ed.), The Political Diaries of C. P. Scott, p. 341.Google Scholar

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77 New Statesman, 21 Oct. 1916.

78 See e.g. Observer, 31 Mar. 1918; Birmingham Post, 17 Apr. 1918; Daily Telegraph, 7 May 1918; Yorkshire Post, 11 Apr. 1918.

79 South and West included Monmouthshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire; South-West included Somerset, Devon and Cornwall; Metropolis (west) included St. Pancras, Hampstead, Paddington, Kensington, Hammersmith, Chelsea and Westminster.

80 Bonar Law papers, Sir George Younger to J. C. C. Davidson, 3 May 1918, enclosing a bundle of replies from district agents on Unionist feeling about home rule, 83/3/11.

81 McDowell, R. B., The Irish Convention, pp. 127–84Google Scholar, esp. pp. 165 ff; Buckland, P. J., ‘Southern Unionism’, chs. xi, H I, esp. pp. 355–79.Google Scholar

82 Austen Chamberlain papers, Chamberlain, to Gell, Lytdeton, 22 May 1918, AC 31/1/14.Google Scholar

83 Lloyd George papers, Malcolm, Ian to George, Lloyd, 15 Apr. 1918, F 3/3/8.Google Scholar

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85 Lloyd George papers, Amery, to George, Lloyd, 29 Apr. 1918, F 2/1/22.Google Scholar

86 Ibid. Amery to Lloyd George, 1 May 1918, F 2/1/23. See also Austen Chamberlain papers, Chamberlain, Austen to Cecil, Lord Hugh, 10 Apr. 1918Google Scholar, AC 18/2/9. I have discussed this point more fully in ‘British Conservative Opinion, The Ulster Question, and the Partition of Ireland, 1912–21’, Irish Historical Studies, xvii, 65 (03. 1970), 89–112.Google Scholar

87 Austen Chamberlain papers, Selborne, to Long, Walter, 31 May 1918, AC 15/1/33.Google Scholar

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90 For a full discussion of federalism, and the Government's attempts to frame a federal constitution for the United Kingdom in 1918, see Kendle, John, ‘Federalism and the Irish Problem in 1918’, History, LVI (1971), 207–30CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Middlemas, , Whitehall Diary, III, 4–11 contains valuable information on the discussion of the Committee on the Government of Ireland Amendment Bill which, under the chairmanship of Walter Long, began work on 15 Apr. 1918. A file containing the proceedings of this committee, together with relevant documents and Long's interim report of 14 June 1918, is in Cab. 27/46.Google Scholar

91 Spectator, 20 Apr. 1918. Maurice Hankey, with equal epigrammatic skill, described the Government's policy as ‘gilding the conscription pill with the Home Rule Bill’ (Roskill, Stephen, Hankey: Man of Secrets, 1877–1918) (London, 1970), I, 521.)Google Scholar Lloyd George, however, always maintained that conscription and home rule did not hang together. ‘Each must be taken on its merits’ (ibid. p. 522).

92 See e.g. war cabinet minutes, 24 July 1917, Cab. 23/3 and esp. appendix G.T. 1261, and ibid. 1 Nov. 1917, Cab. 23/4.

93 War cabinet minutes, 414A, 22 May 1918, Cab. 23/14. See also 408A, 10 May 1918, Cab. 23/14, and 8 May 1918, Cab. 23/6. The ‘evidence and documents in the possession of the Government showing the active connection between the leaders of the Sinn Fein Movement and the German Government’ were later published as a Command Paper, ‘Documents Relative to the Sinn Fein Movement’, Cmd. 1108 of 1921, xxix, 429.

94 Roskill, , Hartley: Man of Secrets, 1, 554.Google Scholar

95 War cabinet minutes, 414A, Cab. 23/14.

96 5 Hansard, xxx (Lords), 330, 20 June 1918. The gist of Curzon's speech was threshed out in Cabinet on 19 June 1918 (war cabinet minutes, Cab. 23/6).

97 Some 11,000 recruits were in fact obtained from Ireland between Aug. and Oct. 1918 (Kee, Robert, The Green Flag (London, 1972), p. 623).Google Scholar

98 For an analysis of the election results see Kee, , op. cit. pp. 626–7. Kee shows that the total anti-republican vote, including Unionists, was 557,435, as against 485,105 for Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein, of course, had a majority of the Nationalist vote alone.Google Scholar

99 Saturday Review, 20 Apr. 1918.

100 5 Hansard, ex, 1962, 5 Nov. 1918. For a selection of war aims declarations by British statesmen, which proved an embarrassment in the Irish context, see Ireland's Request to the Government of the United States of America, pp. 35–8.

101 Lloyd George papers, ‘Points on the Policy of the Government with regard to Home Rule’, n.d. (Dec. 1918?), F 69/8.

102 The Times, 26 03. 1919.Google Scholar

103 Nineteenth Century, LXXX (Jan-June 1917), 959.