Ireland's Fight for Freedom Begins
The Main Idea in a Nutshell
- The war for Irish independence started not with a big battle, but with a bold political move and a small, violent ambush that slowly grew into a new kind of "guerrilla war" against the powerful British Empire.
The Key Takeaways
- Two Big Events, One Day: On January 21, 1919, two major things happened. First, Irish politicians who had just won an election created their own secret parliament (called the Dáil Éireann) to declare independence. Second, in a completely separate event, a group of rebels ambushed and killed two Irish policemen, firing the first real shots of the war.
- A New Kind of War: The Irish rebels knew they couldn't beat the British army in a normal fight. So they used "guerrilla warfare"—small, secret groups carrying out surprise attacks, like ambushes and train robberies, and then hiding among regular people. It was like a real-life Wild West shootout.
- The Black and Tans: The British sent in a tough new police force made of ex-soldiers from Britain, nicknamed the "Black and Tans." They were known for being extremely brutal and violent, which made many Irish people hate the British even more and support the rebels. Fact: By the summer of 1920, about 50 regular policemen were quitting every week, so the British had to recruit 100 new "Black and Tans" per week to replace them.
- Winning Hearts and Minds: The rebels weren't just fighting with guns. They created their own secret government with courts and departments to prove they could run a country. Their goal was to win the loyalty of the Irish people and convince the world—and the British—that their "invisible Republic" was real.
Important Quotes, Explained
- Quote: "> ...this invisible Republic with its hidden courts and its prohibited volunteer troops, exists in the hearts of the men and women of Ireland and wields a moral authority which all the tanks and machine guns of King George cannot command."
- What it Means: The new Irish Republic wasn't an official country with buildings and borders yet. It was an idea that lived in the minds and hearts of the Irish people. This belief was so strong that it was more powerful than the entire British army with all its weapons.
Why it Matters: This shows the war was about winning people's loyalty, not just winning battles. The rebels were building a new country in secret, and its power came from the people who believed in it.
Quote: "> This is not the battlefields of the Somme or Verdun. This is the complete opposite and it drives people crazy that they do not know where the enemy is coming from, that they're coming from hedges, they melt from the population, they come from it, they kill and they go back into it."
- What it Means: Unlike the huge, organized battles of World War I, this new war was unpredictable and made the British soldiers feel helpless. They couldn't fight an enemy they couldn't find—one minute they were being shot at from a hedge, the next minute the attackers had disappeared, blending in with regular villagers.
- Why it Matters: This perfectly describes the "guerrilla warfare" tactic. It was a psychological game designed to frustrate the British army and make them feel like they could never win, no matter how many soldiers they had.
The Main Arguments (The "Why")
- First, the hosts argue that the war began politically. The Irish party Sinn Féin won a landslide election and, instead of joining the British government, they created their own illegal parliament to show they were serious about independence.
- Next, they provide evidence that a small group of young, violent men believed that talk wasn't enough. They ambushed and killed policemen to deliberately start a war, believing that "unless somebody is killed, there is no war of independence."
- Finally, they point out that the British government didn't know how to handle it. They treated the violence like a simple crime problem instead of a war. Their leaders in Ireland were described as "woodenly stupid," and their brutal police forces, like the Black and Tans, only made more Irish people support the rebellion.
Questions to Make You Think
- Q: Why did the Irish rebels attack other Irish people, like the two policemen who were killed first?
A: The podcast explains that those policemen were working for the British state. To the rebels, anyone working for the British was part of the system of control they were fighting against. Attacking them was a way to declare war on British rule in Ireland.
Q: Were the young men who joined the IRA (Irish Republican Army) seen as heroes right away?
A: The podcast says no, not always. After the first killings, many local people were horrified. There was "outrage from the pulpit" and in the newspapers. The men who did it had to go on the run, even from their own communities. Their heroic image grew later on.
Q: Why didn't the super-powerful British Empire just send its whole army to crush the rebellion?
- A: The podcast suggests a few reasons. The British public was sick of war after World War I, and the government was broke. They were also worried about what other countries, like America, would think. Most importantly, it's hard to fight an enemy that hides among regular people. They couldn't just bomb a whole town to get a few rebels.
Why This Matters & What's Next
- Why You Should Care: This story is the origin of modern Ireland and Northern Ireland. The tactics used—like guerrilla warfare and fighting a propaganda war to win public support—have been copied in conflicts all over the world since. It's a fascinating look at how a small, determined group can challenge one of the biggest empires in history.
- Learn More: Check out the movie Michael Collins (starring Liam Neeson). It's a historical drama about one of the main Irish leaders from this period. It does a great job of showing the secret meetings, guerrilla attacks, and political drama of the Irish War of Independence.