Dublin 1922 - British attack Four Courts
- Thread starter theirishdreamer
- Start date
theirishdreamer
Banned
Chapter 5: Radicals, Reds and the Irish
By the morning of the 20th the level of fighting within Ireland would decline to quite low levels for several days considering the intensity of preceding two weeks, baring small scale clashes in Dublin, a British probing attack on Irish positions on Blessington on the evening of the 22nd and a move General Cameron southwards into a largely unresisted occupation of Monaghan and the remainder of Louth to secure supply lines with General Macready via land as well sea. On the British side this was largely owing to two reasons, one military and one political. Politically having taken Dublin, the Government (excluding Churchill and Joyston-Hicks) were determined to largely secure the occupied areas and to herald the Battle of Dublin as a relatively quick operation; indicating that any conflict in Ireland would be relatively short-lived, lasting a few months at most. There was also the added fact of difficulties with recalling servicemen to the colours who had only being just demobilized, and a fear that this would hurt the Government in the public as some reports of disturbances had made their way into the press in regards disturbances from remobilised units and of the internment of several hundred members of the former Irish regiments. This was admitted by Joyston-Hicks during the election but stated that this reluctance was only prevalent among “Radicals, Reds and the Irish who's loyalty to the Empire was naturally suspect”, as such the Government wished to avoid sending further reinforcements to Ireland till the election was completed. Secondly a valid military reason for the lack of offensive operations was the distribution of causalities from the Battle of Dublin; most of those killed and injured had being from among Macready's most veteran troops, as such he feared launching an offensive till he had secured Dublin and could trust his reinforcements in occupation duties. Already on the 20th several incidences of conflict with civilians had result in three injuries, it being felt he would need to distribute experienced units alongside green units to allow clearing of any remaining Irish holdouts and policing duties. A probing attack on the 22nd towards Blessington had confirmed a signifiant force of infantry beginning to entrench within and around the town and it was felt a counter-attack by the Irish was unlikely for the short term but also that it would be advisable to receive further reinforcement (and better intelligence) before exposing his forces to further attack in offensive operations.
This was largely fortunate for the Irish Army entrenching in Blessington, as unknown to General Macready the forces there were straining there logistical capacity owing largely to inexperience of the IRA commanders over command of such a large conventional force. They were also experiencing a shortage of ammunition owing to the fighting in the previous days and the slowness in resupplying from arms caches further south in the Curragh. These problems would filter back to Army Council chaired by Mulcahy in Kilkenny and after discussions with de Valera and Griffin would issue, after a significant debate with the Dail on the 24th a request for voluntary enlistment in the Irish Army for the defense of the Republic from unprovoked aggression from all Irish soldiers formerly serving in the British Army. A person of some significance approached by the Army Council, through Collins, was former WW1 General Sir William Bernard Hickey, this approach was successful after several hours discussion with the retired General, whos primary motivation for accepting the proposal on the 25th was the internment of former soldiers under his command in Britain. While this recruitment had only limited practical success (though it would help lead to significant recruitment among former soldiers and help create something resembling a efficient supply chain for conventional forces) it would be primarily be held up as a great symbolic victory for de Valera and Griffin in regards bringing both remnants of the Redmonites onside politically and solidifying the view the of Ireland as an independent nation with broad range internal support merely defending itself from external aggression. There was also an aspect of attempting to embarrass the conservatives in Britain in the run up to the election as as General Hickey was well respected within the British Army for distinguished service in WW1, while it failed in this regards it did cause some disquiet among the Imperial General Staff as to the level of support within Ireland for the Provisional Government and the likely length of any conflict.
On the morning of the 23rd Admiral Beatty had informed the Earl of Cavan that he believed significant quantities of munitions were beginning to arrive into certain Irish ports (primarily Galway and to a lesser extent Cork) in the holds of ships (primarily American) supposedly carrying humanitarian supplies and his requests for permission to search these vessels had been rejected by the Admiralty owing to political concerns and fear of aggravating the US government. Unfortunately for the Imperial Staff the Admiral was quite correct in his belief, in fact he had and the Admiralty had significantly underestimated the quantity of arms and ammunition arriving but also failed to release the scale of what was been sent out from these ports. For while arms, ammunition and provisions were being imported into the new Republic the Provisional Government was intent on sending several delegations and a significant portion of the tax revenues out of the country to both seek international support and to shelter funds for future arms purchases from British seizure. It would not till after the election would the Royal Navy's blockade begin to tighten,and many historians have argued was far too late.
But looked at from the view of the British Government this situation was unavoidable, the last week of July was the culmination of an enormously bitter and decisive election, made more so by the publishing on the 25th of a call in The Communist for soldiers to resist being forced to join an unjust war in Ireland and to “turn your guns on your capitalist oppressors if forced to defend yourselves”, this the so called Jackson case after the editor of the piece would initially lead to the arrest of said editor and several other Communist party members, two of which were standing for Westminster, on the 26th, only three days prior to election. On the the 27th both these individuals would be released, but the resulting backlash would lead to the Communists talking four seats in the following Parliament and lead to a significant upswing in membership over the following months. Indeed the party most hurt by this article was neither the Conservatives or Labor but both divided sections of the Liberals or rather Llyod George's wing of the divided party, for the polarization over Ireland can basically summed up the generally held view that vote for the Conservatives was essentially a vote for law and order (or war and repression as Labour claimed) while a vote for Labour and Communists was a vote for settlement (or surrender depending on ones opinion). Surprisingly little violence took place during the election considering the level of polarization and potential for violence from unhappy soldiers or from IRA units possibly in place (there were several), indeed Lloyd George himself (and several other Liberals) had restricted electioneering for fear of IRA-men seeking to kill him. This seems unusual as the man the IRA sought to kill most (Winston Churchill) actively campaigned over the election (albeit with heavy security) but this has much to due with a fear Lloyd George had during the preceding conflict in Ireland that Henry Hughes Wilson's assassination had worsened.
When results arrived on the 30th the election would prove both a vindication for ironically both the Conservatives and Labour but disastrous for the Liberals.
Election results July 1922 UK General Election
Conservatives – 343 Seats ( 12 seat gain)
Labour Party – 149 Seats (92 seat gain) plus 4 Communists elected offering partial support
National Liberals – 32 Seats ( 95 Seat Loss)
Liberals – 56 Seats ( 20 Seat Gain)
This would lead to Bonar-Law forming a conservative government with Labour taking the place as the official opposition.
By the morning of the 20th the level of fighting within Ireland would decline to quite low levels for several days considering the intensity of preceding two weeks, baring small scale clashes in Dublin, a British probing attack on Irish positions on Blessington on the evening of the 22nd and a move General Cameron southwards into a largely unresisted occupation of Monaghan and the remainder of Louth to secure supply lines with General Macready via land as well sea. On the British side this was largely owing to two reasons, one military and one political. Politically having taken Dublin, the Government (excluding Churchill and Joyston-Hicks) were determined to largely secure the occupied areas and to herald the Battle of Dublin as a relatively quick operation; indicating that any conflict in Ireland would be relatively short-lived, lasting a few months at most. There was also the added fact of difficulties with recalling servicemen to the colours who had only being just demobilized, and a fear that this would hurt the Government in the public as some reports of disturbances had made their way into the press in regards disturbances from remobilised units and of the internment of several hundred members of the former Irish regiments. This was admitted by Joyston-Hicks during the election but stated that this reluctance was only prevalent among “Radicals, Reds and the Irish who's loyalty to the Empire was naturally suspect”, as such the Government wished to avoid sending further reinforcements to Ireland till the election was completed. Secondly a valid military reason for the lack of offensive operations was the distribution of causalities from the Battle of Dublin; most of those killed and injured had being from among Macready's most veteran troops, as such he feared launching an offensive till he had secured Dublin and could trust his reinforcements in occupation duties. Already on the 20th several incidences of conflict with civilians had result in three injuries, it being felt he would need to distribute experienced units alongside green units to allow clearing of any remaining Irish holdouts and policing duties. A probing attack on the 22nd towards Blessington had confirmed a signifiant force of infantry beginning to entrench within and around the town and it was felt a counter-attack by the Irish was unlikely for the short term but also that it would be advisable to receive further reinforcement (and better intelligence) before exposing his forces to further attack in offensive operations.
This was largely fortunate for the Irish Army entrenching in Blessington, as unknown to General Macready the forces there were straining there logistical capacity owing largely to inexperience of the IRA commanders over command of such a large conventional force. They were also experiencing a shortage of ammunition owing to the fighting in the previous days and the slowness in resupplying from arms caches further south in the Curragh. These problems would filter back to Army Council chaired by Mulcahy in Kilkenny and after discussions with de Valera and Griffin would issue, after a significant debate with the Dail on the 24th a request for voluntary enlistment in the Irish Army for the defense of the Republic from unprovoked aggression from all Irish soldiers formerly serving in the British Army. A person of some significance approached by the Army Council, through Collins, was former WW1 General Sir William Bernard Hickey, this approach was successful after several hours discussion with the retired General, whos primary motivation for accepting the proposal on the 25th was the internment of former soldiers under his command in Britain. While this recruitment had only limited practical success (though it would help lead to significant recruitment among former soldiers and help create something resembling a efficient supply chain for conventional forces) it would be primarily be held up as a great symbolic victory for de Valera and Griffin in regards bringing both remnants of the Redmonites onside politically and solidifying the view the of Ireland as an independent nation with broad range internal support merely defending itself from external aggression. There was also an aspect of attempting to embarrass the conservatives in Britain in the run up to the election as as General Hickey was well respected within the British Army for distinguished service in WW1, while it failed in this regards it did cause some disquiet among the Imperial General Staff as to the level of support within Ireland for the Provisional Government and the likely length of any conflict.
On the morning of the 23rd Admiral Beatty had informed the Earl of Cavan that he believed significant quantities of munitions were beginning to arrive into certain Irish ports (primarily Galway and to a lesser extent Cork) in the holds of ships (primarily American) supposedly carrying humanitarian supplies and his requests for permission to search these vessels had been rejected by the Admiralty owing to political concerns and fear of aggravating the US government. Unfortunately for the Imperial Staff the Admiral was quite correct in his belief, in fact he had and the Admiralty had significantly underestimated the quantity of arms and ammunition arriving but also failed to release the scale of what was been sent out from these ports. For while arms, ammunition and provisions were being imported into the new Republic the Provisional Government was intent on sending several delegations and a significant portion of the tax revenues out of the country to both seek international support and to shelter funds for future arms purchases from British seizure. It would not till after the election would the Royal Navy's blockade begin to tighten,and many historians have argued was far too late.
But looked at from the view of the British Government this situation was unavoidable, the last week of July was the culmination of an enormously bitter and decisive election, made more so by the publishing on the 25th of a call in The Communist for soldiers to resist being forced to join an unjust war in Ireland and to “turn your guns on your capitalist oppressors if forced to defend yourselves”, this the so called Jackson case after the editor of the piece would initially lead to the arrest of said editor and several other Communist party members, two of which were standing for Westminster, on the 26th, only three days prior to election. On the the 27th both these individuals would be released, but the resulting backlash would lead to the Communists talking four seats in the following Parliament and lead to a significant upswing in membership over the following months. Indeed the party most hurt by this article was neither the Conservatives or Labor but both divided sections of the Liberals or rather Llyod George's wing of the divided party, for the polarization over Ireland can basically summed up the generally held view that vote for the Conservatives was essentially a vote for law and order (or war and repression as Labour claimed) while a vote for Labour and Communists was a vote for settlement (or surrender depending on ones opinion). Surprisingly little violence took place during the election considering the level of polarization and potential for violence from unhappy soldiers or from IRA units possibly in place (there were several), indeed Lloyd George himself (and several other Liberals) had restricted electioneering for fear of IRA-men seeking to kill him. This seems unusual as the man the IRA sought to kill most (Winston Churchill) actively campaigned over the election (albeit with heavy security) but this has much to due with a fear Lloyd George had during the preceding conflict in Ireland that Henry Hughes Wilson's assassination had worsened.
When results arrived on the 30th the election would prove both a vindication for ironically both the Conservatives and Labour but disastrous for the Liberals.
Election results July 1922 UK General Election
Conservatives – 343 Seats ( 12 seat gain)
Labour Party – 149 Seats (92 seat gain) plus 4 Communists elected offering partial support
National Liberals – 32 Seats ( 95 Seat Loss)
Liberals – 56 Seats ( 20 Seat Gain)
This would lead to Bonar-Law forming a conservative government with Labour taking the place as the official opposition.
Last edited:
theirishdreamer
Banned
hmm
Hi Belfast,
Its going to stay fairly close to OTL border war, though repression of the Catholics may be initially less than OTL, the Unionists are going to have divert a whole lot of resources to the South ITTL, and this is going to cause alot of pressure on the RUC/UDR.
By the way sorry about the letter size, did that by mistake and cant seem to shrink it.
Hi Belfast,
Its going to stay fairly close to OTL border war, though repression of the Catholics may be initially less than OTL, the Unionists are going to have divert a whole lot of resources to the South ITTL, and this is going to cause alot of pressure on the RUC/UDR.
By the way sorry about the letter size, did that by mistake and cant seem to shrink it.
Last edited:
theirishdreamer
Banned
yep
Only 3 though are Nationalist, the rest are Unionist Conservatives, the ensuing government is going to be dominated by them and Tories like Joyston-Hicks and Bonar-Law considering they consider themselves winning this election on the platform of restoring Law & Order in in the Empire, and to a large degree to restoring Ireland as part of the Empire.
Only 3 though are Nationalist, the rest are Unionist Conservatives, the ensuing government is going to be dominated by them and Tories like Joyston-Hicks and Bonar-Law considering they consider themselves winning this election on the platform of restoring Law & Order in in the Empire, and to a large degree to restoring Ireland as part of the Empire.
theirishdreamer
Banned
Cabinet Announced post election
Bonar Law's Cabinet July 1922
Andrew Bonar Law – Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
Bonar Law's Cabinet July 1922
Andrew Bonar Law – Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Commons
- Lord Cave – Lord Chancellor
- Lord Curzon - President of the The Council and Leader of the House of Lords
- Winston Churchill – Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Sir William Joynson Hicks – Secretary of State for the Home Department
- Lord Birkenhead – Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
- Lord Devonshire – Secretary of State for the Colonies
- Lord Derby– Secretary of State for War
- Lord Peel– Secretary of State for India
- Lord Novar– Secretary for Scotland
- Leo Amery– First Lord of the Admiralty
- Sir Philip Llyod-Greame – President of the Board of Trade
- Sir Robert Sanders – Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
- Edward Frederick Lindley Wood– President of the Board of Education
- Stanley Baldwin– Minister of Labour
- Austin Chamberlain – Minister of Health
Last edited:
theirishdreamer
Banned
Chapter 6: A Firm Hand
Even as Andrew Bonar-Law went to meet with the King on the 31st of July a small battle would take place near Blesington that would have an effect on the development, or rather the reinforcement of existing, strategic plans of both the Irish and British forces over the next few months of the conflict. While this battle would achieved limited notice outside the British Isles, it being eclipsed by the cumulation of the elections in the UK, it did receive a great deal of attention from the military commands on both sides. The battle itself was the natural result of General Macready having stabilizing the situation in Dublin by the 29th and the need to disperse the Irish forces close to his positions as small raids were occurring from this area and positions in Greystones into the city. There was also a desire on the part of his immediate superior the Earl of Cavan to remove the Irish from the town before they could effectively entrench as they appeared to having doing, the specter of trench warfare not being an appealing vista considering the current morale problems, considering Macready's superiority in both artilery and tanks a quick victory would be beneficial to morale after the bloody fighting in Dublin. On the Irish side Blessington occurred because by the start of the battle the development of a conventional military wing to match the associated irregular IRA forces was only in its infancy, in fact Blessington showed that the Army Council 's decision over that past week to seek out former British servicemen as correct, while a central platform of the Mulchahy-Brugha strategy was to avoid battle where possible was all well and good in theory in practice the Army would require a core of these forces to operate in parallel with existing IRA brigade structure to make this strategy work. The forces in Blessington were essentially a guerilla force, though most were in uniform, with limited experience of conventional warfare facing one of finest conventional armies in the world at time with a great deal of experience in attacking much tougher defenses than would be in Blessington. As such the debacle that occurred seems easy to understand in hindsight, though prior to the battle the difficulty of the British seizure of Dublin had likely lulled the Irish to the danger of being deployed so close to Macready's main strength.
As such on the 31st General Macready had mobilized a significant portion of his available mobile strength to dislodge the Irish from their positions around Blessington, the assault itself would very much resemble attacks on German strong points during the latter stages of the Great War. To this end he assembled roughly eight thousand of his infantry, though only three thousand were veterans the rest been recruits, he would also use the bulk of the Mark IV tanks available to him in conjunction with barrage just prior to assault from his concentrated 18pdr batteries. As such the attack was scheduled to begin with such a barrage at 06:30 on morning of the 31st followed by an assault at 07:00, though this was delayed by an hour owing to a confrontation between some civilians and some of recently arrived Royal Ulster Rifles. On the Irish side one of the few saving graces on the day was that Maj-General Daly (O'Malley and 1,500 fighters having redeployed to Cork) seems to become aware of the likelihood of an assault and had opted for more of a in-depth defense than had been originally planned with the majority of his six thousand soldiers being just south of, rather than inside, Blessington. When the artillery barrage began at 07:34 the Irish forward positions were thrown into confusion, only a handful of those present having experience such sustained artillery fire before, as such when the Mark VI's with infantry in close behind came in a generalized rout began back towards Newbridge, by 12:05 the last Irish position had fallen with over 257 killed and 463 injured on the Irish side for only 73 killed and 102 injured on the British side; a further 174 Irish being taken prisoner, primarily from those holding the rearguard. The speed of this collapse surprised even Macready as the methodical nature of the assault served to limited the numbers of prisoners taken but had led to significantly lower causalities than original projected. While a rapid advance was possible at this stage the British forces largely withdrew back towards Dublin and Kingstown (Dun Laoighaire) as it had been discussed previously with the Earl of Cavan leaving only a small garrison in Blessigton itself; and there was no reason to dent the growth in morale by the decisiveness of the victory by exposing his forces to possible ambush in an unprepared advance (and also the cost of holding any advance).
This battle then had an impact on the strategy meetings held over the following few days between the Imperial General Staff and among the newly re-elected Bonar-Law Cabinet; the Beaverbrook press boasting in the papers of “the apparent firm hand of Bonar-Law opposed to the failures of Llyod George”. The agreed view of the majority of the Cabinet and of the Imperial General Staff was that it would take several months to raise sufficient forces to be able to adequately occupy the entirety of Ireland, and that while defeating the Irish forces in the field (as Blessington had proved) would not prove difficult the fact was such a victory would require restoring a British administration to Ireland, and that this occupation itself would prove costly as Dublin was showing. The large part of the administration (both policing and administrative duties) coming out of a limited number of RUC from the North but primarily from the Army. To occupy the entirety of Southern Ireland would require at least 100,000 soldiers in-conjunction with restoring a functioning civil authority to Dublin Castle or the troops requirements would increase significantly owing to these non military duties. As such the strategy agreed upon was to occupy Dublin and clear a security zone in the old Pale plus Northern Ireland which was experience an upsurge in attacks since the Four Courts raid, and for an blockade of Ireland with the aim of economically strangling the Provisional Government; with the goal enforcing a more favorable (to the British Government) revision of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. While there was arguments within the Cabinet for restoring Ireland as an integral part of Britain (Joynson-Hicks and Churchill) it was felt this option should only be adopted if the Irish were not amenable to reason. The international situation not being conductive to this scenario, by the 3rd August the Cabinet had decided to implement this blockade strategy in line with a gradual buildup of forces over the next four to six months if it was required to enforce a solution favorable to the Government upon the Irish; an addendum was included to request support from the other Dominions as this would alleviate some of the cost and manpower of raising troops from Ireland.
To the Irish Cabinet and Army Council in Kilkenny the debacle in Blessington proved (after an initial panic) the need to change the structure of the Army, or more accurately to develop a conventional military in parallel with existing brigade structure. While a policy of avoiding conventional engagements with the British Army where circumstances were unfavorable had been vindicated, the fact of the poor performance of the 2nd Midland's Division and Dublin Division in Blessington indicated for any favourable situation to occur the Army would actually need to be capable of winning a conventional engagement. What would develop from these meeting would be the usage of the vehicle of the existing National Army of the Free State as a professional core of the Irish Republican Army, while the majority of the National Army would also be members of the IRA the command structure of the National Army would operate much as any other conventional military and involve many non-Republicans in its structure. This situation was to persist till the resistance of the National Army was no longer militarily feasible, at which point it was planned for the force to be absorbed into the brigade structure of the IRA, when this would occur was assumed to depend primarily on the British Army's strength and tactics; in fact the Army Council themselves seem to have intended the National Army as only a temporary structure, lasting at most a month or two, and records indicate they were surprised by the British blockade and slow deployment strategy. The distinction between the National Army (or Regulars as they became known) and the rest of brigade structure of the rest of the Irish Republican Army (or Irregulars) has often been assumed to between full-time soldiers and part-time resistance fighters, though this view fails to understand the difference between what the National Army was intended for as opposed to what it became; it was intended as a temporary measure to improve the IRA's combat effectiveness but also primarily as a recruitment tool to recruit men of experience and training that would never countenance joining the IRA itself but could be recruited into standing army, and it would be largely be successful in both these objectives.
To understand what the National Army became during late 1922 and early 1923 one has to look at the events in the early weeks of the conflict. During the early weeks the Free State National Army and the Anti-Treaty IRA brigades were in-effect rather indistinguishable in both armaments and tactics, baring a majority of the Free State soldiers wore uniforms and the Anti-Treaty fighters did not. As such when the Provisional Government began its recruitment drive the National Army (also a reformed Civic Guard) was chosen as the recruitment vehicle, by mid-July the total number in the Regulars stood at around 23,500 with a further 28,000 active members in the Irregulars (though it is claimed the total IRA brigade strenght at around 103,000 only being active at certain points of the conflict), the start of August the numbers in the Regulars had risen to 41,200 (Irregular numbers remaining largely stagnant). In fact the numbers could have been much higher as the primary difficult the Irish would have during the conflict was in armaments; and the competing needs of the Regulars for equipment and the need of the Irregular forces to establish hidden arm's caches for later usage when British forces resumed occupation duty. Because of this the Provisional Government and Army Council would opt to make the nascent Civil Guard an unarmed police force allowing the limited arms to be put to more effective use; the compromise between the various commands being the National Army receiving the standardized weapons such as the Lee Enfields, the Thompson sub-machine guns and the heavy weapons available to Army such the Hotchkiss Machine-gun, the modified armoured vehicles (such as the Lancia's) and surprisingly five Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard's (only four though were armed) the British had supplied prior to the conflict and had escaped to Galway when fighting erupted in Dublin. This would lead to the National Army to gain the distinction of being one first armies to use submachineguns as a primary infantry weapon and and owing to its lack of artillery to adopt a radically different doctrine than other conventional armies in the 1920's. Much of this equipment arriving in limited time frame between the Truce in 1921 and the end of August 1922 when the British Blockade would become difficult to penetrate, though it must be noted the majority of the submachine guns and heavy machine gun ammunition would arrive in late June and July 1922 as the Free State engaged in a desperate search for armaments. This is not to state the existing Irregular brigades did not receive significant support, in fact it can be argued that they received the majority of the small arms available to fledgling state, but this was an eclectic collection ranging personal revolvers and shotguns to several Lewis guns and dynamite; its important to note the Quartermaster Corps of the Irregular's was intended to take over the Regular's Quartermaster Corps when the time came.
Even as Andrew Bonar-Law went to meet with the King on the 31st of July a small battle would take place near Blesington that would have an effect on the development, or rather the reinforcement of existing, strategic plans of both the Irish and British forces over the next few months of the conflict. While this battle would achieved limited notice outside the British Isles, it being eclipsed by the cumulation of the elections in the UK, it did receive a great deal of attention from the military commands on both sides. The battle itself was the natural result of General Macready having stabilizing the situation in Dublin by the 29th and the need to disperse the Irish forces close to his positions as small raids were occurring from this area and positions in Greystones into the city. There was also a desire on the part of his immediate superior the Earl of Cavan to remove the Irish from the town before they could effectively entrench as they appeared to having doing, the specter of trench warfare not being an appealing vista considering the current morale problems, considering Macready's superiority in both artilery and tanks a quick victory would be beneficial to morale after the bloody fighting in Dublin. On the Irish side Blessington occurred because by the start of the battle the development of a conventional military wing to match the associated irregular IRA forces was only in its infancy, in fact Blessington showed that the Army Council 's decision over that past week to seek out former British servicemen as correct, while a central platform of the Mulchahy-Brugha strategy was to avoid battle where possible was all well and good in theory in practice the Army would require a core of these forces to operate in parallel with existing IRA brigade structure to make this strategy work. The forces in Blessington were essentially a guerilla force, though most were in uniform, with limited experience of conventional warfare facing one of finest conventional armies in the world at time with a great deal of experience in attacking much tougher defenses than would be in Blessington. As such the debacle that occurred seems easy to understand in hindsight, though prior to the battle the difficulty of the British seizure of Dublin had likely lulled the Irish to the danger of being deployed so close to Macready's main strength.
As such on the 31st General Macready had mobilized a significant portion of his available mobile strength to dislodge the Irish from their positions around Blessington, the assault itself would very much resemble attacks on German strong points during the latter stages of the Great War. To this end he assembled roughly eight thousand of his infantry, though only three thousand were veterans the rest been recruits, he would also use the bulk of the Mark IV tanks available to him in conjunction with barrage just prior to assault from his concentrated 18pdr batteries. As such the attack was scheduled to begin with such a barrage at 06:30 on morning of the 31st followed by an assault at 07:00, though this was delayed by an hour owing to a confrontation between some civilians and some of recently arrived Royal Ulster Rifles. On the Irish side one of the few saving graces on the day was that Maj-General Daly (O'Malley and 1,500 fighters having redeployed to Cork) seems to become aware of the likelihood of an assault and had opted for more of a in-depth defense than had been originally planned with the majority of his six thousand soldiers being just south of, rather than inside, Blessington. When the artillery barrage began at 07:34 the Irish forward positions were thrown into confusion, only a handful of those present having experience such sustained artillery fire before, as such when the Mark VI's with infantry in close behind came in a generalized rout began back towards Newbridge, by 12:05 the last Irish position had fallen with over 257 killed and 463 injured on the Irish side for only 73 killed and 102 injured on the British side; a further 174 Irish being taken prisoner, primarily from those holding the rearguard. The speed of this collapse surprised even Macready as the methodical nature of the assault served to limited the numbers of prisoners taken but had led to significantly lower causalities than original projected. While a rapid advance was possible at this stage the British forces largely withdrew back towards Dublin and Kingstown (Dun Laoighaire) as it had been discussed previously with the Earl of Cavan leaving only a small garrison in Blessigton itself; and there was no reason to dent the growth in morale by the decisiveness of the victory by exposing his forces to possible ambush in an unprepared advance (and also the cost of holding any advance).
This battle then had an impact on the strategy meetings held over the following few days between the Imperial General Staff and among the newly re-elected Bonar-Law Cabinet; the Beaverbrook press boasting in the papers of “the apparent firm hand of Bonar-Law opposed to the failures of Llyod George”. The agreed view of the majority of the Cabinet and of the Imperial General Staff was that it would take several months to raise sufficient forces to be able to adequately occupy the entirety of Ireland, and that while defeating the Irish forces in the field (as Blessington had proved) would not prove difficult the fact was such a victory would require restoring a British administration to Ireland, and that this occupation itself would prove costly as Dublin was showing. The large part of the administration (both policing and administrative duties) coming out of a limited number of RUC from the North but primarily from the Army. To occupy the entirety of Southern Ireland would require at least 100,000 soldiers in-conjunction with restoring a functioning civil authority to Dublin Castle or the troops requirements would increase significantly owing to these non military duties. As such the strategy agreed upon was to occupy Dublin and clear a security zone in the old Pale plus Northern Ireland which was experience an upsurge in attacks since the Four Courts raid, and for an blockade of Ireland with the aim of economically strangling the Provisional Government; with the goal enforcing a more favorable (to the British Government) revision of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. While there was arguments within the Cabinet for restoring Ireland as an integral part of Britain (Joynson-Hicks and Churchill) it was felt this option should only be adopted if the Irish were not amenable to reason. The international situation not being conductive to this scenario, by the 3rd August the Cabinet had decided to implement this blockade strategy in line with a gradual buildup of forces over the next four to six months if it was required to enforce a solution favorable to the Government upon the Irish; an addendum was included to request support from the other Dominions as this would alleviate some of the cost and manpower of raising troops from Ireland.
To the Irish Cabinet and Army Council in Kilkenny the debacle in Blessington proved (after an initial panic) the need to change the structure of the Army, or more accurately to develop a conventional military in parallel with existing brigade structure. While a policy of avoiding conventional engagements with the British Army where circumstances were unfavorable had been vindicated, the fact of the poor performance of the 2nd Midland's Division and Dublin Division in Blessington indicated for any favourable situation to occur the Army would actually need to be capable of winning a conventional engagement. What would develop from these meeting would be the usage of the vehicle of the existing National Army of the Free State as a professional core of the Irish Republican Army, while the majority of the National Army would also be members of the IRA the command structure of the National Army would operate much as any other conventional military and involve many non-Republicans in its structure. This situation was to persist till the resistance of the National Army was no longer militarily feasible, at which point it was planned for the force to be absorbed into the brigade structure of the IRA, when this would occur was assumed to depend primarily on the British Army's strength and tactics; in fact the Army Council themselves seem to have intended the National Army as only a temporary structure, lasting at most a month or two, and records indicate they were surprised by the British blockade and slow deployment strategy. The distinction between the National Army (or Regulars as they became known) and the rest of brigade structure of the rest of the Irish Republican Army (or Irregulars) has often been assumed to between full-time soldiers and part-time resistance fighters, though this view fails to understand the difference between what the National Army was intended for as opposed to what it became; it was intended as a temporary measure to improve the IRA's combat effectiveness but also primarily as a recruitment tool to recruit men of experience and training that would never countenance joining the IRA itself but could be recruited into standing army, and it would be largely be successful in both these objectives.
To understand what the National Army became during late 1922 and early 1923 one has to look at the events in the early weeks of the conflict. During the early weeks the Free State National Army and the Anti-Treaty IRA brigades were in-effect rather indistinguishable in both armaments and tactics, baring a majority of the Free State soldiers wore uniforms and the Anti-Treaty fighters did not. As such when the Provisional Government began its recruitment drive the National Army (also a reformed Civic Guard) was chosen as the recruitment vehicle, by mid-July the total number in the Regulars stood at around 23,500 with a further 28,000 active members in the Irregulars (though it is claimed the total IRA brigade strenght at around 103,000 only being active at certain points of the conflict), the start of August the numbers in the Regulars had risen to 41,200 (Irregular numbers remaining largely stagnant). In fact the numbers could have been much higher as the primary difficult the Irish would have during the conflict was in armaments; and the competing needs of the Regulars for equipment and the need of the Irregular forces to establish hidden arm's caches for later usage when British forces resumed occupation duty. Because of this the Provisional Government and Army Council would opt to make the nascent Civil Guard an unarmed police force allowing the limited arms to be put to more effective use; the compromise between the various commands being the National Army receiving the standardized weapons such as the Lee Enfields, the Thompson sub-machine guns and the heavy weapons available to Army such the Hotchkiss Machine-gun, the modified armoured vehicles (such as the Lancia's) and surprisingly five Martinsyde F.4 Buzzard's (only four though were armed) the British had supplied prior to the conflict and had escaped to Galway when fighting erupted in Dublin. This would lead to the National Army to gain the distinction of being one first armies to use submachineguns as a primary infantry weapon and and owing to its lack of artillery to adopt a radically different doctrine than other conventional armies in the 1920's. Much of this equipment arriving in limited time frame between the Truce in 1921 and the end of August 1922 when the British Blockade would become difficult to penetrate, though it must be noted the majority of the submachine guns and heavy machine gun ammunition would arrive in late June and July 1922 as the Free State engaged in a desperate search for armaments. This is not to state the existing Irregular brigades did not receive significant support, in fact it can be argued that they received the majority of the small arms available to fledgling state, but this was an eclectic collection ranging personal revolvers and shotguns to several Lewis guns and dynamite; its important to note the Quartermaster Corps of the Irregular's was intended to take over the Regular's Quartermaster Corps when the time came.
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That should be Bonar Law's Cabinet July 1922.
The following persons were in the same posts in the cabinet appointed by Bonar Law on 24 October 1922 in OTL as in this TL;
Lords Cave, Devonshire, Derby [not Debry], Peel, and Novar, Leo Amery, Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame [not Llyod-Graeme], Sir Robert Sanders, and Edward Frederick Lindley Wood. Lord Curzon and Stanley Baldwin were in different posts. Sir William Joynson-Hicks [not Joyston Hicks] was a junior minister at the Board of Trade but not in the cabinet. Winston Churchill, Lord Birkenhead, and Austen Chamberlain were not in the government, either in or outside the cabinet.
Some comments about Bonar Law's cabinet in this TL. Churchill is in too senior a post as Chancellor of the Exchequer. I know that Baldwin appointed him Chancellor in November 1924 but that was because Neville Chamberlain wanted to be Minister of Health. In OTL Bonar Law offered the post to Reginald McKenna, who had been Chancellor of the Exchequer in Asquith's last government from May 1915 to December 1916. "But he was now Chairman of the Midland Bank and was not ready to give up that lucrative position in order to join a Government whose political prospects seemed so uncertain. [....] So Bonar Law had to fall back on Baldwin." [1] If not Baldwin as Chancellor how about Austen Chamberlain, who had held that post from 10 January 1919 to 1 April 1921? But it would be plausible for Churchill to be a middle ranking minister in the cabinet.
Bonar Law would never have appointed Joynson-Hicks to his cabinet, when he had never even been a junior minister in any government. So why not Wiliam Bridgeman as Home Secretary as in OTL?
If Baldwin is not to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, how about keeping him as President of the Board of Trade where he had been since 1 April 1921. Minister of Labour would have been regarded as a demotion. Austen Chamberlain as Chancellor of the Exchequer instead of Minister of Health?
Compared with the general election on 15 November 1922 in OTL, the Conservatives had about the same number of seats and Labour had more at the expense of the Liberal and National Liberals, in the general election on 30 July 1922 in this TL. OTL results were :
Conservative: 345 seats
Labour: 142 seats
Liberal: 62 seats
National Liberal: 54 seats
Others: 12 seats. [2]
Assuming Bonar Law resigns as Prime Minister on 20 May 1923 in this TL because he was suffering incurable cancer of the throat as in OTL, I would be very interested to see who succeeds him as Prime Minister.
By-elections will give a good idea of public support or opposition to the Bonar Law government.
[1] Taken from The Unknown Prime Minister: The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law 1858-1923 by Robert Blake, London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1955.
[2] Figures taken from British Political Facts 1900-1979 by David Butler & Anne Sloman, London: MacMillan, 1980.
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theirishdreamer
Banned
hmmm
Hi pipisme,
Thanks, changed it to 22. Been reading back through my chapters, will need to adjust later on a few things in terms of spelling.
Well im subject to correction on British politics in the early 20's but as I understood it after Chanak the Unionist Conservatives and alot of the more hardline Conservatives stood back as the Charlton Club meeting was to a degree against the Grandees of the party and it was more "liberal" Tories that came to be in charge in Bonar-Law Cabinet. Hence why Birkenhead, Chamberlain and Churchill (plus hes still a Liberal and lost his seat) weren't in the Cabinet OTL as best i can tell.
- Andrew Marr - The Making of Modern Britain
- Roy Hatersley - Borrowed Time (Britain in the 1920's)
Here though the heave against Llyod George comes from a core group of Churchill, Bonar-Law, Joynson-Hicks (sorry im prone to typos) and birkenhead with heavy support from the Unionists and more right-wing Tories. That's why Churchill's getting promoted - the election was largely about his decision on the 24th being right or wrong and ITTL Carlton Club "rebels" are in strong position within the conservatives for the moment. Baldwin largely seemed indifferent to Ireland so I can't see him rowing behind the coup. I largely took OTL's cabinet and reworked several members i felt would associated with the issue and changed postion. Even Lord Devonshire i was unsure off as he's being honest too "moderate" on the issues for those around Bonar-Law unlike in OTL where he would match up well policy wise. Id be afraid of leaving Churchill in colonies / foreign affairs or even worse home secretary as it would appear wankish to the Irish considering the retarded policies he supports and likely gets passed ITTL with the Unionist Tories on top.
And to a large degree Im trying to be realistic about the election considering the influence of restarting the war in Ireland. When the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed it was largely treated with a sense of euphoria that the problem was at long last solved. Here though its an intensely divisive election largely splitting on the issue of Ireland; I personally can't see the Conservatives doing any better than OTL on this platform, bar pushing their policies more rightwards. But the Liberals are basically doomed because they largely restarted the war (even if blaming Churchill) but campaigning for peace so their either incompetent or liars to the general voting public. Labour and the Communists are doing better because there being consistent in a divisive election; plus im bringing in the Campbell Case earlier (the Jackson Case ITTL) as it would a likely move considering whats happening.
In regards Bonar-Law, he still retires as per OTL, it might even be earlier owing to stress over Ireland, and any successor is going to effected by the fallout of the next six months. Im trying to stick closing to both sides OTL plans at the time, and those plans basically guarantee a long and costly war and occupation before it ends.
Id value your opinion on this since ive read your TL on Britain in this period.
My assumption is that the next year or two is going to be far more radicalizing that OTL because of the costs of maintaining forces in Ireland, and the sheer unwillingness on either side to negotiate (especially on the Irish side now) but was Britain in 1923/24 as divided as several sources seems to indicate? Especially since its going to Ireland and much more hardline Tory Government in place. Reducing military numbers OTL to 330,000 in 1922 seems to helped stabilize things alot (budget wise) and were talking about adding a minimum of 100,000 troops (exc. support) on to this ITTL for quite awhile along with a war that's causing mutinies among certain army units already
Hi pipisme,
Thanks, changed it to 22. Been reading back through my chapters, will need to adjust later on a few things in terms of spelling.
Well im subject to correction on British politics in the early 20's but as I understood it after Chanak the Unionist Conservatives and alot of the more hardline Conservatives stood back as the Charlton Club meeting was to a degree against the Grandees of the party and it was more "liberal" Tories that came to be in charge in Bonar-Law Cabinet. Hence why Birkenhead, Chamberlain and Churchill (plus hes still a Liberal and lost his seat) weren't in the Cabinet OTL as best i can tell.
- Andrew Marr - The Making of Modern Britain
- Roy Hatersley - Borrowed Time (Britain in the 1920's)
Here though the heave against Llyod George comes from a core group of Churchill, Bonar-Law, Joynson-Hicks (sorry im prone to typos) and birkenhead with heavy support from the Unionists and more right-wing Tories. That's why Churchill's getting promoted - the election was largely about his decision on the 24th being right or wrong and ITTL Carlton Club "rebels" are in strong position within the conservatives for the moment. Baldwin largely seemed indifferent to Ireland so I can't see him rowing behind the coup. I largely took OTL's cabinet and reworked several members i felt would associated with the issue and changed postion. Even Lord Devonshire i was unsure off as he's being honest too "moderate" on the issues for those around Bonar-Law unlike in OTL where he would match up well policy wise. Id be afraid of leaving Churchill in colonies / foreign affairs or even worse home secretary as it would appear wankish to the Irish considering the retarded policies he supports and likely gets passed ITTL with the Unionist Tories on top.
And to a large degree Im trying to be realistic about the election considering the influence of restarting the war in Ireland. When the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed it was largely treated with a sense of euphoria that the problem was at long last solved. Here though its an intensely divisive election largely splitting on the issue of Ireland; I personally can't see the Conservatives doing any better than OTL on this platform, bar pushing their policies more rightwards. But the Liberals are basically doomed because they largely restarted the war (even if blaming Churchill) but campaigning for peace so their either incompetent or liars to the general voting public. Labour and the Communists are doing better because there being consistent in a divisive election; plus im bringing in the Campbell Case earlier (the Jackson Case ITTL) as it would a likely move considering whats happening.
In regards Bonar-Law, he still retires as per OTL, it might even be earlier owing to stress over Ireland, and any successor is going to effected by the fallout of the next six months. Im trying to stick closing to both sides OTL plans at the time, and those plans basically guarantee a long and costly war and occupation before it ends.
Id value your opinion on this since ive read your TL on Britain in this period.
My assumption is that the next year or two is going to be far more radicalizing that OTL because of the costs of maintaining forces in Ireland, and the sheer unwillingness on either side to negotiate (especially on the Irish side now) but was Britain in 1923/24 as divided as several sources seems to indicate? Especially since its going to Ireland and much more hardline Tory Government in place. Reducing military numbers OTL to 330,000 in 1922 seems to helped stabilize things alot (budget wise) and were talking about adding a minimum of 100,000 troops (exc. support) on to this ITTL for quite awhile along with a war that's causing mutinies among certain army units already
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Thank you for your reply to my previous post.
In my opinion the resumption of the war in Ireland would not harm the Liberals because they were not in government. There were two Liberal parties - the Liberals [or Independent Liberals as they were called in OTL] and the Coalition Liberals who were in coalition with the Conservatives. It seems that the terms Coalition Liberals and National Liberals were used interchangeably in OTL.
From the Liberal Manifesto for the 1922 general election in OTL:
So with the Liberals opposing the resumption of the war in Ireland they would win Labour votes in seats where there was no Labour candidate in the general election, or where Labour were in a poor third place. So they would gain more seats from the Conservatives and National Liberals, perhaps bringing their total up to between 50 and 60 seats. In the general election of November 1922 in OTL the Liberals lost seats to Labour, but gained from the Conservatives.
In my opinion the resumption of the war in Ireland would not harm the Liberals because they were not in government. There were two Liberal parties - the Liberals [or Independent Liberals as they were called in OTL] and the Coalition Liberals who were in coalition with the Conservatives. It seems that the terms Coalition Liberals and National Liberals were used interchangeably in OTL.
From the Liberal Manifesto for the 1922 general election in OTL:
Taken from British General Election Manifestos 1918-1966, compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig, Political Reference Publications, 1970.
So with the Liberals opposing the resumption of the war in Ireland they would win Labour votes in seats where there was no Labour candidate in the general election, or where Labour were in a poor third place. So they would gain more seats from the Conservatives and National Liberals, perhaps bringing their total up to between 50 and 60 seats. In the general election of November 1922 in OTL the Liberals lost seats to Labour, but gained from the Conservatives.
theirishdreamer
Banned
hmmm
Hi pipisme
I may have to tweak chapter 5 then a little bit then as to a large degree i was conflating public attitude towards the divided Liberal Party. Il have to increase the Liberal seats at the expense of the Labour, considering the divisiveness it'll be slightly lower than OTL so probable around the 50-mid 50 mark. In fact im projecting the more radical left candidates should do better over time with Ireland in the background. Hence why OTL the communists only one one seat in November but im having them four here because of the backlash. But also the more right wing Tories should do better as well, sadly when politics get issues like this (Vietnam/Ireland/Algeria/War on Terror) it tends the to favour the partisans over the moderates unfortunately.
Hi Alternate history Geek,
Thanks for the support though il warn ye all il likely only get a few more chapters up before having to spend a few weeks catching up on the research side.
Hi pipisme
I may have to tweak chapter 5 then a little bit then as to a large degree i was conflating public attitude towards the divided Liberal Party. Il have to increase the Liberal seats at the expense of the Labour, considering the divisiveness it'll be slightly lower than OTL so probable around the 50-mid 50 mark. In fact im projecting the more radical left candidates should do better over time with Ireland in the background. Hence why OTL the communists only one one seat in November but im having them four here because of the backlash. But also the more right wing Tories should do better as well, sadly when politics get issues like this (Vietnam/Ireland/Algeria/War on Terror) it tends the to favour the partisans over the moderates unfortunately.
Hi Alternate history Geek,
Thanks for the support though il warn ye all il likely only get a few more chapters up before having to spend a few weeks catching up on the research side.
theirishdreamer
Banned
well
The Free State Parliament basically became the Republic's Dail (Labour Party included) having fled to Kilkenny, though most of the TD's have gone back to their local constituencies at the moment. The Republic been held up as the successor state of the Free State when the British broke the Treaty.
In regards Westminster - the British are still operating as if the Free State exists so they can't attend Westminster. But a bit of an issue will arise politically if they forswear it as then the Irish TD's strictly speaking are Members of Parliament as devised by the Anglo-Irish Treaty having failed.
The Free State Parliament basically became the Republic's Dail (Labour Party included) having fled to Kilkenny, though most of the TD's have gone back to their local constituencies at the moment. The Republic been held up as the successor state of the Free State when the British broke the Treaty.
In regards Westminster - the British are still operating as if the Free State exists so they can't attend Westminster. But a bit of an issue will arise politically if they forswear it as then the Irish TD's strictly speaking are Members of Parliament as devised by the Anglo-Irish Treaty having failed.
What I meant was with the UK general election happing it means all MPs need to be elected.
There was no election in the 26 counties.
Are the British going to try and have an election in the 26 counties to replace the mp to go to Westminster?
theirishdreamer
Banned
Westminster
Hi Belfast,
Under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921 the Irish Free State elected its Parliamentarians to Dublin not London so as long as the Treaty is held to be in force there's no issue for Westminster. For the moment the British are attempting to implement a modified version of the Treaty on Ireland so TD's still can't stand for Westminster - and the Republic has no desire to send TD's as MP's to London. The problem will arise when and if the British decide the Treaty has failed, at which point were theoretically suppose to fall back on the situation pre the Treaty where we elect MP's (the existing TD's) to London, so that's why Bonar-Law is avoiding this for the moment. Though the hardliners like Churchill can't seem to understand the ramifications of bringing Ireland back in as per OTL and ITTL.
Hi Belfast,
Under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921 the Irish Free State elected its Parliamentarians to Dublin not London so as long as the Treaty is held to be in force there's no issue for Westminster. For the moment the British are attempting to implement a modified version of the Treaty on Ireland so TD's still can't stand for Westminster - and the Republic has no desire to send TD's as MP's to London. The problem will arise when and if the British decide the Treaty has failed, at which point were theoretically suppose to fall back on the situation pre the Treaty where we elect MP's (the existing TD's) to London, so that's why Bonar-Law is avoiding this for the moment. Though the hardliners like Churchill can't seem to understand the ramifications of bringing Ireland back in as per OTL and ITTL.
theirishdreamer
Banned
Chapter 7: Revolution makes Strange Bedfellows
While blood was spilled in Ireland, and poisonous debate occurred in Britain the nascent Irish Republic had started to wage an aggressive diplomatic war against Britain to the best of its abilities; both to international governments and within the Dominions of the Empire itself. The priority of this mission is indicated by the number of senior members of the leadership that were involved in it, and the fact of the Department of Finance of the Republic being based out of an Embassy in a foreign state; the United States of America, only three months after the resumption of conflict with Britain. As while armaments were being imported into Ireland the Republic was sending out delegations (and further members for existing delegations) to most major nations in an attempt to affirm support for the Irish cause, with a primary emphasis on the United States with its large population of Irish immigrants and Irish-Americans. In fact the United States stands both as the limit of Irish foreign policy; and also how the Irish could work within, and exploit, those same limitations over the course of the conflict. When the primary Irish delegation arrived in the US on the 28th June it was led by a trio of Ernest Blythe, Arthur Griffin and Harry Boland; though Boland himself at a the time was assigned a separate mission having in his possession the Russian Crown Jewels. As such the primary goal of all delegations can described as finding allies and sponsors for financing the Republic and more importantly arming the National Army and Irregulars with said funds. And initially over the month of July the Harding Administration seemed willing to allow both of these with limited inference, it was only in early August and announcement of the British blockade of Ireland that the US began to restrict the purchases of arms by the Republic, in fact the level of support can be adequately summed up from early August by the manner of diplomatic correspondence between the nations. While the US was one of the nations that granted the Irish an official embassy the US Government would refer to the nation the Irish Free State rather than as the Irish Republic as the Irish wished, offering sympathy and allowing the Irish to effectively use the US as a clearing house for funds but attempting to restrict arms purchases for fear of offending the British for little gain. This can used to show the issues the Irish would face over the course of the conflict, while propaganda and sympathy were all well and good cold hard realpolitik was often the driving factor behind most powerful nations policies. What is surprising is the degree the Irish would work around this, even by late July it had been decided to based several fundraising operations out of heavily Irish influenced New York and Boston; both for support reasons and for the fact that several of these operations been clandestine (and often illegal) and the willingness of both police and crime families of these cities being willing to collude with Irish Intelligence in matters. Its here where Irish Intelligence would gain its name, EB2, rather unimaginatively named after Embassy Building 2 from which it was based; it also represents another odd feature of the Irish secret service, being run by the Department of Finance rather than through the Army or other security arm of the state. When Micheal Collins arrived in New York on the 3rd August to take charge of the Embassy it had already become a vital financial and political cog in the Irish war against Britain.
It was through New York that the Irish would establish what would be one its most important links in its foreign dealings; the Soviet link. The link can traced back to one man and one of stranger deals of the first phase of the Anglo-Irish war , bizarrely also made in New York. Urgently seeking financing for its own war the nascent Soviet Russia had sought, and received, support from an unusual source; the Irish Republic through its Finance Minister Micheal Collins. As such a deal had be struck with the Irish supplying £25,000 of an interest free loan to the Soviet Republic with Russian Crown Jewels being held as collateral. And the man who negotiated the deal Harry Boland would again find himself in New York negotiating with Soviet agents in regards loans and jewels, by the 7th of July he would be on a ship to Petrograd then on to Moscow to develop a deal with the Soviets. What he would find there was a tangled landscape of struggles between Party members with an ailing Lenin preceding, and over the few weeks develop one of the most important treaties for the Irish Republic over the conflict. When Boland arrived the Soviets appear to have thought (after discussing the deal with Ludwig Martins the original organizer) the Irish wished the return of the loan, and from documentation content to return this for the Crown Jewels, what Irish through Boland actually wanted would catch the leadership by surprise. For the problem of the Irish Republic was not really finance, it was secure small arms supplier and access to heavier weapons with ammunition, and training to use them. The Irish wished to convert the loan into military goods, and weapons training such as field guns, and as a sign of good faith were returning the Crown Jewels to the RSFSR; and that going forward the the Irish Republic would purchase further goods from the RSFSR. This of course would led to some debate within the leadership over using this avenue to strike at the British, a mixture of desire for revenge against Britain for interfering in the civil war, to encourage revolution to spread internationally and also a useful back channel for international finance would lead to the Soviets publicly recognizing the Irish Republic on the 2nd August, wih Harry Boland being recognisied as its first ambassador to RSFSR. What would not be publicly announced for now was the private “friendship treaty” signed between the Republics wherein the Soviets would provide arms and later training within Russia to the Irish Republic in exchange for funds supplied by the Irish; there was also provisions for exchange of information on either side where “confidential” British documents made into the hands of either government. As such in early August several hundred members of the nascent National Army were to be smuggled out of Ireland to be sent to Russia to be trained on several Russia field guns, on usage of mines and in a handful of case flight training on hardware eventually intended for use in Ireland.
In Europe the Irish would receive sympathy but little else, France refusing even an informal embassy, wanting not to offend its British ally over what it considered a purely internal matter. Germany though was an unusual case, while the Germans wished to support the Irish the sheer weakness of the German position would lead to Germany also refusing the Irish to allow an embassy even under the guise of the Free State; but unofficially the more right wing elements of the German establishment would enable some limited support to the Irish, primarily in terms of “advisers” or allowing some funds to rest within German bank accounts. In Italy and Spain the Irish would be allowed embassies as the Irish Free State and treated as belligerent with the British but in terms of support none could be found even after several attempts on the Irish part to seek some. Unfortunately the only other European government to accept the embassy of the Irish Republic would be the Government of Turkey; though the Turks could offer little beyond words of support. The Dutch, Belgians and Greeks would also refuse to accept official Irish embassies in either guise though the Netherlands would allow an unofficial delegation similar to Germany. Surprisingly the Irish would achieve a great deal of success achieving a form of limited support within the Empire itself, while none of the Dominions would acknowledge the Irish Republic, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand would acknowledge embassies of the Irish Free State by early August and would in early August formally reject the British Government's request for troops from its Dominions for use in Ireland stating that while a state of war existed between the British Government and the Irish Free State no such state of war existed between them and its fellow Dominion. While the Irish often attempt to portray this as a result of Irish diplomacy it had much more to do with the anger within the Dominion governments themselves at the incompetent diplomacy of both Lloyd George and then the Bonar-Law cabinets and the failure to discuss the matter with them prior or immediately after events than any great amount of Irish influence.
While blood was spilled in Ireland, and poisonous debate occurred in Britain the nascent Irish Republic had started to wage an aggressive diplomatic war against Britain to the best of its abilities; both to international governments and within the Dominions of the Empire itself. The priority of this mission is indicated by the number of senior members of the leadership that were involved in it, and the fact of the Department of Finance of the Republic being based out of an Embassy in a foreign state; the United States of America, only three months after the resumption of conflict with Britain. As while armaments were being imported into Ireland the Republic was sending out delegations (and further members for existing delegations) to most major nations in an attempt to affirm support for the Irish cause, with a primary emphasis on the United States with its large population of Irish immigrants and Irish-Americans. In fact the United States stands both as the limit of Irish foreign policy; and also how the Irish could work within, and exploit, those same limitations over the course of the conflict. When the primary Irish delegation arrived in the US on the 28th June it was led by a trio of Ernest Blythe, Arthur Griffin and Harry Boland; though Boland himself at a the time was assigned a separate mission having in his possession the Russian Crown Jewels. As such the primary goal of all delegations can described as finding allies and sponsors for financing the Republic and more importantly arming the National Army and Irregulars with said funds. And initially over the month of July the Harding Administration seemed willing to allow both of these with limited inference, it was only in early August and announcement of the British blockade of Ireland that the US began to restrict the purchases of arms by the Republic, in fact the level of support can be adequately summed up from early August by the manner of diplomatic correspondence between the nations. While the US was one of the nations that granted the Irish an official embassy the US Government would refer to the nation the Irish Free State rather than as the Irish Republic as the Irish wished, offering sympathy and allowing the Irish to effectively use the US as a clearing house for funds but attempting to restrict arms purchases for fear of offending the British for little gain. This can used to show the issues the Irish would face over the course of the conflict, while propaganda and sympathy were all well and good cold hard realpolitik was often the driving factor behind most powerful nations policies. What is surprising is the degree the Irish would work around this, even by late July it had been decided to based several fundraising operations out of heavily Irish influenced New York and Boston; both for support reasons and for the fact that several of these operations been clandestine (and often illegal) and the willingness of both police and crime families of these cities being willing to collude with Irish Intelligence in matters. Its here where Irish Intelligence would gain its name, EB2, rather unimaginatively named after Embassy Building 2 from which it was based; it also represents another odd feature of the Irish secret service, being run by the Department of Finance rather than through the Army or other security arm of the state. When Micheal Collins arrived in New York on the 3rd August to take charge of the Embassy it had already become a vital financial and political cog in the Irish war against Britain.
It was through New York that the Irish would establish what would be one its most important links in its foreign dealings; the Soviet link. The link can traced back to one man and one of stranger deals of the first phase of the Anglo-Irish war , bizarrely also made in New York. Urgently seeking financing for its own war the nascent Soviet Russia had sought, and received, support from an unusual source; the Irish Republic through its Finance Minister Micheal Collins. As such a deal had be struck with the Irish supplying £25,000 of an interest free loan to the Soviet Republic with Russian Crown Jewels being held as collateral. And the man who negotiated the deal Harry Boland would again find himself in New York negotiating with Soviet agents in regards loans and jewels, by the 7th of July he would be on a ship to Petrograd then on to Moscow to develop a deal with the Soviets. What he would find there was a tangled landscape of struggles between Party members with an ailing Lenin preceding, and over the few weeks develop one of the most important treaties for the Irish Republic over the conflict. When Boland arrived the Soviets appear to have thought (after discussing the deal with Ludwig Martins the original organizer) the Irish wished the return of the loan, and from documentation content to return this for the Crown Jewels, what Irish through Boland actually wanted would catch the leadership by surprise. For the problem of the Irish Republic was not really finance, it was secure small arms supplier and access to heavier weapons with ammunition, and training to use them. The Irish wished to convert the loan into military goods, and weapons training such as field guns, and as a sign of good faith were returning the Crown Jewels to the RSFSR; and that going forward the the Irish Republic would purchase further goods from the RSFSR. This of course would led to some debate within the leadership over using this avenue to strike at the British, a mixture of desire for revenge against Britain for interfering in the civil war, to encourage revolution to spread internationally and also a useful back channel for international finance would lead to the Soviets publicly recognizing the Irish Republic on the 2nd August, wih Harry Boland being recognisied as its first ambassador to RSFSR. What would not be publicly announced for now was the private “friendship treaty” signed between the Republics wherein the Soviets would provide arms and later training within Russia to the Irish Republic in exchange for funds supplied by the Irish; there was also provisions for exchange of information on either side where “confidential” British documents made into the hands of either government. As such in early August several hundred members of the nascent National Army were to be smuggled out of Ireland to be sent to Russia to be trained on several Russia field guns, on usage of mines and in a handful of case flight training on hardware eventually intended for use in Ireland.
In Europe the Irish would receive sympathy but little else, France refusing even an informal embassy, wanting not to offend its British ally over what it considered a purely internal matter. Germany though was an unusual case, while the Germans wished to support the Irish the sheer weakness of the German position would lead to Germany also refusing the Irish to allow an embassy even under the guise of the Free State; but unofficially the more right wing elements of the German establishment would enable some limited support to the Irish, primarily in terms of “advisers” or allowing some funds to rest within German bank accounts. In Italy and Spain the Irish would be allowed embassies as the Irish Free State and treated as belligerent with the British but in terms of support none could be found even after several attempts on the Irish part to seek some. Unfortunately the only other European government to accept the embassy of the Irish Republic would be the Government of Turkey; though the Turks could offer little beyond words of support. The Dutch, Belgians and Greeks would also refuse to accept official Irish embassies in either guise though the Netherlands would allow an unofficial delegation similar to Germany. Surprisingly the Irish would achieve a great deal of success achieving a form of limited support within the Empire itself, while none of the Dominions would acknowledge the Irish Republic, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand would acknowledge embassies of the Irish Free State by early August and would in early August formally reject the British Government's request for troops from its Dominions for use in Ireland stating that while a state of war existed between the British Government and the Irish Free State no such state of war existed between them and its fellow Dominion. While the Irish often attempt to portray this as a result of Irish diplomacy it had much more to do with the anger within the Dominion governments themselves at the incompetent diplomacy of both Lloyd George and then the Bonar-Law cabinets and the failure to discuss the matter with them prior or immediately after events than any great amount of Irish influence.
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theirishdreamer
Banned
Notes
- The Russian Crown Jewels were in Ireland, OTL Boland got killed in the fighting in Dublin and told his mother to hide the Jewels, only being discovered again just prior to WW2
- There was alot of OTL deals between Collins/Boland/de Valera and the early Soviet Union odd as it may sound, ITTL im using the fact the Irish need guns to send them to a logical source.
- OTL the Dominions said no at Chanak, ITTL no way their sending troops against another Dominion they had good relations OTL 1922.
- OTL the US really restricted weapons to the IRA, it was only during the Truce and Treaty we got all the Thompson s and such
- The Russian Crown Jewels were in Ireland, OTL Boland got killed in the fighting in Dublin and told his mother to hide the Jewels, only being discovered again just prior to WW2
- There was alot of OTL deals between Collins/Boland/de Valera and the early Soviet Union odd as it may sound, ITTL im using the fact the Irish need guns to send them to a logical source.
- OTL the Dominions said no at Chanak, ITTL no way their sending troops against another Dominion they had good relations OTL 1922.
- OTL the US really restricted weapons to the IRA, it was only during the Truce and Treaty we got all the Thompson s and such
theirishdreamer
Banned
hmm
Surprisingly these ITTL relationships would match up fairly well, if the War of Independence had started a year or two later then Soviet's like ITTL would have been our likely supplier considering the links we built up. Even the fact we had the Russian Crown Jewels till the late 1940's is kinda weird.
Not to give too much away the British have merely the choice of bad options, blockade and build up slowly to lessen internal pressure and risk the Irish getting stronger or jump back straight away and know its back to the later stages of the War of Independence with the added problem of now having to rebuild the civil administration. I feel quite bad for Macready and Imperial General Staff as they (OTL & ITTL) kept pointing out to leave Ireland alone, and Churchill and some Tories kept trying to restart the war - and leaving Macready to try and salvage something from the mess.
Surprisingly these ITTL relationships would match up fairly well, if the War of Independence had started a year or two later then Soviet's like ITTL would have been our likely supplier considering the links we built up. Even the fact we had the Russian Crown Jewels till the late 1940's is kinda weird.
Not to give too much away the British have merely the choice of bad options, blockade and build up slowly to lessen internal pressure and risk the Irish getting stronger or jump back straight away and know its back to the later stages of the War of Independence with the added problem of now having to rebuild the civil administration. I feel quite bad for Macready and Imperial General Staff as they (OTL & ITTL) kept pointing out to leave Ireland alone, and Churchill and some Tories kept trying to restart the war - and leaving Macready to try and salvage something from the mess.