Ulster on the brink - Part 1
Ulster on the Brink.
An edited text of a paper presented to the 15th Conference on 20th Century European History, New York, June 23rd 2012.
An understanding of the Irish Emergency is essential for any study of the War of 1914-1920. The events of the Emergency were hugely significant in their impact on Britain's capacity to respond to German aggression at the beginning of the War and later efforts to contain Communist revolutionary movements across Europe between 1917 and 1923.
First Rumblings
The roots of the emergency lie of course in Britain's troubled, centuries old, relationship with Ireland, but the direct cause was Unionist fears of a Dublin government in the event of Home Rule. These fears often seemed paranoid to English politicians, not versed in the unique Irish capacity to hold a grudge for centuries. From time to time statements emerged from the Unionist camp that, given the many protestations of loyalty to the Crown, seemed so bizarre as to make any attempt at rational debate a futile exercise. In January 1911 for example, Captain James Craig, the main organiser of Unionist resistance wrote to a friend:
Germany and the German Emperor would be preferred to the rule of John Redmond, Patrick Ford and the Molly Maguires.
He wasn't alone. On 23rd September Carson spoke at a vast rally of Unionists at Craigavon (Craig's house), attended by some 50,000.
We are faced with perhaps the most nefarious conspiracy that has ever been hatched against a free people, but make no mistake – we will fight., even though those we fight are going to play with loaded dice. Our demand is a very simple one. We ask for no privileges, but we are determined that no one shall have privileges over us. We ask for no special rights, but we claim the same rights from the same Government as every other part of the United Kingdom. We ask for nothing more; we will take nothing less. It is our inalienable right as citizens of the British Empire, and heaven help the men who try to take it from us. Whatever happens we must be prepared...and time is precious in these things – the morning Home Rule is passed, ourselves to become responsible for the government of the Protestant Province of Ulster.
But - if we are to be put from the Union, and left to the mercies of Mr Redmond and his crew, I would infinitely prefer to change my allegiance right over to Germany and the German Emperor, or to anyone else who has a proper and stable government.
Statements like this were of course seditious and placed the Asquith government in some difficulty. It was clear from the rapturous response that Carson was gaining huge support and he would not be easily silenced. Probably as much from a desire that what they wished for be true as anything else, the Liberals convinced themselves that Carson was bluffing and did nothing. “We must not attach too much importance to the frothings of Sir Edward Carson” said Churchill. The Republicans were equally dismissive with Jerry MacVeagh, the secretary of the Irish Party, saying “Sir Edward will not discard his wig and gown for a spiked helmet and a khaki suit.”
And so matters rested in an uneasy standoff until the new year, with an announcement that Winston Churchill, by then First Lord of the Admiralty, would speak in Belfast on Home Rule, alongside Messrs Redmond and Dillon from the Nationalist Party. This meeting was moreover billed to take place, not in some neutral venue, but at the Ulster Hall, the symbolic heart of Unionism in the North. Unsurprisingly the Ulster Unionist Council, outraged at what they described as 'a deliberate challenge thrown down by Mr Churchill', declared their intention of preventing the meeting taking place at all. Implicit in this response was the message that if he insisted he should be prepared to take the consequences.
Having no doubt achieved what he intended, Churchill agreed to move his speech to another venue, although this proved hard to find. The Opera House remained unavailable, despite rumours of a knighthood for the manager, and eventually the Government was reduced to shipping in a marquee from Scotland and erecting it on the Celtic Football Ground. Fearful of unrest, Dublin Castle also moved five battalions of infantry, two companies of cavalry and many extra police into the Belfast area.
On 8th Feb 1912, a day later than originally planned, Churchill arrived at Larne to be met by a huge crowd, defiantly singing the National Anthem. At lunch in the Grand Central Hotel in Belfast another large – and loud – congregation of Orangemen gathered outside. Their mood was aggressive and it was probably only the presence of Carson and Lord Londonderry standing on the balcony of the Ulster Club opposite that prevented an outright attack on Churchill's car as he left for the football ground. Even so his car was several times surrounded by the crowd and only extricated with some difficulty by escorting police. Indeed on one occasion it seemed likely that it would be overturned, an event later described by one Unionist as being a consequence of the crowd's 'involuntary swaying', although other reports suggested that the presence of Mrs Churchill alongside him was more of a factor with cries of 'Mind the wumman' as the crowds pressed in on the vehicle.
The speech, to a carefully controlled audience, was something of an anti-climax. A huge rainstorm had kept many away. The marquee was partially flooded and only about two thirds full. The only interruptions came from suffragists, one calling out in a broad Belfast accent to demand suffrage for women, while another shouted out “Women are being tortured.” Churchill, perhaps conscious that he was in enough trouble, ignored the interruptions and the women were swiftly removed.
It was after the speech however that trouble really began. Perhaps because of their close shave on the journey out, Mrs Churchill was sent, by circuitous and dingy back streets to the station and thence to Larne while Churchill, never one to duck a fight, returned to his hotel by the same route as before. Here despite the rain the crowd of Orange protesters had grown and this time in the absence of Mrs Churchill they proved less willing to refrain from mobbing the car, rocking it back and fore until it overturned. Having vented their feelings and no doubt prompted by the appearance of a troop of cavalry the crowd then dispersed singing ribald anti-Catholic songs as they went.
Churchill and his companions were eventually recovered from the upturned vehicle. All had only minor injuries apart from Churchill who suffered a broken leg and serious damage to his dignity. The injury was to be leave him with a serious limp and beset by pain for rest of his life. It also left him an implacable enemy of Carson and Unionism.
For King and Country?
Partially as a riposte to Churchill's speech earlier in the month and partially as a demonstration of strength, the Unionists held another huge rally on 24 February at the Agricultural Society show grounds on the edge of Belfast. Around 60,000 Unionists turned out despite bitter cold and driving rain to hear Bonar Law and Carson speak. In an uncompromising speech, delivered in front of a Union Jack some 50 feet across, Bonar Law assured those present that the Conservative Party would support Ulstermen if they resisted Home Rule by force.
Your cause is not that of Ulster alone. Your cause is the Empire's. I can imagine no length of resistance to which Ulster can go, in which I would not be prepared to support them, in which my Party would not support them and in which, in my belief, they would not be supported by the vast majority of the British People.
In his turn Carson returned to his constant theme of Ulster's willingness to fight.
I recognise my responsibility; Heaven knows I am always thinking about it. From morn till night, I think of the grave tragedies that may lie before us. It doesn’t make me shrink one iota as regards myself; no man in my position can help but think of others who have to fight out this battle. I contemplate what may happen, it is natural to feel – even the bravest heart – I shall not say with fear, but with a sense of responsibility that is almost appalling. But I know this, I am dealing in all parts with brave men who have made up their minds and if we have to go into a fight – which God forbid – we will do so knowing that for the last thirty years, for no fault on our part which can alleged against us, we have been a threatened and an outraged people and we will also be conscious in our minds that every warning which it was possible to give the government from the very first day on which this wicked conspiracy was put forward against us – every opportunity was taken warning them that under no circumstances would we submit to be thrust out of the government under which we were born by the most unscrupulous government that I have ever known or read of.
Ulstermen will not suffer to be handed over to a Catholic government in Dublin. We will not suffer to see our loyalty dismissed, set aside and denigrated. Ulster will resist, by force of arms if needed - Ulster will fight.
Carson did not elaborate further how that fight would be organised but that became clear the next day with two announcements by the Ulster Unionist Council. The first was the creation of a Volunteer Army of 100,000 men willing to be trained in the use of arms and ready to use those arms in the defence of Ulster if need be. The second was the launch of a Covenant to be signed by every adult Ulsterman, declaring themselves ready to stand for Ulster and the Union.
BEING CONVINCED in our consciences that Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal subjects of His Gracious Majesty King George V., humbly relying on the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant, to stand by one another in defending, for ourselves and our children, our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means which may be found necessary to defeat a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland. And in the event of such a Parliament being forced upon us, we further solemnly and mutually pledge ourselves to refuse to recognise its authority and to resist its imposition. In sure confidence that God will defend the right, we hereto subscribe our names.
And further, we individually declare that we have not already signed this Covenant.
The choice of words 'men of Ulster' was deliberate. Carson and the others saw the Covenant as a prerequisite for the creation of an armed force in which women were to have no part. A 'Declaration' to be signed by the women of Ulster was launched in parallel which made clear their subservient role.
WE, whose names are underwritten, women of Ulster, and loyal subjects of our gracious King, being firmly persuaded that Home Rule would be disastrous to our Country, desire to associate ourselves with the men of Ulster in their uncompromising opposition to the Home Rule Bill now before Parliament, whereby it is proposed to drive Ulster out of her cherished place in the Constitution of the United Kingdom, and to place her under the domination and control of a Parliament in Ireland.
Praying that from this calamity God will save Ireland, we hereto subscribe our names.
The campaign began in the West at Enniskillen, moving daily closer to Belfast and its climax. At the first rally, 50,000 Orange men marched past the platform in military order. The same pattern continued as the campaign developed; Orangemen paraded in force and the same resolution was passed by acclamation - “We won't have Home Rule”, soon to be abbreviated to “We won't have it” and chanted at every opportunity. The culmination of the campaign came in May in a ceremony at the Ulster Hall in Belfast where Craig handed to Carson a faded banner that had been carried, it was claimed, at the Battle of the Boyne. Unfurling it before the crowd, Carson declaimed “May this flag for ever fly over a free Ulster.”
The next day was a Sunday, with services all over the Province at which the signing of the Covenant was presented as a religious obligation as much as a political one. The Protestant churches gave it their full support, with Charles D'Arcy, Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore announcing from the pulpit "We hold that no power, not even the British Parliament, has the right to deprive us of our heritage of British citizenship." After the services had ended Carson and other Unionist leaders walked the short distance from the Ulster Hall to Belfast City Hall, preceded by the Boyne Standard presented to him the previous evening and with a guard of men wearing bowler hats and carrying sticks. At the City Hall entrance – no difficulties were offered for this use – Carson was welcomed by the Lord Mayor and Corporation in their Robes, the Poor Law Guardians, the Harbour Commissioners and even the Water Board. Inside, the Covenant was set on a circular table draped with the Union Flag. Carson was the first to sign, followed by Lord Londonderry and then by representatives from the Protestant Churches.
Outside City Hall, under the command of Major Frederick Crawford, another Ulster activist of long standing, Carson's guard had been supplemented by others drawn from Unionist Clubs and Orange Lodges across the Province, and now made a force of some 2,500 men. These marshals admitted the general public to sign in batches of four or five hundred at a time until 11pm that night. Similar enthusiastic scenes were to be found across the Province. Meanwhile, at the Ulster Hall women signed the Declaration of Support, although not without some disruption from suffragists. The treatment given to these women on the day was brutal and something that would rebound on the Unionist movement over the next few years. In public buildings, church halls and Market Squares across the Province, similar signing ceremonies were taking place. By the end of the day, it was claimed by Carson that some 20,000 people had signed the Covenant and 12,000 women the Declaration. Eventually some 300,000 men signed the Covenant and 240,000 women, the Declaration.
In June a British Covenant was announced at a massive rally in London's Hyde Park with probably 300,000 people assembling to hear Lord Milner and Carson speak.
BEING CONVINCED in our consciences that Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of the whole of this United Kingdom and perilous to the unity of the Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, loyal subjects of His Gracious Majesty King George V., do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant before God, to stand by our fellow countrymen in Ulster in defending, by all means which may be found necessary, their cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in taking or supporting any action that may be effective to prevent the Home Rule Bill being put into operation, and more particularly to prevent the armed forces of the Crown being used to deprive the people of Ulster of their rights as citizens of the United Kingdom. And in the event of such a Bill being forced upon us, we further solemnly and mutually pledge ourselves to refuse to recognise its authority and to resist its imposition. In sure confidence that God will defend the right, we hereto subscribe our names.
And further, we individually declare that we have not already signed this Covenant.
The signature campaign for this was largely organised through the Primrose League and the Union Defence League. By the end of the summer, two million signatures were obtained. Prominent signatories included Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Seymour, Rudyard Kipling, and Sir William Ramsay FRS together with many servicing officers of the Army and Navy.
Despite the huge level of support, many condemned the campaign. The Daily Herald described the signatories as being:
... all members of that treasonous and seditious conspiracy known as the 'British Covenant' in support of armed revolution in Ulster.
Tom Mann, in a speech in Birmingham, was caustic in comparing his treatment for publishing a leaflet calling on troops not to shoot striking workers, while “Knights and Peers of the Realm create private armies” without fear of penalty. Labour MPs in the House of Commons were equally acerbic denouncing Carson and Bonar Law alike as unpatriotic, treasonous and seditious. On several occasions the session had to be suspended by the Speaker with near brawls between members.
Another report in the Daily Herald captured something of the character of the debate.
In great anger at the penalties inflicted on the Syndicalists, Mr. George Lansbury, M.P., speaking in the House of Commons, endeavoured to persuade the Government to take action against the authorities in Ulster who are responsible for the alleged drilling of Ulstermen to resist Home Rule when it comes. Mr. Jerry MacVeagh, the wag who is secretary of the Irish Parliamentary party, referred to a statement of Lord Dunleath that it was not military drill, but squad drill, adding for himself that " the only object was to enable large bodies of Orangemen to turn round when they received a word of; command from their leaders.'' (Laughter.) Mr. Asquith said the Government was fully informed as to what was " going on, " the immediate object being, as I understand, to prepare for a party demonstration in a few weeks time," (Laughter.) If they suspected any seditious purpose they would take action, since no authority could sanction drilling for an illegal purpose. Mr. Lansbury asked if the law would not be called in should the Miners' Federation commence to teach its men drill. Mr. .Asquith: That is a hypothetical question, and I will answer it when it arises. Mr. Lansbury finished up by presenting Mr, Asquith with a leaflet circulated in Ulster informing the people that officers of the army had told their friends they would order their men not to fire on the people of Ulster if they rebelled against Home Rule.
Nationalist feeling elsewhere in the UK was aroused too. In Scotland, 'The Thistle' said:
Scotland has had to fight for years to get her most urgent needs attended to, the demands of her members of Parliament being largely ignored, whether the party in power be Liberal or Conservative. How then arises this difference of treatment? The answer is a sad one, but it is plain and undeniable. The brutal English majority in Parliament turns all but a deaf ear to the manifold requirements of Scotland, because the Scottish people are peaceful and law-abiding—but it truckles to the remonstrances and complaints—civil and religious—of the Irish people, because they resort to violent means if their demands are refused.
Other newspapers played down the Unionist call to arms in favour of attacks on the Home Rule plans. A Times editorial argued that “to shut [the Unionists] out of their present Constitutional position and to subject them to the Nationalists would be oppression of the grossest and most cruel kind” going on to say of the campaign – in Ulster and in the rest of the United Kingdom – that “it is by its gravity, its moderation, and its unflinching firmness that it will arrest the attention and secure the support of the English and the Scottish people.”
Ulster Mobilises
Despite the protestations of Loyalty to the Crown, the launch of the Covenant and the associated mobilisation of the UVF was nothing less than a declaration of willingness to use armed force against His Majesty's Government. Bonar Law repeated his pledge of Conservative Party support for the Unionist cause in numerous speeches both at public meetings and in the Commons. In a particularly heated exchange with Asquith he said:
Do you plan to hurl the full majesty and power of the law, supported on the bayonets of the British Army, against a million Ulstermen marching under the Union Flag and singing 'God Save The King'? Would the Army hold? Would the British people — would the Crown — stand for such a slaughter?
Across Ulster men were signing up in their hundreds for the new Ulster Volunteer Force and enthusiastic bands of men could everywhere be seen drilling, usually with crude wooden staves in place of rifles, although in a few cases armed with shotguns and the occasional rifle.
By the end of April 1912 it was clear to the Nationalists, if not the Government in London, that Unionists were becoming increasingly militarised. Weapons were appearing at parades and training was beginning to include firing exercises. In June the UUC went a step further, approving the creation of a Provisional Government for Ulster if Home Rule became law and setting up a Military Council to oversee the development and arming of the UVF. Lord Roberts of Kandahar was appointed to the command of the UVF. Rumours were already widespread of large scale purchases of arms by agents acting for the UUC and the creation of the Military Council appeared to confirm this. The UUC also launched a fund (underwritten by several wealthy Belfast businessmen) to create an indemnity guarantee for British Officers who resigned their commission or were dismissed for refusing to use force again Loyalists.
The Republicans responded in kind – twice. In May 1912 the creation of an Irish Volunteer Army was announced. Although not admitted in public, it was understood on all sides that the secretive Irish Republican Brotherhood were prime movers. The IRB were traditional Republican and not sympathetic to the concerns of workers or women. Everything was to be subordinated to the task of securing Irish Independence. Faced with this, supporters of Larkin and Connolly began recruiting volunteers for a proposed Irish Citizen Army in July.
Over the next few months all parties focused on building positions of strength. The UVF by the end of June had reached 35,000 members across most of Ulster. From a slow start the IVA had reached only about 8,000 concentrated mostly in Dublin with some small groups in rural areas across the south. By the end of July the figures stood at UVF 40,000, IVA, 20,000 and ICA 1,500. The newly created ICA was concentrated in Dublin with smaller groups in Limerick, Waterford and Cork and Belfast.
As membership in these militias grew so did intercommunal tensions. On 29th June matters came to a head, when a Protestant Sunday School outing was attacked by a group of Republicans from the Ancient Order of Hibernians who took exception to the union jacks being waved in the procession. Seeing the attack under way, other locals joined in the affray. More by luck than anything else, the two groups were eventually separated by the few available local police officers without any serious physical injuries, who then managed to get the Protestant group onto their train back to Belfast. By Monday, the story of the attack had spread across Orange Belfast, no doubt multiplied in the telling, and the inevitable reprisals began. Roman Catholic workers in the ship yards were attacked and driven from the yards and more attacks took place on their homes. Retaliations by Republicans were swift. Throughout July and August tit for tat attacks continued with both Catholic and Protestant families attacked at work, on the streets and in their homes.
By now the Government, while publicly dismissive, was beginning to be concerned. They were already faced by major disruption from labour disputes, with 10,000 troops committed to the North East of England and at least 40,000 troops deployed elsewhere to support hard pressed police. The prospect now of violence in Ulster was not appealing, especially given that Republicans were also mobilising against the perceived threat of an anti-Catholic and anti-Republican militia. To make matters worse, suffragist violence was also on the increase with intermittent arson attacks on Unionist properties and the property of prominent Unionists in Ulster and more generally in London and elsewhere.
The Committee Stage of Home Rule Bill was also considered in June. A late amendment to exclude Antrim, Armagh, Down and Londonderry was reluctantly accepted by the Unionists but after three days of debate was defeated by 69 votes, failing to secure Asquith's support. This was nevertheless a tactical victory for the Unionists since at least the Government had been forced to admit of the possibility of a separate Ulster. Speaking at a meeting in London, Carson admitted that the result was not unexpected. He went on to say however:
I think the time has come for us to take a step forward in our campaign and that is what I shall recommend be done.
Not for the first time Carson was ambiguous about the precise meaning of his statements. Publicly there was a large military style parade in Belfast at the beginning of September, where, for the first time armed members of the UVF appeared in public, although without any overt recognition of the fact from Carson or other members of the UUC. Similar parades took place over the next few weeks across the Province. The UUC also announced that a commission had been established to prepare a constitution for any Provisional Government that might need to be established with the aim of a report before the end of 1912.
[Part 2 - Ulster arms itself]
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