John Maxwell, Asquith, and the Executions. (A post-Easter Uprising Question)

John Maxwell and the Easter Rising Aftermath

I was just reading about Irish Nationalism when this guy came up.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maxwell_(British_Army_officer)

http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/maxwell_john.htm

Apparently, he unilaterally sentenced the leaders of the Easter Uprising without abiding by the measures drawn up by DORA (Defence of the Realm Act), and as everyone knows, it was the executions that turned the Nationalists the idea of a British Monarch on the Irish throne.

As I am interested in doing a TL with this as one of the PODs, I'm wondering, had Asquith found out what he was doing before it was too late, how would that change Irish History.
 
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It might have taken some of the heat out of the situation. As it was De Valera was spared and the ghovernment showed some alarm at the haste of the executions. Some may well have gone ahead. The Casement trialThe Irish Independent was calling for executions and when the prisoners were marched out of the General Post Office they were booed by crowds. Between 1916 and the 1918 election, the moderate nationalists and Sinn Fein were gaining and loosing seats from each other. The collapse of moderate nationalism was caused by the introduction of conscription in Ireland linked to either home rule or dominion status. Priests were not exempt from conscription so the Catholic Church supported extreme nationalism.

However it is concievable that without conscription a federal solution would have been found but it there would be strong opposition as there may well have been without the executions. Dillon having succeeded Redmond becomes the first Prime Minister possibly of a dominion and there is a strong opposition party lead by De Valera a bit like the post 1921 Dail. A lot would depend on whether De Valera decided to walk out which may well have started an earlier civil war. Probably not as De Valera was not really a soldier and his boycott was more for political reasons than an act of rebellion. However there would have been the oath of allegiance. Had the moderate nationalist won a significant majority unlike pro-treaty Sinn Fein in 1921 then the situation would have been grudgingly accepted. Any home rule/dominion solution would probably have been unstable in the long term
 
It might have taken some of the heat out of the situation. As it was De Valera was spared and the ghovernment showed some alarm at the haste of the executions. Some may well have gone ahead. The Casement trialThe Irish Independent was calling for executions and when the prisoners were marched out of the General Post Office they were booed by crowds. Between 1916 and the 1918 election, the moderate nationalists and Sinn Fein were gaining and loosing seats from each other. The collapse of moderate nationalism was caused by the introduction of conscription in Ireland linked to either home rule or dominion status. Priests were not exempt from conscription so the Catholic Church supported extreme nationalism.

First of all, " The Casement TrialThe Irish Independent was calling for executions"???

However it is concievable that without conscription a federal solution would have been found but it there would be strong opposition as there may well have been without the executions.

When you say federal, do you mean something along the lines of "Home Rule all around"?

Dillon having succeeded Redmond becomes the first Prime Minister possibly of a dominion and there is a strong opposition party lead by De Valera a bit like the post 1921 Dail. A lot would depend on whether De Valera decided to walk out which may well have started an earlier civil war. Probably not as De Valera was not really a soldier and his boycott was more for political reasons than an act of rebellion.

It all depends on how large the separatist movement becomes without the sudden executions and with the conscription crisis.

However there would have been the oath of allegiance. Had the moderate nationalist won a significant majority unlike pro-treaty Sinn Fein in 1921 then the situation would have been grudgingly accepted.

I think the moderate Nationalists would be perfectly aright when it comes to the Oath.

Any home rule/dominion solution would probably have been unstable in the long term

Without Ulster:

Home Rule-Maybe
Dominion-Probably Not.

With Ulster
Both-What makes you think that there will be a long term?
 
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