Good day to everyone. I like Ireland. I love its nature, culture, history. But one fine day I watched the film “The Property of the Devil”, and after it it became interesting for me to learn about the Irish Republican Army. He deepened into this topic, he learned about one of the strongest and longest ethnopolitical conflicts. I will tell you about the history of the conflict in Northern Ireland, about the emergence of the Irish Republican Army and the reflection of the North Irish conflict in world culture.
The history of the conflict in Northern Ireland
It all began in the XII century in the north of Ireland, in the kingdom of Olster. Then it de jure submitted to England, but in reality the leaders of Olster had power. By the fifteenth century, with the establishment of English domination throughout the island, the region of Northern Ireland joined the province of Olster.
At this time, Britain sought to spread Protestantism among local residents, which led to the crowding out of the indigenous Catholic population of Olster by immigrants from England and Scotland. In the rest of Ireland, Catholicism won the top. Since then, Protestants have controlled Northern Ireland – a prosperous and secured part of the island.
The peculiarity of the British settlement of Ireland was that there were no large colonies in the south of the island, while the northeast was slaughtered by migrants. Olster became the center of development of capitalism, and the rest of Ireland remained agrarian. The British laws limited the rights of not only local Catholics, but also Scottish Presbyterians. Thus, we can say that the North Irish conflict carries a religious basis.
The first attempt to declare independence
To begin with, the Government of England, instead of resolving an ethnopolitical conflict, moved to the power measures to fight the Irish problem. All discontent was brutally suppressed, and the indigenous population was discriminated.
In the second half of the seventeenth century, large uprisings occurred in response to the confiscation of land. Catholic rebels decided to create their own state-an Irish faith.
The betrayal of the authorities and the clergy gave the British to the complete conquest of Ireland. To fight the rebels, the army was sent, led by the famous military leader Oliver Cromwell. He easily defeated the rebels and strengthened the dominance of the Protestants. But the Irish still continued the struggle under the sign of Catholicism.
In the 70s of the eighteenth century, secret peasant organizations appeared, whose members were called ribbonites. Even bourgeois circles were covered by the opposition mood. Events such as the Great French Revolution and the War of US Independence gave a powerful impetus for the national liberation movement in Ireland. Some time after strengthening the opposition, the Government of England was forced to cancel several laws and remove part of the industrial restrictions. In 1783, the autonomy of the Irish parliament was established, the policy of which contributed to the development of Irish industry.
"United Irish" and "Orange guys"
In 1791, a society "United Irish" appeared in the city of Belfast. It included Catholics, bourgeoisie, peasants and representatives of city lower. They used non -violent methods in their struggle, but still faced the repressive actions of the British government.
In 1795, the Orange Guys organization was created in Olster, which was transformed into the Order of Orange. They were used by the government as a counterweight to society from the Belfast.
After some time, the guys from Olster realized that they would not achieve anything peacefully and organized an uprising in 1798, which was soon suppressed. After some time, the British decided to make Olster outpost in the fight against separatism.
"Act on the union"
On January 1, 1801, according to the “Act on the Union”, the parliamentary autonomy of Ireland was liquidated: the Irish parliament was abolished, and Irish representatives received a specific number of places in the British Parliament. The union brought the lifting of the economy to Olster, and also fixed the dominance of the Protestants who united in the fight against Catholics.
"Great Hunger" and the appearance of the first radical groups
In the rest of Ireland, the agricultural sector dominated, and riots flashed in it every now and then due to a difficult economic situation. In the mid -nineteenth, the Great Hunger caused the death of more than four million people and led to the emigration of three million in the United States. Their descendants a century later will become the financial support of the Irish Republican Army (Ira).
The result of the suppression of the uprising of 1798 was only a temporary break in the struggle of the Irish for independence, and Britain decided to move on to other methods of confrontation. In 1829, the British government was forced to make some concessions and gave Irish Catholics passive suffrage, but increased the electoral qualification by five times (they reduced the number of places for the Irish in parliament). Despite this, the movement for breaking the Anglo-Irish union unfolds.
By 1840, the Association of supporters of the rupture of this union was created, some members of which two years later created the radical group "Young Ireland". Some group members founded the Irish Confederation in 1847, the leaders of the revolutionary democratic wing of which called for an armed uprising against English dominance.
Protestants did not stay away from the struggle, at the head of whom the Order of the Orange became. They carried out many thousands of marches on the Catholic quarters of the Olster cities, arranged pogroms. The Irish problem remained unresolved.
Fenia, Gomrul https://sailorbingocasino.uk/bonus/ and Dominion
From the second half of the nineteenth century in the political life of the country, secret societies began to play a significant role – Fenia, which prepared an uprising, wanting to achieve independence of Ireland. The rebellion of Feniev was suppressed in 1867, and the next 49 years became the period of the peaceful constitutional parliamentary struggle, which manifested itself in the struggle for self -government as part of the British Empire – Gomrul.
Olster Protestants and conservatives interfered with the adoption of Bill Gomrul, and he received legal force only in 1914. The First World War additionally complicated its implementation. In 1916, the supporters of Gomruul raised an unsuccessful uprising. The Ginn Feyn party (we ourselves) continued the struggle, from which the Irish Republican Army will appear later.
In 1919, the Irish parliament was created in Dublin, which proclaimed the country’s independence, and independent state.institutions. In response to this, the English government applied violence. The partisan war, which had begun by the Irish, led to the fact that the Government of Great Britain granted 26 southern counties the status of Dominion.
The results of the struggle for independence
In 1921, the Anglo-Irish treaty secured the division of the country into the Irish free state and Northern Ireland.
As a result, at the beginning of the twentieth century, peace was established on the territory of most of the country, but in Northern Ireland the struggle continued. The existence of two separate Irelands and interfaith contradictions did not contribute to the cessation of the conflict. But the causes of a centuries -old confrontation are not limited only to a religious factor.
Irish Republican Army
I would also like to tell about the Irish Republican Army as a symbol of the struggle for the independence of Northern Ireland in the twentieth century. There is no exact date of appearance, but it is generally accepted that in 1916 it originates. The ancestor Ira is the "Shinn Feyn", which was mentioned before. Unlike the “shinn fain”, Ira expresses the desire to most radically achieve her goal. You can divide the life cycle of the Irish Republican Army into four stages.
The first stage (1916-1950)
At the end of the 1910s, Ira experiences a series of schisms and reorganizations, which led to a decrease in her activity. But by 1930, Ira resumes activities. In 1939, the army leadership put forward an ultimatum to the British government – the withdrawal of troops from the territory of Olster. In response to the refusal, Ira arranges terrorist attacks. The British managed to destroy the top of Ira and suppress the uprisings, which prevented possible complications during the Second World War.
The second stage (1950-1970)
In 1949, Ireland was proclaimed an independent republic. In the period until the end of the 60s, Ira arranged sabotage and terrorist attacks throughout the territory of North Ireland (for 1956 Ira held about 600 military actions in Olster). Among other things, due to the actions of the army, the tension between Catholics and Protestants intensified, which resulted in direct clashes. The consequence of this was the introduction of British troops into Olster.
The third stage (1970-1985)
This period is characterized by a powerful wave of violence by IRA and the search for the UK new ways to resolve the problem.
In 1972, the North Irish parliament was dissolved and the board began to go directly from London, to which Ira reacted hard. July 21, 1972 went down in history as "Bloody Friday". On this day, in Belfast there was an explosion of twenty -two explosives at once. 9 people died, more than 130 were injured. The response of the government was the use of troops.
July 20, 1982, members of the Temporary Ira blew up two bombs during the British military personnel parade in the Hyde Park and the Rigentle Park. As a result, 22 soldiers died and more than 50 people were injured.
Of course, at this time attempts were made peacefully to resolve the conflict, but they did not bring results.
Fourth stage (1985-2007)
The last stage is characterized by the settlement of the ethno -political conflict and the transition to an effective negotiation process.
The terror continued during this period (the most loud incident occurred in 1993, when the truck exploded near the Werington shopping center), but it was not as bloody as before.
At the end of 1985, the Anglo-Irish agreement was created in Hilsboro, which confirms Olister’s belonging to the United Kingdom as long as the majority of residents of the province of the province protrude for this.
In 1993, during negotiations between Dublin and London, a declaration was adopted, in which the principle of “open door” was declared, t.E invite everyone to the negotiation table. In response, Ira’s leadership announced the ceasefire, but refused to disarm. The attack on February 9, 1996 interrupted a truce.
In April 10, 1998, when Shinn Fayne was admitted to the multi -party elections, and the Irish Republican Army announced a truce, the Belfast agreement was signed. It confirmed the desire of all parties to disarm and strengthen ties.
Since 1998, a course was taken to resolve the conflict at the institutional level. In 2001, the forefront was published on a peaceful decision. In 2007, a deadline was set for the final disarmament of extremist groups, including Ira.
Despite the transition to negotiations and disarmament, various groups, which include ex-participants of Ira, still organize terrorist acts in Northern Ireland.
One of the last occurred on October 20, 2016. Adherents of the true Irish Republican Army shot a man in the west of the Belfast.
As a result, I can say that the case of Ira will live for a very long time, but the attempts of the British government were not in vain. At the moment, the Irish Republican Army consists of less than 400 people, although at the beginning of the activities there were more than 10.000. But still, a number of difficulties do not allow to completely destroy the irreconcilable armed separatism and terrorism of Ira.
Irish Republican Army in mass culture
The actions of the Irish Republican Army could not help but leave a mark in mass culture. Events related to Ira are reflected in many works, from songs and films, ending with video games.
The most famous reflection in mass culture is undoubtedly the song of the group The Cranberries – Zombie. The surge song is written as a response to a terrorist attack in the English city of Woerington, as a result of which two boys died.
Dolores O’Riordan believes that zombies are members of Ira, as a result of the actions of which innocent people go to the other world. In the video for this song, shots of shooting a British patrol in Northern Ireland were used.
From the films I can highlight several films. The first is "The property of the devil" 1996, in which the main roles were played by Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt. With her, I began to get acquainted with the North Irish conflict and Ira’s activities.
It tells the story of two Irish – Rory Diveini (Brad Pitt), a member of Ira, who arrived in America to acquire “stingers” to fight the helicopters of the army of England, and Tom O’Mira (Harrison Ford) – an ordinary policeman. Friendship is established between them, but after an unforeseen incident, Tomi begins to hunt Rory.
I really liked the film, and it was after watching it that I became interested in the Irish Republican Army. Good actors and a solid game; A suitable soundtrack in which The Cranberries took part with the song God be with you; well -set shootings. So I recommend it to view.
The next film – "’71" 2014. Perhaps this is the most reliable film about the events that took place in the early 70s in Northern Ireland.
The film shows the story of Gary Hook, an ordinary British soldier who passes through a real hell in one day. During this time, he meets loyally -minded citizens, military response forces, IRA participants and so on. Among other things, they show us the true face of the war and the fact that it is beneficial to all participants and it is unlikely that conflicts will stop.
"’71" received a large number of awards at many festivals and high critics ratings. After watching the film, I was satisfied and strictly recommend for viewing.
The last film is going on "Bloody Sunday" 2002, in which the main role was played by James Nesbitt.
The tape tells about one of the tragedies of 1972 – bloody Sunday. On this day there was a peaceful demonstration in support of civil rights in Derry, North Ireland.
English paratroopers, whose task was to detain the march participants, opened fire on demonstrators, which led to the death of several participants and many wounded.
For me, this is one of the dramatic films associated with Northern Ireland.
In video games, there is also references to the Irish Republican Army. IN GTA IV There is a character Derrick Macriri, who fought in temporary Ira against the British.
IN Mafia III there is a character of Terry Daily, who is an explosive specialist. In the past, he was a soldier of the Irish Republican Army, subsequently escaping from Belfast to New Bordo, where he was accepted Burku in his gang.
In addition, the Irish Republican Army was noted in two issues "Invincible warrior". The essence of the program is to compare two different fractions in the simulated fights, in which only one. A number of tests occur for this to determine the pros and cons of weapons.
In the first issue, Ira confronts the grouping of the Taliban, over which she wins. In the second issue, the enemy is Russian special forces, and in it the Irish defeats.