When Herbert Henry Asquith’s Liberal government declared war on Germany in August 1914, it was the last thing that the broadly pacifistic government wanted to do. When Germany invaded Belgium, Britain as a major signatory to the 1839 Treaty of London which guaranteed Belgium’s neutrality, had to come to Belgium’s aid. Failure to do so would have provoked a constitutional crisis and led to a General Election, which the Conservatives would have won and the country would then have gone to war, albeit at a much later date, assuming France had not surrendered once again as in the 1870/71 conflict with Prussia.
Asquith’s government was determined to implement social reform in the United Kingdom and in 1908 instigated the first non-contributory Old Age Pension for persons over 70 years of age, of good character [That would help today! – Ed] and with an income of £21 10 shillings or less. In 1911 the National Insurance Act came into being at which point all workers, aged between 16 and 70 had to contribute 4d [Four old pence – Ed] a week, with the employer paying 3d a week and the state contributing 2d a week. In return, workers were entitled to free basic medical care, work advice and unemployment ‘dole’ for a maximum of 15 weeks.
They also passed the 1911 Parliament Act which gave the House of Commons the final right to scupper amendments and objections from the House of Lords. This act has only been used on seven occasions since 1911, they are:
Government of Ireland Act 1914
Welsh Church Act 1914
Parliament Act 1949
War Crimes Act 1991
European Parliament Elections Act 1999
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
Hunting Act 2004
The first use of the Parliament Act as you can see above, was the Government of Ireland Act 1914. This was the Liberal government’s stated desire to give Ireland Home Rule and to form a devolved parliament in the United Kingdom’s second city, Dublin.
This was all too much for the staunchly Protestant and Unionist classes and had been the cause of the Curragh Incident of March 1914 when Unionist army officers threatened to resign their commissions rather than put men on the streets to defend the Republican cause should there be civil unrest, which there would have been.
Both the Nationalists and the Unionists had been secretly purchasing arms and civil war was brewing. However, the outbreak of war in August 1914, saw the Home Rule Bill suspended for the duration of the war and in a huge wave of patriotism, Carson’s Ulster Volunteer Force enlisted en-masse and eventually became the 36th (Ulster) Division.
Click here for the full picture The Curragh Incident | History Today
Somewhat surprisingly, the more moderate Nationalist leaders also opted to fight for King and Country in the belief that at the war’s end, the nation would look on their cause more favourably.
The Kitchener volunteers in the predominantly Republican areas were formed into two divisions, the
10th and 16th (Irish) divisions. The 10th Division initially served in Gallipoli before being transferred to Salonika in October 1915 where they fought until they were transferred once again in October 1917 to take part in Allenby’s Palestine campaign – the division suffered 9,363 casualties during its service.
The 16th Division arrived on the Western Front in December 1915 and served with distinction in every major battle until the war’s end, suffering some 28,000 casualties in total.
On June 7th 1917, at the opening of the battle of Messines, the 16th (Irish) and 36th (Ulster) attacked the Germans side by side in a remarkable showing of Irish unity.
The 16th (Irish) Division was commanded initially by Lt. General Sir Lawrence W Parsons KCB, CB, but Maj. General William B Hickie CB took over in December 1915 as the Division embarked for France.
The Division’s Order of Battle (ORBAT):
47th Brigade:
6th Bn Royal Irish Regiment
6th Bn Connaught Rangers
7th Bn Leinster Regt
7th Bn Royal Irish Rifles
48th Brigade:
8th & 9th Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers
8th & 9th Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers
49th Brigade:
7th & 8th Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
7th & 8th Bn Royal Irish Fusiliers
The 16th (Irish) Division contained many members of the National Volunteers, which had been formed in 1913 to support Home Rule in Ireland.
The National Party leader, John Redmond MP, had encouraged them to join. The 6th Royal Irish Regiment had some 300 Volunteers from Co. Derry and the Bogside, while the 6th Connaught Rangers had around 500 men from West Belfast.
16th (Irish) Division – “Everywhere And Always Faithful”.
After the war, the Government of Ireland Act 1920 was passed to create separate devolved parliaments for Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. Northern Ireland became a self-governing part of the United Kingdom, whilst the 26 southern counties became the Irish Free State, a Dominion within the British Empire, like Canada.
This position was ratified by just seven votes in the new Irish Parliament, but Dominion status was not acceptable to the hard line Republicans led by Eamon De Valera who wanted full independence. Pro-treaty moderate nationalists, led by Michael Collins, saw Dominion status as an eventual stepping stone towards independence.
Unfortunately, the factions could not see eye to eye and a Civil War broke out from June 1922 to May 1923, which cost the lives of about 2,000 Irish citizens as well as the deaths of many policemen and British soldiers, including Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson who was assassinated in Eaton Square, London by the IRA in 1922.
Wilson’s assassins, Joe O’Sullivan and Reggie Dunne, were both veterans of the 16th Division and both had served bravely at the front, with O’Sullivan losing a leg at Ypres. Quickly arrested, both were hanged for Wilson’s murder in August.
In 1937, Ireland became an independent republic within the Commonwealth with a non-executive President. Finally, in 1949, Ireland became a completely independent nation with no ties to the Old Mother Country.