The Conscription Crisis of 1918 (Ireland) stemmed from a move by the Government of the United Kingdom to impose conscription in Ireland, and contributed to pivotal events in early 20th century politics in Ireland, galvanising popular support for parties favouring devolution from the United Kingdom. The Houses of Parliament, seen over Westminster Bridge The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has parliamentary sovereignty). ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Devolution or home rule is the granting of powers from central government to government at regional or local level. ...

Background

From early 1918 the British Army were dangerously short on troops for the Western Front. In the Spring Offensive of 1918, German troops began a bombardment along a forty mile front in France, with an advantage in numbers of four to one. 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... For most of World War I, Allied and German Forces were stalled at trenches on the Western Front. ... World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machine guns, and poison gas. ...

In addressing this challenge, the British Government turned to conscription in Ireland, as an untapped reservoir of manpower for the battlefields. Despite opposition from the entire Irish Party, conscription for Ireland was voted through at Westminster. In 1882 Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, formed the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), replacing the Home Rule League, as a parliamentary party with strict rules. ... The Palace of Westminster, known also as the Houses of Parliament, is where the two Houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (the House of Lords and the House of Commons) conduct their sittings. ...

Though large numbers of Irish men had willingly joined up, the likelihood of enforced conscription created a backlash (partly as the Bill made no concession to the expedition of Home Rule in Ireland), and The Irish Party walked out of Westminster in protest and returned to Ireland to organise opposition. Devolution or Home rule is the pooling of powers from central government to government at regional or local level. ...

The Conferences and pledge

6 of the 9 Anti-Conscription Committee members (left to right, top to bottom) Griffith, deValera, Devlin, W O'Brien, Egan, Healy (Not pictured Johnson, WX O'Brien, Dillon)

On April 18, 1918, acting on a resolution of Dublin Corporation, the Lord Mayor of Dublin (Lawrence O'Neill) held a conference at the Mansion House, Dublin. The Irish Anti-Conscription Committee was convened to devise plans to resist conscription, and represented different sections of nationalist opinion: John Dillon and Joseph Devlin for the Irish Parliamentary Party, Eamon de Valera and Arthur Griffith for Sinn Féin, Timothy Michael Healy and William O'Brien for the home rule movement and Michael Egan, Thomas Johnson and W X O'Brien representing Labour and the Trade Unions. Arthur Griffith (Árt Ó Gríofa in Irish) (March 31, 1871 – August 12, 1922) was the founder and first leader of Sinn Féin. ... Éamon de Valera (born Edward George de Valera, sometimes Gaelicised Éamonn de Bhailéara; October 14, 1882 – August 29, 1975), was an Irish politician, best known as a leader of Irelands struggle for independence from the United Kingdom in the early 20th Century, and the Republican anti-Treaty opposition... Joseph (Joe) Devlin (1872-1934) was an influential Nationalist politician and (MP. Born in Hamill Street, Belfast, Wee Joe was a journalist with the Irish News before becoming an MP for West Belfast through the first two decades of the 20th century, on the Home Rule and Irish Parliamentary Party... William OBrien (2 October 1852–25 February 1928) was an Irish journalist, writer and politician, particularly associated with campaigns for land reform in Ireland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ... Michael Egan (Feb 1866-Mar 1947) was a trade unionist, city councillor, and Teachta Dála for Cork. ... Timothy Michael Healy Timothy Michael Healy, KC (May 17, 1855–March 26, 1931) was one of the most brilliant and most controversial of Irish politicians, with a career that spanned the period from Charles Stewart Parnells leadership of the Irish Parliamentary Party in the 1880s to the foundation of... There have been several people named Thomas Johnson. ... William X. OBrien (1881-1968) was an influential Teachta Dála and trade unionist in Ireland. ... John Dillon (September 4, 1851 - August 4, 1927) was an Irish nationalist politician. ... April 18 is the 108th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (109th in leap years). ... Dublin Corporation is the former name given to the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin between the twelfth century and 1 January 2002. ... The Mansion House The Lord Mayor of Dublin is the symbolic head of the city government in the capital of Ireland. ... The Mansion House on Dawson Street, Dublin, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin and has been since 1715. ... John Dillon (September 4, 1851 - August 4, 1927) was an Irish nationalist politician. ... In 1882 Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, formed the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), replacing the Home Rule League, as a parliamentary party with strict rules. ... Éamon de Valera (born Edward George de Valera, sometimes Gaelicised Éamonn de Bhailéara; October 14, 1882 – August 29, 1975), was an Irish politician, best known as a leader of Irelands struggle for independence from the United Kingdom in the early 20th Century, and the Republican anti-Treaty opposition... Arthur Griffith (Árt Ó Gríofa in Irish) (March 31, 1871 – August 12, 1922) was the founder and first leader of Sinn Féin. ... The name Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish), which means ourselves or we ourselves (not as sometimes incorrectly translated, ourselves alone or we alone) has been applied to a series of political movements since 1905 in Ireland, each of which claims or claimed sole descent from the original... Timothy Michael Healy Timothy Michael Healy, KC (May 17, 1855–March 26, 1931) was one of the most brilliant and most controversial of Irish politicians, with a career that spanned the period from Charles Stewart Parnells leadership of the Irish Parliamentary Party in the 1880s to the foundation of... William OBrien (2 October 1852–25 February 1928) was an Irish journalist, writer and politician, particularly associated with campaigns for land reform in Ireland during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ... Devolution or Home rule is the pooling of powers from central government to government at regional or local level. ... Michael Egan (Feb 1866-Mar 1947) was a trade unionist, city councillor, and Teachta Dála for Cork. ... This article is about Thomas Johnson the Irish politician. ... William X. OBrien (1881-1968) was an influential Teachta Dála and trade unionist in Ireland. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers...

On the evening of the 18th April (the same day), the Catholic bishops were holding their annual meeting at Maynooth (with a similar agenda, to deliver a "Statement on Conscription") and they met a delegation from the Mansion House Conference. For other uses, see Bishop (disambiguation). ... Maynooth (Maigh Nuad in Irish) is a town located in County Kildare, Ireland. ...

From both assemblies came an anti-conscription pledge to be taken at the church door of every parish the next Sunday, April 21, which read: "Denying the right of the British government to enforce compulsory service in this country, we pledge ourselves solemnly to one another to resist conscription by the most effective means at our disposal." A church building (or simply church) is a building used in Christian worship. ... A parish is a type of administrative subdivision. ...

Strikes and other actions in Ireland

Following their representation at the Mansion House, the labour movement made its own immediate and distinctive contribution to the anti-conscription campaign. A general strike was called in protest, and on April 23 1918, work was stopped in railways, docks, factories, mills, theatres, cinemas, trams, public services, shipyards, newspapers, shops, and even Government munitions factories. The strike was described as "complete and entire, an unprecedented event outside the continental countries". A general strike is a strike action by an entire labour force in a city, region or country. ... A Filling Factory was a munitions factory which specialised in filling various munitions, such as bombs, shells, cartridges, screening smokes, etc. ... Continental Europe refers to the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands and peninsulae. ...

In the following weeks, anti-conscription rallies were held nation wide, with 15,000 people attending a meeting in County Roscommon at the start of May. John Dillon, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party and Eamon de Valera of Sinn Féin shared the platform in a united cause. This in its self is notable as, while sharing nationalist views, Dillon and de Valera's parties had here-to-fore been divided in opinion as to the best means for devolution from the UK, and would subsequently be divided by the Anglo-Irish Treaty. However, all were galvanised to collective action on the conscription issue. This page is about protests. ... County Roscommon (Ros Comáin in Irish) is a county located in central Ireland. ... Signature page of the Anglo-Irish Treaty The Anglo-Irish Treaty, officially called the Articles of association between Ireland and the British Empire, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom and representatives of the (extra-judicial) Irish Republic which concluded the Anglo-Irish War. ...

Immediately following, Dublin's Lord Mayor, Laurence O'Neill, in a letter to the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson called for support against conscription: In the fourth year of a war ostensibly begun for the defence of small nations, a law conscribing the manhood of Ireland has been passed, in defiance of the wishes of our people. .... To warrant the coercive statue, no recourse was had to the electorate of Britain, much less to that in Ireland. Yet the measure was forced through within a week, despite the votes of Irish representatives and under a system of closure never applied to the debates, which established conscription for Great Britain on a milder basis. The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. ... Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States (1913–1921). ...

The "plot" and other reactions

Dillon on platform during Roscommon anti-conscription rally in 1918

Nervous of growing unrest, and still with dire need to progress conscription in Ireland, Lloyd George's government undertook several initiatives to quell the backlash. John Dillon (September 4, 1851 - August 4, 1927) was an Irish nationalist politician. ... The Right Honourable David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor, OM, PC (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was a British statesman and the last Liberal to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...

As Sinn Féin were publicly perceived to be key instigators of anti-government and anti-conscription feeling, the viceroy Lord French, claiming evidence of a treasonable plot between Sinn Fein and the Germans, arrested seventy-three Sinn Fein leaders, including Griffith and de Valera, during the course of one night in May. This heavy-handed response by the Dublin Castle authorities did little to diffuse the situation however. (In fact, a lack of evidence meant the "German plot" was little believed in the UK, Ireland or the US, and aggravated opinion and Sinn Fein support.) The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (also known as the Viceroy or in the Middle Ages as the Lord Deputy) was the head of Englands (pre-1707) or Britains (post 1707) administration in Ireland. ... John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres (September 28, 1852–May 22, 1925) was a British soldier and Field Marshal, the first commander of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in World War I. Lord French of Ypres Born in Ripple Vale, Kent. ... [[the building to the right. ...

Simultaneously a more subtle effort (and possibly with more potential for success) was undertaken from the offices of Lord Northcliffe under the Minister of Information. The "Hay Plan" was conceived by Stuart Hay - a British Army Captain - who was under orders to establish a proposal to work around widespread anti-conscription feeling and persuade Irish Nationalists to join the French army (initially as labourers in specialised battalions). Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe The Right Honourable Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (July 15, 1865, Dublin - August 14, 1922, London) was an influential and successful newspaper owner. ... The Minister of Information is a British government position that was created briefly during the First World War and again during the Second World War. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... In military terminology, a battalion consists of two to six companies typically commanded by a lieutenant colonel. ...

Hay's plan relied on the power of the Catholic church in Ireland (and empathy among Irish catholics for German occupation of Catholic Belgium and France), to sway opinion: if the church were definitely or even in a large measure converted and the support it has given to disloyal elements be not taken away but thrown on to the other side in the controversy [the conscription crisis], much would be done for the future of the peace in Ireland. The Roman Catholic Church believes its founding was based on Jesus appointment of Saint Peter as the primary church leader, later Bishop of Rome. ...

The plan simply called for a letter (drafted by Hay, and approved by Edward Shortt) to be sent by the French Primate to the Irish bishops, requesting that they soften their opposition to conscription to aid the war effort in France. Edward Shortt KC (March 10, 1862 - November 10, 1935) was a British politician, who served as a member of David Lloyd Georges cabinet. ... Primate (from the Latin Primus, first) is a title or rank bestowed on some bishops in certain Christian churches. ...

Despite some progress in August in persuading Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Logue through these means, the "Hay Plan" was delayed (and ultimately stymied) by complications in diplomatic channels and by political rivalries. Primate of All Ireland is the title held by the Archbishop of Armagh. ... Michael Cardinal Logue (1 October 1840 - 19 November 1924) was Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland from 1887 to 1924. ...

As a result, recruitment efforts through September and October continued to have very limited success, and by the armistice in November (effectively marking the end of WWI) conscription remaining unimplemented in Ireland.

After effects

Completely ineffectual as a means to bolster battalions in France, the events surrounding the Conscription Crisis were also disastrous for the Dublin Castle authorities, and for the more moderate nationalist parties in Ireland.

The delay in finding a resolution to the home rule issue, partly caused by the war, and exaggerated by the Conscription Crisis in Ireland, increased support for Sinn Féin.

Sinn Féin association (in the public perception at least) with the 1916 Easter Rising and the anti-conscription movement directly and indirectly led to their landslide victory over (and effective elimination of) the Irish Parliamentary Party, the formation of the first Dáil Eireann and in turn to the outbreak of the Anglo-Irish War in 1919. (See: Aftermath of World War I - United Kingdom and Irish (UK) general election, 1918). 1916 (MCMXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January-February January 1 -The first successful blood transfusion using blood that had been stored and cooled. ... The Easter Rising (Irish: Éirí Amach na Cásca) was a militarily unsuccessful rebellion staged in Ireland against British rule on Easter Monday in April 1916. ... Dáil Éireann[1] is the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland. ... An Irish War of Independence memorial in Dublin The Anglo-Irish War (also known as the Irish War of Independence) was a guerrilla campaign mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army under the proclaimed legitimacy of the First Dáil, the extra-legal Irish parliament... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Woodrow Wilson and the American peace commissioners during the negotiations on the Treaty of Versailles. ... The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election that took place in Ireland. ...

Notes

It should be noted that the bulk of opposition to the Great War in Ireland was to compulsory conscription, not to the war nor to voluntary enlistment in the British Army. In fact, many Irish supported the war and Irish involvement.

Support and enlistment was more prominent amongst Irish unionist and Protestant traditions, however, nationalist and Catholic enlistment was also common as the war was seen to be fought in defence of smaller Catholic countries (like occupied Belgium). In this cause, those who would later become detractors of conscription (including John Dillon, William O'Brien and the Catholic bishops) were prominent on recruitment platforms at the outbreak of the war. In the context of Irish politics, Unionists are people in Northern Ireland, who wish to see the continuation of the Act of Union 1800, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which Northern Ireland, created in that latter Act, remains part of the United Kingdom of Great... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

In all, approaching 200,000* Irishmen served with British forces during the Great War, and, of the 680,000 fatalities from Britain, some 40,000* were from Ireland. (* Sources differ slightly on the number of Irish who served with allied forces, and on the number of dead. Averages are used here).

Contemporaneous quotes

W.B. Yeats in Dublin on January 24, 1908. ... Lord Haldane Richard Burdon Sanderson Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane, (July 30, 1856 - August 19, 1928), was an important British Liberal politician, lawyer, and philosopher. ... A photograph of Lady Gregory from her 1913 book Our Irish Theatre Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (15 March 1852–22 May 1932), née Isabella Augusta Persse, was an Irish dramatist and folklorist. ...

See also

• 1918 in Ireland (for dates and timeline)
• History of Ireland 1916-1922
• Conscription crisis
• Conscription and Conscription in Ireland
• Edward Shortt (Chief Secretary for Ireland at time and supporter of the Hay Plan)
• David Lloyd George (Prime Minister of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland at time)
• Aftermath of World War I - United Kingdom

The History of Ireland is the story of a large island at the north-west of Europe and is heavily influenced by the concurrent History of Britain, its larger neighbour to the east. ... A conscription crisis is a public dispute about a policy of conscription, or mandatory service in the military. ... Conscription is the involuntary requirement of a government that certain of its citizens serve in the armed forces. ... Edward Shortt KC (March 10, 1862 - November 10, 1935) was a British politician, who served as a member of David Lloyd Georges cabinet. ... The Chief Secretary was the most important position for determining British policy in Ireland after the Lord Lieutenant, and was frequently a cabinet level position in the 19th and early twentieth centuries. ... The Right Honourable David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor, OM, PC (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was a British statesman and the last Liberal to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ... In the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister is the head of government, exercising many of the executive functions nominally vested in the Sovereign, who is head of state. ... The Union Flag, in its modern form, was first adopted in 1801. ... Woodrow Wilson and the American peace commissioners during the negotiations on the Treaty of Versailles. ...

References and external links

• Letters and Leaders of my Day T. M. Healy, K. C. (Anti-Conscription council delegate and Governor-General of the Irish Free State)
• The Hay Plan & Conscription In Ireland During WW1 Dave Hennessy
• Ireland and the Great War ISBN 0521773237 Keith Jeffery Cambridge University Press, 2000
• Dublin and the Great War
• BBC article highlighting pre- and post-war Irish attitudes to participation of Irish in Great War