Irish Nationalism, Unionism, and British Imperialism in the Shaping of Irish Independence, 1909-1922
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Unsettled Island: Irish Nationalism, Unionism, and British Imperialism in the Shaping of Irish Independence, 1909-1922 Michael Christopher Rast A Thesis In the Department of History Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada January 2017 © Michael Christopher Rast, 2017 ABSTRACT Unsettled Island: Irish Nationalism, Unionism, and British Imperialism in the Shaping of Irish Independence, 1909-1922 Michael Christopher Rast, Ph.D. Concordia University, 2017 This dissertation analyzes the convoluted process by which Irish nationalists, Irish unionists, and British politicians negotiated Irish self-government in the first two decades of the twentieth century. In December 1909, a modest form of self-government known as home rule within the British Empire for all of Ireland became a practical issue in United Kingdom politics again, after the failure of two previous home rule bills in 1886 and 1893. After a decade that witnessed a world war and a revolution in Ireland, two new Irish polities emerged by June 1922. Northern Ireland, a majority-unionist state comprised of six counties in the province of Ulster, acquired a limited form of home rule within the United Kingdom. Covering the rest of the island, the Irish Free State secured significant control of its domestic affairs as a dominion of the British Empire, though not the complete independence demanded by Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which had waged the revolution. How did the main political parties and actors in Britain and Ireland arrive at this settlement, especially as it was so different from how elites had envisioned Irish self-government in 1909? Using archival material and public discourse, this dissertation seeks to answer this question by methodically analyzing the political decisions taken by British and Irish political parties and movements between 1909 and 1922. It challenges historical conceptions that the settlement enacted by the Government of Ireland Act (1920) and the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) was an inevitable evolution in Anglo-Irish relations, that it marks the British government’s recognition of the Irish right to self-determination, or the triumph of Irish democracy. Instead, I argue that the settlement was highly contingent upon prevailing political circumstances, heavily influenced by British interests, and often defied the democratic demands of Irish people, both nationalist and unionist. Partition, the separation of Ireland into two different states, was achieved through the acquiescence of British politicians to the demands of Ulster unionist leaders, without reference to public opinion in any part of Ireland. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of numerous organizations and individuals. First, I would like to thank Concordia University’s Department of History and School of Canadian Irish Studies for their support and for providing a vibrant intellectual community in which I have been privileged to work. My advisor, Dr. Gavin Foster, deserves particular mention for his encouragement, historiographical knowledge, and careful editing throughout the writing process. I would also like to thank the members of my committee: Dr. Ted McCormick, Dr. Gavin Taylor, Dr. Gearóid Ó hAllmhuráin, Dr. Stephen Yeager, and Dr. Sean Farrell of Northern Illinois University. The archivists and staff of each of the facilities in which I have conducted research were instrumental to this project, including: the National Library of Ireland, National Archives of Ireland, Irish Military Archive, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, Public Record Office Northern Ireland, Linenhall Library, British Library, the National Archives (Kew), the Parliamentary Archive, and the New York Public Library. In addition, the staffs of the Concordia University libraries and the Public Libraries of Albany, New York, were crucial to helping me procure material. My previous academic training was crucial to this project, and I would like to thank the History Departments at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and Georgia State University for their generous help during my previous degree programs. My advisors, Dr. Arthur Knoll and Dr. Charles Perry at Sewanee, and Dr. Ian Fletcher at Georgia State, were instrumental in helping me to reach this point in my career. I would like to thank my friends at Concordia for giving me advice of all kinds during my doctoral program. Finally, this dissertation would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of my family: Mike, Jeanne, Lisa, Stuart, and Natalie. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins also deserve thanks, but they are too numerous to list. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...1 Background………………………………………………………………………………..1 Irish Settlements and Democracy…………………………………………………………6 Arguments………………………………………………………………………………..11 Cultural Identity and Politics in Britain and Ireland……………………………………..17 CHAPTER 1, “THE HOLLOWEST POLITICAL CANT:” BRITISH PARTIES, HOME RULE, AND THE PARLIAMENT ACT, DEC. 1909- JULY-1911…………………………………….23 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………23 Asquith’s Government and Home Rule………………………………………………….25 Reactions to Asquith’s Home Rule Stance………………………………………………31 Liberals, Nationalists, and the Lords…………………………………………………….36 The British Parties Attempt to Compromise……………………………………………..41 Home Rule Resistance, Religion, and Separate Treatment for Ulster…………………...50 The Parliament Act Passed………………………………………………………………58 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………60 CHAPTER 2, “PREPARED TO MAKE GREAT SACRIFICES:” REACTIONS TO THE HOME RULE BILL, JULY 1911-DECEMBER 1912………………………………..................62 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………62 Ulster Unionists and Mr. Churchill………………………………………………………64 Debating the Third Home Rule Bill……………………………………………………...70 Unionist Arguments against Home Rule………………………………………………...82 The Ulster Covenant and Volunteers…………………………………………………….92 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………99 CHAPTER 3, “A SETTLEMENT NOBODY WANTS:” EXCLUSION GAINS GROUND, 1913-1914…………....................................................................................................................101 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..101 v Averting Civil War……………………………………………………………………..104 Negotiations: Asquith and the Unionists……………………………………………….114 Negotiations: Asquith and the Irish Nationalists……………………………………….122 The Army in Politics……………………………………………………………………128 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………..138 CHAPTER 4, HOME RULE DURING A WORLD WAR: THE LLOYD GEORGE PROPOSALS AND THE IRISH CONVENTION, 1916-1918………………………………..140 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..140 Lloyd George’s Proposals………………………………………………………………143 Party Approval and Cabinet Disapproval………………………………………………148 New Government and New Ideas………………………………………………………156 Irish Parties and the Convention………………………………………………………..160 The Irish Convention…………………………………………………………………...166 Southern Unionists Split………………………………………………………………..174 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………..177 CHAPTER 5, “RICKETY PARLIAMENTS:” DOMINION HOME RULE AND THE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND ACT, 1919-JULY 1921……………………………………..179 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..179 Ulster Unionists and the Government of Ireland Bill…………………………………..181 Dominion Status: Ideas, Organizations, and Limitations………………………………192 Seeking Peace with Sinn Féin…………………………………………………………..203 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………..216 CHAPTER 6, “TERRIBLE FINALITY:” THE TREATY, THE CONSTITUTION, AND THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION…………………………………………………………………219 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..219 External Association and the July 20 Proposals………………………………………..221 Treaty Negotiations I: Establishing Positions…………………………………………..227 Treaty Negotiations II: Northern Ireland and the British Unionists……………………231 vi Planning for Failure…………………………………………………………………….239 Finalizing the Treaty……………………………………………………………………243 The Free State Constitution…………………………………………………………….248 The Boundary Commission…………………………………………………………….251 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………..259 POSTSCRIPT: WAS THE ANGLO-IRISH TREATY A POPULAR SETTLEMENT?...........261 Irish Free State………………………………………………………………………….261 Northern Nationalists…………………………………………………………………...264 Northern Unionists……………………………………………………………………...268 Britain…………………………………………………………………………………..271 Consequences of the Settlement………………………………………………………..273 CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………………………………….276 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………280 vii INTRODUCTION Background At the beginning of December 1909, Ireland was an integral part of the United Kingdom. Since 1801, the island’s elected representatives had sat in the House of Commons at Westminster, while Irish peers sat in the House of Lords. Many Irishmen served in the British Army or in positions within the imperial civil service, acting as administrators in other parts of the Empire, such as India and Egypt. But by 1922 there were two parliaments in Ireland. The Irish Free State was constituted as a dominion within the British Empire, governing twenty-six of the island’s thirty-two counties. Northern Ireland, comprising the remaining six counties in the northeast of the island, remained an integral part of the United Kingdom but had its own local parliament. In 1912, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George spoke against an amendment that would administratively