1) to Investigate the Final Case Study Belfast During World War II 2) to Examine Each of the Key Concepts in This Section

Subject: Leaving Certificate History Teacher: Mr Kelly Week: Week 12 Lesson: Case Study Belfast during WW II 12.0 Learning Intentions 1) To investigate the final Case study Belfast during World War II 2) To examine each of the key Concepts in this section. 3) To investigate the Key personalities in this section 4) To plan a full Leaving Certificate question 12.1 BELFAST DURING WORLD WAR II When war broke out in September 1939, Belfast was an important city in terms of producing war materials for the British forces. The Harland & Wolf shipyard was the largest in the United Kingdom and it increased the production of warships. The Shorts Brothers & Harland aircraft factory saw a huge increase in its operations. Belfast itself was poorly protected despite being a major target for enemy attack. Whereas Glasgow had 88 anti-aircraft guns, Belfast only had 24. The city also did not have a properly developed fire brigade service. In November 1940 the German Luftwaffe sent out reconnaissance (spy) flights over Belfast that took photographs of the city, including its main factories. THE BOMBING OF BELFAST The first attack on Belfast took place on the 7 April 1941. It was carried out by 6 German bombers and resulted in 14 deaths and started 17 fires throughout the city. A week later on the night of 15 April, the Luftwaffe carried out a mass raid on Belfast. The attack involved 180 aircraft and lasted some five hours, between 11.00pm and 4.00 am. The death toll was around 900 and 600 were seriously injured. The immediate reaction of the Belfast people was to leave the city. In the aftermath of the attack around 100,000 people were left homeless 1 HELP ARRIVES FROM DUBLIN At the height of the bombing on the night of the 16th April, the Northern Ireland Minister for Security, John McDermott, sent a message to Dublin requesting assistance. De Valera decided to send assistance in the form of fire crews to Belfast. This was in strict breach of Ireland’s neutrality but received popular support from all sections of the community in the North. The raids of the 15th-16th April were followed by two further severe raids during the first week of May 1941. THE RESULTS Ø It has been estimated that 1,100 people died in Belfast. Ø Over 56,000 houses were either destroyed or damaged Ø Over £20 million worth of damage was done to property. Key Personalities John Redmond (1856- 1918) John Redmond was born in Co. Wexford in 1856. He was from a wealthy Catholic family. Redmond was opposed to using physical force for political reasons. He admired the British House of Commons and only sought limited self-government for Ireland. Redmond became leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party in 1900. After the general election in 1910 the Irish Parliamentary Party held the balance of power in the British House of Commons. Redmond succeeded in getting the Liberal Party to support Home Rule for Ireland. In 1912 the Third Home Rule Bill was passed. It was due to become law in 1914 but it was postponed because of World War One. 2 Redmond called on Irish men to join the British Army. This caused a split in the Irish Volunteers. Redmond opposed the Easter Rising but before long his Irish Parliamentary Party was being replaced by Sinn Fein. He died in 1918 before he saw his party lose most of its seats to Sinn Fein in the general election. Michael Collins (1890-1922) Michael Collins was born in Cork in 1890. He attended school and then worked as a local journalist (writing sports reviews) before moving to London at the age of 15 to work for the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). In London Collins associated with the Irish community and became keenly aware of the history of Irish nationalism. He joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1909. By 1915 he had risen though the ranks of the London branch of the IRB and was aware of the increasing tension in Dublin between the various factions of republicanism. He returned home and helped in the recruitment that was necessary before any uprising could be successful. He also joined the Gaelic League, an organisation that stressed the use of the Irish language as another means of nationalistic expression. Despite the extreme unlikelihood of any success the Easter Rising went ahead and resulted in the destruction of large part of Dublin city centre as well as the execution of the seven leaders of the revolt. This was the mistake by the British that turned the tide in favour of the insurgents for the first time. Public sympathy towards the executed men increased so much that Collins, DeValera and the remaining leaders could see that nationalism was about to peak in the country. Collins was imprisoned in Frongoch internment camp where his credentials as a leader were further recognised by his captured comrades. After his release Collins quickly rose to a high position in both Sinn Fein and the IRB and started to organise a guerrilla war against the British. He even broke DeValera out of prison in England. The War against the British continued on through 1920 and 1921 despite the introduction of the 'Black and Tans' - mercenary soldiers introduced into Ireland by Churchill. 3 The British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, eventually compromised and offered a partition of Ireland and a 'Free State'. Collins and Arthur Griffith had been sent to London as the Irish delegation because DeValera knew that the ultimate aim - independence - was not attainable. The resultant civil war that broke out between the pro-treaty and anti-treaty factions was bloody indeed but Collins defeated his former comrades-in-arms only to eventually have his own life taken in an ambush in Cork in 1922. James Craig (1871-1940) Craig was the son of a self-made whiskey millionaire. Educated privately in Edinburgh he was still expected to earn a living. At the age of 17 he was trained in menial office tasks before being apprenticed as a stockbroker in London. He then opened his own stockbroking firm in Belfast. The chance for adventure came in 1899 Craig enlisted for the British army in the Boer War. Home Rule Like many Ulster Unionists, Craig feared that a devolved Dublin parliament would be dominated by rural interests and the Catholic church and that this would prove destructive to the interests of the largely Protestant and industrial population of Ulster. Ulster Volunteers In 1914, Craig persuaded more cautious colleagues that the Ulster Volunteers - a militia formed for Unionist resistance – should be armed to give the Covenant 'teeth'. In April, thousands of rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition were smuggled into Ulster by means of the audacious 'Larne Gun Running'. If Westminster tried to impose Home Rule on Ulster Unionists, they were ready to fight for their right to remain in the Union. The creation of Northern Ireland The 1920 Government of Ireland Act was intended to establish separate Home Rule parliaments in the north and south of Ireland. To ensure a majority of Protestant voters in the north, Craig insisted that the new region should consist of only six of the nine counties of Ulster. Some saw this as a betrayal of unionists in the three mainly Catholic counties excluded, and a violation of the Ulster Covenant which had applied to all of Ulster. 4 A new parliament In May 1921 Craig campaigned in Northern Ireland's first election. He said: "Rally round me that I may shatter our enemies and their hopes of a republic flag. The Union Jack must sweep the polls. Vote early, work late." The Ulster Unionists won by a landslide. Craig was appointed the first prime minister of Northern Ireland, presiding over a parliament in Belfast. Power at Stormont Craig defended his new government against pressure from Britain and the Irish Free State (established by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921). He tried to moderate the violent anti-Catholic feelings of unionists in the critical period of Northern Ireland's birth when bitter sectarian strife raged. World War Two As WW II approached, Craig was nearing his seventies. Nonetheless, he showed no sign of retiring. Sir Wilfred Spender was Craig's cabinet secretary. Spender thought Craig was a leader whom "true friends would advise to retire" for he was "too unwell to carry on" and incapable of doing "more than one hour's constructive work" in a day. Lady Londonderry, the influential society hostess, was more forthright. She described Craig as "ga-ga". Figure of the establishment Craig was made a baronet 1918. In 1927, he was created Viscount Craigavon of Stormont in the County of Down, Northern Ireland. Death Craig died on the evening of Sunday 24 November 1940. He and his wife had listened to the six o'clock news on the radio. She popped out for a short time, leaving him with his pipe and a detective story. When she returned he was dead. He passed away in office, having won his fifth successive election as prime minister of Northern Ireland two years before. 5 William T Cosgrave (1880-1965) Born in James’s Street, Dublin and educated at Francis Street Christian Brothers School, In his youth he was a member of Sinn Féin and joined the Irish Volunteers on their formation in 1913. Cosgrave was present at the landing of the Howth rifles and served under Eamonn Ceannt at the South Dublin Union during the Rising. He was sentenced to death for his part in the insurrection but this was later reduced to life imprisonment.

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