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The War Of The Great War

Decent Essays

Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, sentiments of nationalism in Ireland were growing rapidly. For nearly thirty years debates about Home Rule in Ireland were prevalent in Parliamentary discourse and over the course of these year, three different bills were proposed. However, in 1912, the third Home Rule bill was passed in Westminster, only to be suspended upon British entrance into the First World War. Irish members of Parliament that had been pushing for Home Rule for many years finally saw their plans come to fruition, only to be stalled by the outbreak of the Great War. This war was costly, and required significant support from the United Kingdom and it’s respective colonies. The actions of the British government helped to fuel radical nationalist attitudes across Ireland, which led to the eventual Easter Revolution in Dublin in 1916. The suspension of Home Rule and the increased sentiments of radical nationalism in Ireland that led to this revolution were just the tipping point in the nearly century long struggle for sovereignty that was granted to the Republic of Ireland in 1922. This essay seeks to explore the significance of British entrance into World War One in provoking the Easter Insurrection of 1916, as well as outside factors that may have impacted this violent clash of Irish nationalists and the army of England. Within the paper, an argument is presented which states that while the British, in entering the Great War did contribute to

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