Easter Rising 1916. Easter Rising of the Irish people. A group of prisoners at Richmond Barracks

3. The mood in Germany in 1916 Peace proposal December 12, 1916 A complete, documentary and systematic history of all the attempts of the German government to get out of the war, which has not yet been written since the collapse of the Schlieffen plan, i.e., from mid-September 1914 ( By

Anglo-Irish Agreement

The Anglo-Irish Agreement Perhaps under the influence of this assassination attempt, Margaret Thatcher again turned to the Irish question. In 1985, she entered into an important agreement with Fitzgerald. The Anglo-Irish Agreement provided for joint consultations on such

Dublin Rising 1916

Part one Erroneous actions (1916) Preface The “Introduction to Psychoanalysis” offered to the reader’s attention does not in any way pretend to compete with existing works in this field of science (Hitschmann. Freuds Neurosenlehre. 2 Aufl., 1913; Pfister. Die psychoanalytische Methode, 1913; Leo Kaplan. Grundz?ge

Part Two Dreams (1916)

Part Two Dreams (1916)

CHAPTER II. UPRISING OF THE KYRGYZ IN 1916. CHRONICLE OF EVENTS

CHAPTER II. UPRISING OF THE KYRGYZ IN 1916. CHRONICLE OF EVENTS “History is a witness to the past, an example and teaching for the present, a warning for the future.” Cervantes Saavedra Miguel de. (1547–1616) - world famous Spanish writer In the last five years, on the eve of 100

The goal was to declare Irish independence from Britain. Some of the leaders of the uprising also wanted to place Joachim, Prince of Prussia, a representative of the German Empire at war with the British, on the royal throne of Ireland, although in the end the Irish Republic was proclaimed by the rebels. At the same time, one of the leaders of the uprising, Sir Roger Casement, maintained contacts with the German government and counted on military support from the Central Powers, as well as the help of the Irish in German captivity.
Irish rebel leaders

Among those opposed to the uprising was Owen McNeill, chief of staff of the Irish Volunteers (ID). His main argument was the lack of sufficient weapons in the hands of potential freedom fighters. He believed that as long as Britain did not try to forcibly disarm them or, conversely, involve them in hostilities on the continent, it would not be advisable for the Irish Volunteers to enter into open confrontation.
Eventually, Pearse and other Volunteer leaders, along with Connolly and his Irish Citizen Army, decided to revolt on Sunday 23 April 1916, under the cover of the ID's long-planned maneuvers for that day. McNeill was not privy to their plans. He was informed only on Thursday, and at first he agreed, his decision being influenced by the encouraging news of the arrival of a transport from Germany with weapons for the rebels. But after the good news came the discouraging news of the arrest of Sir Casement and the loss of all the precious cargo.
Sir Roger Casement

German weapons intercepted by the British for the Irish rebels

McNeill, by his order, canceled the maneuvers and, in an address to the Volunteers throughout the country, declared that there would be no uprising. But it was already too late.
With the exception of Plunkett, who was in hospital, the remaining members of the War Council (Pearce, Connolly, Clarke, MacDiarmad, Kent and MacDonagh) met at Liberty Hall on Easter Day to discuss the situation after the loss of a shipment of weapons (the weapons intended for the rebels had gone to the bottom at Don's Rock), the arrest of Casement and Sean McDermott. They decided not to cancel the uprising, but to postpone it until Monday afternoon to contact the majority of volunteers throughout the country and inform them that the Uprising had begun. Most of the IRA members, about 1,000 Irish Volunteers and many members of the Women's League (led by Countess Markievicz), gathered outside Liberty Hall at noon on Easter Monday.
Field kitchen during the Easter Rising. Women sit in a room, peel potatoes and cook them in a large saucepan on the stove. Countess Markevich, leader of the Women's League, stirs the brew in a saucepan. The Countess was sentenced to life imprisonment.

They removed from the premises all the weapons, ammunition, homemade bombs and grenades that were stored there. At noon they left the building to occupy pre-designated sites. Liberty Hall was empty, but the British, believing the building to be a rebel stronghold, fired on it on Wednesday.

Fireplace in Liberty Hall, Dublin. Here the soldiers found documents containing evidence of Sinn Fein's terrorist plans in London to organize bacteriological warfare.

British troops occupied Professor Hayes's house. This professor developed typhus bacilli to contaminate milk intended for military and police officers.

After leaving Liberty Hall, the rebels split into groups and moved towards pre-designated targets to be captured. Pearce and Connolly, absolutely clearly realizing what a hopeless cause they had started, led their supporters and marched along the main street of Dublin (Sackville Street - for loyal citizens, O Connell Street - for true patriots), reached the General Post Office (GPO ) and barricaded themselves there.
The Post Office building before the Easter Rising

The post office on Sackville Street, which became the headquarters of the rebels.

Then they sent to Liberty Hall for a flag; After some time the package was delivered. Wrapped in brown paper was a green flag with a gold harp and the words “Irish Republic” in gold, and another, tricolor, green, white and orange.

They both hovered over the General Post Office as, at 12:04 p.m., Pierce read the Declaration to a bewildered crowd of onlookers gathered in the square in front of the building:
"The Irish and Irishwomen!
In the name of the Lord and past generations..."
A group of rebels who seized the Post Office

When Piers had finished, a beaming Connolly grabbed his arm and began shaking him vigorously. The crowd responded with lukewarm applause and discordant cheers; in general, Pierce's statement on behalf of the Provisional Government of the newly created Republic was greeted without enthusiasm. No cheers, nothing resembling the excitement that gripped the crowd in France before the storming of the Bastille.
Two volunteers in the Post Office building during the uprising

The Irish, who had gathered on the day off in front of the Post Office, simply listened, shrugged their shoulders in bewilderment, chuckled, looked around in anticipation of the police... The young people distributed copies of the Declaration to everyone, one copy was placed at the foot of Nelson's Column. Gradually, the onlookers began to disperse, someone came closer to Nelson, someone's attention was attracted by the unusual flags on the roof of the Post Office (green - on the left, above the corner of Princes Street, tricolor - on the right, above the corner of Henry Street), someone was generally bored with everything this is an action, they just turned around and wandered off about their business...
The destroyed Post Office, where the rebels settled. The troops were forced to use artillery, May 1916.

A detachment of British military personnel, which appeared some time later on Sackville Street and tried to nip the rebellion in the bud, was driven back by the fire of the insurgents.
The Post Office building after the defeat of the uprising

The army command chose the Post Office as its main target; no other rebel fortification was subjected to attacks and bombings of such power. As a result of the shelling, the entire Sackville Street block adjacent to the Post Office was destroyed, and a fire started in the building itself.
Destruction in the Post Office area

Crowd of onlookers near the ruins of the Post Office after the suppression of the uprising

Sackville Street, after the suppression of the Easter Rising.

Devastation on Sackville Street, May 1916

About 2,500 English troops were stationed in Dublin, and on the day of the uprising, Monday, the officers went, for example, on the run, and in the whole city there were only about 400 soldiers under arms, guarding four barracks. The British military was completely unprepared for the uprising, and its response on the first day was generally uncoordinated.
Spears used by rebels

The first delegation sent against the rebels, cavalrymen, who were ordered by the commander to gallop along Sackville Street straight towards the GPO, were shot in cold blood, four were killed, then a column of infantry returning from training was caught, with guns, but without cartridges - five killed. In the afternoon, British reinforcements began to arrive in the city, gathered from wherever they had to, the first arrived from Athlone and Ulster, on Wednesday two infantry brigades sent by sea appeared, pleasantly surprised that the Dublin inhabitants greeted them with enthusiasm, bringing them tea, pies, biscuits, even chocolate and fruit, “so you could have breakfast ten times if you wanted.”
Barrel barricade created by British soldiers during the Easter Rising

One group of rebels attacked the Magazine Fort in Phoenix Park and disarmed the guards in order to seize weapons and want to blow up the building as a signal that the uprising had begun. They planted explosives but were unable to take possession of the weapons.
Another group of Citizen Army soldiers entered Dublin Castle unopposed. But instead of occupying this strategic point and symbol of British rule, the fighters left the castle as unprotected as it was before their arrival, but captured a nearby confectionery factory. What made them do this is unknown; perhaps the absence of any serious resistance and the ease with which they managed to penetrate the stronghold, they regarded as a trap, although they shot the sentry policeman and soldiers in the guardhouse. The rebels occupied Dublin City Hall and surrounding buildings. They were also unable to capture Trinity College, located in the city center and defended by only a handful of armed students.
One of the leaders of the Rebellion, Eamon de Valera

Another detachment of the Citizen Army under the leadership of Michael Mullin and a group of women and boy scouts from the Warriors of Ireland under the command of Countess Markievicz occupied St. Stephens Green and the College of Surgeons (St. Stephens Green Park, College of Surgeons). Lawns, flower beds, fountains - all this contrasted sharply with what was happening... The rebels, in order not to attract attention to themselves, entered the park in small groups of two or three people through eight different entrances. After the walking public was removed from the park, the Civil Army soldiers began digging trenches, and Countess Markevich's detachment began organizing a medical aid station for the wounded (who were expected in large numbers).
Countess Markevich


Edward Dale's men, under the command of Lieutenant Joseph McGuinness, captured the Four Courts, the stronghold of Irish justice and justice. Twenty rebels approached the entrance from Chancery Place, demanded the keys from the policeman on duty there, and took control of the building.
4 Courts Building

The 1st Battalion of the Dublin Brigade, led by Commander Edward Daly, occupied this building, and adjacent streets on the north bank of the River Liffey, a mile west of the General Post Office.
Commander Edward Dale.

This was a strategically important part of the city, since from here it was possible to control all movements between the military barracks in the west of the city and the Post Office.
Rebels at an improvised barricade near 4 Courts, assembled from furniture, May 1916.

Improvised barricade near the 4 Courts building

The 1st Battalion was involved in the most brutal battle of the Rebellion. The first skirmish occurred at noon on Monday when the Volunteers overpowered the British Lancers escorting trucks loaded with ammunition.
A detachment of cavalrymen in the area of ​​4 ships. 1916

On Wednesday the Volunteers captured two enemy points in the area between the prison and the barracks. By Thursday the area was tightly surrounded by the South Staffordshire and Sherwood Regiments. A fierce battle took place at the north end of King Street, where many civilians were killed.
The building of the 4 Courts during the uprising. 1916

They held him for six days, after which they managed to get out of the encirclement and escape.
The building of the 4 Courts after the fighting during the uprising

On 24 April 1916, the 4th Dublin Irish Volunteers, led by Eamonn Kent, captured several buildings in the South Dublin Union area, a distillery on Marrowbone Lane, and Watkin's Brewery, located two miles from the post office, and held them for weeks Eamonn Kent's right-hand man was Cathal Brugha, who was seriously wounded in street fighting and later became famous during the War of Independence.
The site was built as a forced labor camp in the mid-nineteenth century; in 1916 it housed a hospital with approximately 3,200 beds, with a large staff of doctors, nurses and support workers. Under such circumstances, his choice to use the building as a citadel was unacceptable. Nurse Margaret Keogh was accidentally shot dead during the battle. Having received news of the capitulation of the defenders of the Post Office, the headquarters of the rebels, Thomas MacDonagh, who was holding the Jacobs confectionery factory, made his way to the South Dublin Union to Eamonn Kennt, and, having come to the conclusion that the situation was hopeless, they jointly decided to surrender. Eamonn Kennt was sentenced to death by a military tribunal. sentenced to death and executed on 8 May 1916 at Kilmainham Gaol.
Commander Kennt

Second-in-command Cathal Brugha

At least two incidents occurred, on Jacobs and Stephen Green, in which insurgents shot and killed civilians attempting to attack them or dismantle their barricades.
The only significant fighting of the first day of the rising took place in South Dublin, where a picket of the Royal Irish Regiment clashed with Eamonn Kent's outpost in the north-west corner of South Dublin. The British troops, after suffering some casualties, managed to regroup and make several attacks on the position before they were able to break in and force the small rebel force to surrender. However, this part of the city as a whole remained in rebel hands.
Three men from the unarmed London Police in Dublin were killed on the first day of the rising, and the Commissioner removed them from the streets. Partly as a result of the withdrawal of police from the streets, there was a wave of looting in the city center, especially in the O'Connell Street area. A total of 425 people were arrested after the uprising for looting.
Searching for valuables in the ruins of the Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland, May 1916.

A “gunboat”, converted from the fishing vessel “Helga”, equipped with cannons and ascended the Liffey, also took part in the suppression; note the qualifications of the gunners who placed shells along a mortar trajectory directly into the GPO building. The post office, engulfed in fire, had to be abandoned. On Saturday afternoon, Pearce and Connolly officially capitulated, several commanders held out until Sunday, the last snipers and activists until Thursday.
Destroyed post office

There was little strategic feat on either side: some Irish garrisons sat in their assigned positions all week without ever getting a chance to fire, and the British Army suffered heavy casualties trying to pass a crossroads defended by 19 rebels—almost half of its total casualties.
A British improvised Guinness armored car built to suppress the Easter Rising in Dublin, April 1916.

Another detachment of the Citizen Army under the leadership of Michael Mullin and a group of women and boy scouts from the Warriors of Ireland under the command of Countess Markievicz occupied St. Stephens Green and the College of Surgeons (St. Stephens Green Park, College of Surgeons).
Fighting on the streets of Dublin

Lawns, flower beds, fountains - all this contrasted sharply with what was happening... The rebels, in order not to attract attention to themselves, entered the park in small groups of two or three people through eight different entrances. After the walking public was removed from the park, the Civil Army soldiers began digging trenches, and Countess Markevich's detachment began organizing a medical aid station for the wounded (who were expected in large numbers).
British Medical Service officers in Dublin

To strengthen the defense of the park, Mullin stationed several riflemen in nearby buildings, a very commendable forethought, except for one thing: for unknown reasons, he ignored the Shelburne Hotel, a kind of commanding height on the north side of St. Stephen's Green. What the rebels did not occupy on the first day of the uprising, the British took on the second. A hundred riflemen positioned themselves in the building and began to fire accurately at the rebels in the park. After a three-hour battle, Michael Mullin gave the order to retreat to the College of Surgeons.
Destroyed tram used by rebels as barricades

Very soon the predictions of opponents of the uprising began to come true. The authorities recovered from the shock caused by the actions of the rebels and tried to take control of the situation. The rebels had to be confronted by the Royal Irish Police and the regular British army.
Imposition of martial law in Dublin and surrounding areas

The failures with Dublin Castle and Trinity College greatly complicated the position of the rebels, limiting the possibilities of interaction and communication between individual groups, and the mobility that was so necessary when fighting in urban environments was lost. The lack of support for the Dublin uprising in other parts of the country led to the fact that in a matter of hours powerful reinforcements were drawn to Dublin, and if the balance of forces on Monday was approximately 3:1, then by Wednesday it was 10:1, naturally not in favor of the rebels.
Announcement by the British Administration in Dublin

Twenty thousand British soldiers surrounded the city. However, both the police and the army met unexpected and fierce resistance. The freedom fighters fought with true Irish determination and courage: on Wednesday at the Mount Street Bridge, De Valera with twelve men repelled attacks from two battalions of the British army for nine hours.
Devastation on Princes Street, Dublin. Cars, bicycles, etc. were confiscated from warehouses and used in the construction of barricades

The main events (the capture and defense of a number of key buildings) took place in Dublin, and smaller scale skirmishes also took place in other counties. In Galway, a group of insurgents tried to capture the city center, but were dispersed by artillery fire from a gunboat; several detachments operated successfully in rural areas.
Clearing the ruins after the Easter Rising

The last rebels laid down their arms the following Sunday. The rebellion was unpopular among the Irish, and there was great indignation at the murder and destruction caused by its organizers; When the participants sentenced to exile were led through the city to the harbor to be sent to Wales, the Dubliners threw stones at the escorted participants in the uprising, spat and knocked over chamber pots, shouting “shooting them is not enough!”
Arrested volunteers are taken to prison

The uprising was crushed after seven days of fighting. Proclaiming himself in Dublin as the head of the Irish state, the teacher and poet, leader of the Irish Volunteers, Patrick Pearse, was captured and executed (May 3) by a tribunal, as were his brother William and 14 other leaders of the uprising (left-wing commander of the Citizen Army James Connolly, McBride, McDonagh, etc.).
Commandant Sean McLachlin, one of the leaders of the rebellion. Killed during the suppression of the rebellion

Sir Roger Casement was stripped of his knighthood and hanged for treason in London.
One of the leaders of the Irish Republican Party (Sinn Fein), Michael Collins, was arrested at his home in Dublin.

The British government decided that only the leaders would be punished, and in ten days 15 deemed to be such were shot.
Irish Easter Rising. The room in Dublin Castle where some Sinn Féin leaders were shot. Photograph 1920

Connolly lost his leg and was shot in his chair.
Irish union leader James Connolly

Countess Markievicz was arrested near the Royal College of Surgeons

Countess Markovic in temporary prison

A group of prisoners at Richmond Barracks

Wounded volunteers at Dublin Castle

Joseph Plunkett with his brothers in custody

However, the reprisal of the leaders of the uprising made martyrs out of them, then followed the story of an attempt to legislate conscription into the British army, which was met with strong opposition from citizens, and in the next elections the nationalists achieved great success. The Easter Rising is considered to be the prologue to the Anglo-Irish War of 1920-22.
Panorama of destroyed Dublin

Destruction in Dublin

British patrols on the streets of Dublin

British soldiers in the ruins of the Public House on Bridge Street in Dublin, which was burnt down by militants, May 1916.

British soldiers in Dublin searching for caches of weapons and ammunition after the Easter Rising
British soldiers search cars

Ulster Volunteers

Funeral of nine British soldiers killed during the uprising.

Part of the text

The results of 1915 on the fronts of the First World War for the Entente, and in particular for Britain, could not even be called comforting.

The New Year didn't start any better. On January 9, the evacuation of the last military units from the Gallipoli Peninsula was completed: the operation, which cost Britain almost one hundred and twenty thousand casualties in killed, wounded and missing, ended in nothing. In Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), a detachment under the command of Fenton Eimler, going to the aid of General Charles Townsend, besieged in the city of Kut el-Amara, was defeated and was forced to retreat. Left without help and supplies, Townsend's corps was starving, and things were heading towards surrender, which followed on April 29: let's note, looking ahead, that on the same day the leader of the Easter Rising, Patrick Henry Pierce, ordered the rebels to capitulate.

On the Western Front, the German offensive near Verdun began at the end of February, which developed into one of the largest battles of the First World War.

The submarine war continued in the Atlantic, posing a serious threat to sea communications. Only on April 18, an ultimatum from Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, soon accepted by Germany, gave almost a year's respite to Allied merchant ships.

However, in the empire itself, things were quite calm. The only Boer rebellion in a year and a half occurred in distant South Africa, did not receive much support from the local population and was suppressed to a large extent by the Boers themselves, many of whom had recently fought against British troops.

And here's some unexpected news. Riot. Armed uprisings are not somewhere in the colonies, but in the Kingdom itself. The rebels control Dublin and declare independence. There is information about their support from Germany.

British soldiers behind a barricade of barrels

To begin with, this news could only appear unexpected to a very unenlightened eye.

Relations between Ireland and Britain go back many centuries, and for the vast majority of that time they were far from smooth. Back in 1171, the Lordship of Ireland was formed, occupying a relatively small part of the island, but laying claim to the whole. The Lord of Ireland turned out to be, as you might guess, the English king. And already in 1315, a serious attempt was made to free ourselves from English power in an alliance with the Scots, which ended in 1318 with defeat in the Battle of Foghart Hills.

In 1541, instead of the Lordship, the Kingdom of Ireland was proclaimed. The English king again becomes the king of Ireland. At the same time, the Reformation took place in England, adding a religious background to national strife. The Irish, unlike the English, remain Catholics.

In 1641, a major uprising took place, lasting almost nine years and eventually suppressed by Oliver Cromwell with his usual cruelty. The population of the island is almost halved in ten years, and land ownership is mostly transferred to Protestant colonists arriving on the island.

Another century and a half later, in 1798, the next major uprising took place, also suppressed by English forces. Two years after the suppression of the uprising, the English Parliament passes the Act of Union. The Kingdom of Ireland becomes part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The King of the United Kingdom, of course, remains the King of England. Despite the proud name, in fact Ireland was a colony, its parliament was abolished, its resources were exported to the mother country with completely insufficient compensation. From this moment on, emigration became a noticeable phenomenon, lasting more than a century and a half.

In 1845, a late blight epidemic caused a famine in Ireland that lasted four years. The British government tried to take measures against famine, but, as often happens, they turned out to be both insufficient and too late. Epidemics of typhus and cholera were added to the famine, and emigration increased tenfold. It is believed that Ireland lost more than one and a half million people during the famine. It is noteworthy that all this time Ireland remained a food exporter, and meat exports even increased.

After the famine, emigration continued, although on a smaller scale, and Ireland's population continued to decline. If in 1841 there were 8.178 million people living in Ireland, then in 1901 the census showed only 4.459 million. But in other countries, primarily in the USA, the Irish diaspora expanded and strengthened, while maintaining numerous ties with their homeland. And if in Ireland itself the ideas of independence covered a fairly wide circle of the population, they were no less popular abroad: emigrants and their direct descendants were not going to forget why and by whom they found themselves overseas. Numerous organizations were created with the goal of supporting the independence movement or even direct action against the British authorities. The most famous was the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood (IRB), which raised several uprisings in 1867 and, after their defeat, switched to terrorist practices. Its members adopted the name Fenians after characters from ancient Celtic legends. In Ireland itself, there were both cultural nationalist organizations, for example the Gaelic League and the Gaelic Athletic Association, and armed formations created under the slogans of “ensuring the security and support of the rights of the people of Ireland”: the Irish Volunteers, the Irish Citizen Army and others. It is believed that they were the direct predecessors of the infamous Irish Republican Army.

The political struggle did not stop: supporters of independence tried to achieve the adoption of a bill on home rule (home rule) in the English parliament, but the law was defeated twice, and the third consideration was postponed due to the outbreak of the war.

With such ambiguous historical baggage, Ireland entered the First World War as part of the United Kingdom.

Immediately after the war began, the IRB council decided that the time had come. It was decided to raise an uprising in any case until the end of the war and at the same time use any assistance Germany would agree to provide. The preparations are entrusted to Thomas James Clarke, a former member of the Fenian Brotherhood who spent fifteen years in prison for attempting to blow up London Bridge in 1883, and Sean McDermott, an active nationalist and editor of the newspaper Irish Freedom. Retired British diplomat Roger Casement travels to Germany in a roundabout way through Norway and conducts a series of negotiations to support the upcoming uprising with weapons and military specialists.

Meanwhile, immediately after the outbreak of war, the Irish Volunteers, the main fighting force of the proposed rebellion, were divided. Most came out in support of Britain until the end of the war, and many went to the front. The minority remained faithful to the idea of ​​rebellion at the first convenient moment and began to actively prepare.

Rebel Banner

The headquarters of the proposed uprising were:

• Patrick Henry Pearse, poet and playwright, member of the IRB and Gaelic League;
• Joseph Mary Plunkett, poet and journalist, one of the founders of the Irish Esperanto League;
• Thomas McDonagh, poet, playwright and educator, founder of the Irish Review magazine and one of the founders of the Irish Theater on Hardwick Street.

Somewhat later, Eamon Kent, an Irish teacher and founder of the Dublin Bagpipe Club, joined.

It was these people, as well as Thomas Clarke, Sean McDermott and the leader of the Irish Citizen Army, James Connolly, a leader of the labor movement and Marxist theorist, who signed the “Proclamation establishing the Irish Republic”, the text of which was read to the volunteers on April 24 at the beginning of the uprising.

Proclamation establishing the Irish Republic

The preparations for the uprising were not thorough or logical. There was no unity among Irish leaders on most issues: when to rebel, under what conditions to rebel, not to mention whether it was necessary to rebel at all. There weren't enough weapons. There were not enough, and this is putting it mildly, military specialists. Many men capable of bearing arms were located quite far from Ireland: in the trenches on the continent. As the target date, April 23, approached, there was no clarity. Casement managed to knock out a transport of weapons from the German government: 20,000 rifles, ten machine guns and a million rounds of ammunition were sent on the Liebau ship, disguised as the Norwegian ship Aud Norge. On April 20, the ship arrived at Tralee Bay in County Kerry in the southwest of Ireland and found no one there who could take the cargo, since the ship's meeting date was postponed by two days, unfortunately, without finding a way to notify the ship. On April 21, the ship was discovered by the patrol ship Bluebell, escorted to the port of Cork in the county of the same name (according to other sources, to Queenstown, present-day Cove) and scuttled there by the crew. It is curious that the rifles that made up the ship's cargo were Russian three-line rifles captured by Germany at Tannenberg. Now examples of these rifles can be seen in several British and Irish museums.

HMS Bluebell, the minesweeper that intercepted the Leebau transport carrying weapons for the rebels

Roger Casement himself arrived in Ireland on the German submarine U-19 on April 21 and, unable to go anywhere due to illness, was arrested almost on the same day on charges of treason, espionage and sabotage.

The founder and formal leader of the Irish Volunteers, historian Eon MacNeil, believed that in order to succeed it was necessary to first gain mass popular support. But the uprising headquarters simply confronted him with a fact. Within a week, MacNeil changed his attitude towards the uprising twice, and in the end, having learned about the seizure of a transport with weapons, he issued an order to the Irish Volunteers: all events scheduled for Sunday, April 23, were canceled, everyone should stay at home. This order, however, did not cancel the uprising, which turned out to be postponed to Monday, but it confused the volunteers, as a result of which the overwhelming majority of them did not take part in the uprising.

On the morning of April 24, in the center of Dublin, about one thousand six hundred armed people began to occupy key points in the city. The post office fell first. A green banner was raised over the post office, the Proclamation establishing the Irish Republic was read, and the headquarters of the uprising was established there. In addition to the post office, the building of the Four Courts was occupied - the seat of the Supreme Court itself, the High Court, the Dublin Circuit and the Central Criminal Courts; the biscuit factory, Dublin City Hall, the poorhouse, Boland's Mill and St. Stephen's Green. The attempt to take Dublin Castle and Trinity College failed, despite, as they say, extremely weak security. On Monday, the first skirmishes with British troops occurred: it seems that the British could not realize that the rebels were serious, and suffered losses, simply coming under fire while trying to understand what was happening.

Volunteers in the post office building

It should be noted that, despite the information available to the authorities about the preparation of the uprising, about the seizure of transport with weapons, the arrest of Casement, all these rather formidable signs were not taken seriously, so much so that on the day the uprising began, most of the officers went to the races, and some of the soldiers left the barracks for out-of-town training without taking ammunition.

On Monday, three police officers were killed, as well as several civilians who tried to stop the rioters.

Martial law was declared in Ireland as of Tuesday. Brigadier William Lowe arrived in Dublin on Tuesday morning with a force of 1,269 men and recaptured City Hall. Troops and artillery were drawn up to the city, and the ship Helga, a fishing vessel converted into a patrol vessel and armed with two three-inch guns, approached the Liffey River. On the morning of Wednesday, April 26, artillery shelling began on the main rebel positions and attempts to storm positions in the area of ​​Mount Street, the poorhouse and Notre King Street near the Four Courts Building. All of them were repulsed by the rebels with great tenacity and casualties on the part of the British troops.

Field kitchen of the rebels. At the cauldron is Countess Markevich, leader of the Women's League. Sentenced to life imprisonment

The blockade of the city and artillery shelling forced the leadership of the uprising to admit the hopelessness of their situation. On Saturday afternoon, Patrick Pearse signed the instrument of surrender accepted by Brigadier General Lowe. The following is the text of the document: “In order to prevent further killings of the citizens of Dublin and in the hope of saving the lives of our followers, now hopelessly surrounded by superior troops, the members of the Provisional Government agree to unconditional surrender. Commanders in other Dublin districts and counties must order their troops to lay down their arms."

Destruction in the post office building after artillery shelling

Outside Dublin, most branches of the Irish Volunteers obeyed MacNeil's orders and did not participate in the protests. There were some disturbances in several places; In Ashbourne (County Meath), police barracks and two villages were captured, after which the rebels settled into camp and remained until the surrender.

British casualties were 116 killed and 368 wounded, with nine missing. Sixteen policemen were killed and twenty-nine were injured. Rebels and civilians, for the most part, were not separated from each other during the count, 18 people were killed and 2,217 were injured. Most of these losses are attributed to civilians after the fact.

After the capitulation, as expected, trials and executions followed. From the third to the twelfth of May, 15 people were shot, among whom were all seven signers of the Proclamation. About one and a half thousand people were sent to camps in England and Wales. On August 3, Roger Casement was hanged at Pentonville Prison, despite the intercession of a number of cultural figures, including Conan Doyle and Bernard Shaw.

Despite the fact that at first Dubliners generally reacted rather coolly to the rebels, over time, and largely under the impression of repression, their opinion changed. And if the Dubliners saw off the captured rebels with curses: which is generally quite understandable, they staged an uprising in the midst of a war in which, by the way, their fellow citizens were fighting; they killed a bunch of people, destroyed half the city - then after a few months the general mood turned out to be more on the side of the rebels.

A number of unpopular measures by the British authorities, in particular the attempt to introduce conscription service in Ireland, which led to the so-called conscription crisis of 1918, aggravated the situation, and on January 21, 1919, 73 Irish members of the English Parliament declared themselves the Irish Parliament, and Ireland an independent republic. The Irish War of Independence began, during which much of the goals proclaimed by the leaders of the Easter Rising were achieved.

Now the day the uprising began is considered a national holiday in Ireland; annual ceremonies and military parades are held in Dublin. Officials including the President and Prime Minister attend the ceremonies.

Throughout centuries of British rule in Ireland, the Irish liberation movement was built on the basic principle: Britain's agony is Ireland's chance. With Britain's entry into the First World War, a split began within the IRB.

Some believed that the right moment had come for a new attack: the empire was mired for a long time in the most terrible war in the entire history of mankind, millions had already died, millions more were yet to die in this bloody massacre, the economic situation was rapidly deteriorating and trust in the government was also rapidly declining, throughout In Ireland, one after another, new and new recruitments are taking place, which by no means add to the popularity of the authorities. Erofeev N.A. Essays on the history of England. 1815-1917. M., 1959.p., 201

From the point of view of others, on the contrary, the country was not ready for the uprising, too many Irish went to fight in France, and in relation to them it would be a kind of betrayal. Khmelevskaya Yu.Yu. British Army 1914-1917 From the euphoria of patriotism to the psychology of the great war // From the British history of modern and contemporary times. Chelyabinsk, 1992. p., 55

During the war years, the plans of the Irish bourgeoisie to significantly strengthen and expand national industry with the help of the state suffered a complete collapse. Irish orders from the British War and Navy Ministries were almost entirely localized in the North-East of the country, in Protestant Ulster. The financial robbery of Ireland through excessive taxation has increased significantly. According to data from Irish national circles, in 1916 alone, 8 million pounds sterling was siphoned out of the country in this way, and in 1917 this amount increased to 15 million pounds sterling. In the context of the growing state-monopoly tendency, the English ruling circles increasingly used the state as the main instrument of colonial robbery of the neighboring island. By the end of the war, the British government took control of essentially all industry and transport (by regulating the volume of industrial products in a number of industries and their prices, new capital investments, the supply of equipment, raw materials, etc.). [Saprykin Yu.M. History of Ireland, M.: 1980, chapter X] During this period, the direct takeover of Irish companies and firms by British monopolies began.

The war accelerated the maturation of the preconditions for the national liberation movement, which had been taking shape in Ireland since the beginning of the 20th century. It showed especially clearly that the continued preservation of imperialist rule in the country comes into increasing conflict with the needs and requirements of the young Irish national capitalism and the entire Irish people.

Thus, from the turn of the century until the first years of the World War, all the prerequisites were created for strengthening the national liberation movement in Ireland.

Easter Sunday national liberation uprising (April 24-30, 1916) against the rule of British imperialism; also known as the Easter Week Uprising.

The starting point of the new upsurge of the national liberation movement was the Irish uprising of late April 1916, popularly known as the “Red” or “Bloody Easter”. The idea of ​​the uprising was nurtured in national revolutionary circles close to the neo-Fenian Irish Republican Brotherhood, and it was carried out under its auspices. The main striking force was to be the Irish Volunteers (a part of the former National Volunteers that broke away in 1914, after the outbreak of the World War, and refused to support British imperialism) and the Citizen Army, the Red Guard of Irish workers. It numbered several hundred people and was created by J. Connolly during the general strike of 1913-1914. to protect strikers from the arbitrariness of the authorities. [Saprykin Yu.M. History of Ireland, M.: 1980, chapter X]

According to the plans of the political leaders and main military leaders of the Dublin uprising, Padraig Pearce and J. Connolly, the rebels were supposed to serve as a signal for an uprising on the periphery. [map of the uprising - see Appendix No. 1. Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969--1978.] The leaders of the uprising believed that the example of the rebels would lead to a nationwide explosion and, in conditions when the main armed forces of England were shackled on the fronts of the world war, to the liberation of the country from colonial slavery. On April 24, 1916, the first day of the uprising, the Prime Minister of the government created by the rebels and the commander-in-chief of their forces, P. Pearce, announced the creation of an independent Irish Republic. His deputy and commander of the Dublin rebel units was J. Connolly.

The main document of the uprising, the Republican Declaration, bourgeois-democratic in nature, was addressed to the entire Irish people and was intended to contribute to the creation of a nationwide, anti-imperialist coalition. The Declaration was the fruit of an alliance between the radical democratic wing of the national liberation movement and the vanguard of Irish workers. Its authors, Pierce and Connolly, called the people to arms in the name of their right to “unlimitedly and completely own their country and control its destinies.” They promised the Irish the fullness of democratic freedoms, happiness and prosperity for the entire nation. [Kolpakov A.D.. Red Easter, M.: 1966, p. 70]

The plans of the rebels were not destined to come true. At the last moment, the official leadership of the Irish Volunteers refused to support the idea of ​​an uprising. As a result, out of a total number of 15-18 thousand people, a little more than 1 thousand people took part in the hostilities. Despite this, the rebels in Dublin fought heroically for a week (from 24 to 30 April) against vastly superior enemy forces. After the defeat of the uprising, the surrendering leaders were brutally shot by British punitive forces. Several thousand people were thrown into concentration camps. Violence and terror reigned in the country. “I will forever discourage the Irish from rebelling,” said the commander of the British punitive forces in Ireland, General J. Maxwell. [Saprykin Yu.M. History of Ireland, M.: 1980, chapter X] Mass repressions against figures of the national liberation movement continued in subsequent years.

The uprising of 1916 occurred at a time when a revolutionary situation had not yet developed in Ireland, and therefore, apart from several relatively weak outbreaks on the periphery, the uprising was localized in Dublin and did not take on a mass character. In addition to Dublin, performances took place in a dozen other localities in the south and west. In Galway, a group of insurgents tried to capture the city center, but were dispersed by artillery fire from a gunboat; several detachments operated successfully in rural areas.

Nevertheless, the Irish uprising of 1916 played a special role in the preparation of the national liberation revolution; After its suppression, the revolutionary process continued to develop steadily, capturing ever wider masses of the people. [Remerova O.I. Irish uprising of 1916, L.: 1954 p.43]

The uprising of 1916 was a powerful impulse to strengthen the process of consolidation of the Irish nation, a factor in the rapid growth of national self-awareness. The example of the heroes of 1916 significantly radicalized the broad masses, forcing even moderate elements to reckon with the possibility of a forced transition to more decisive forms of struggle. The previously unnoticed Sinn Fein, which had been reduced in the first war years to a small group of Griffiths' closest like-minded people and friends, suddenly took on a new, unprecedented life. Tens and hundreds of thousands of people flocked to the banners of this organization, for which the British created a kind of advertising by unjustifiably declaring the uprising the work of Sinn Fein. Already in 1917, there were 1.2 thousand (but according to other sources 2 thousand) local branches of Sinn Fein operating in the cities and rural districts of Ireland. 250,300 thousand people considered themselves to be among them. The Home Rulers' policy of "full cooperation and unification of the military efforts of Ireland and England" proved to be completely untenable.

The massacre of the leaders of the uprising made martyrs out of them, then followed the story of an attempt to legislate conscription into the British army, which was met with strong opposition from citizens, and in the next elections the nationalists achieved great success. The Easter Rising is considered to be the prologue to the Anglo-Irish War. [Remerova O.I. Irish uprising of 1916, L.: 1954 p.37]

The Irish nationalist uprising in April 1916, otherwise known as the Irish Easter Rising, posed a threat to Britain on its own home front. The Easter Rising is considered the prologue to the Anglo-Irish War. It was thanks to him that the nationalists achieved great success in the next elections.