Indépendance De L'Irlande ( étude En Anglais )

In a situtation of war against France during the Revolution and more precisely since seventeen ninety three, the british gvt measures the threat that represents Ireland, its oldest colony with 4 millions inhabitants, including 3 millions of catholic and 1 million of protestant colonist.

Humiliated and opressed for several centuries, the catholic et celtic majority of the island is ready to to go to revolution and to support a possible invader on the strength of the adage«England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity» 

But the protestants who possess ninety per cent of the lands and defend their privileges will thwart all reform attempts

The Acts of union.

The Prime minister William Pitt the younger notices with no doubts that the Dublin's corrupted Parliament and the legislative autonomy of the Island are tools which serve the oligarchy of protestant colonist. This way he obtains the Parliament's dissolution and then, on first January eigtheen o one, the implementation of the Acts of Union Passed on second July 1800 and first August eigtheen o o. The twin Acts units the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

But Pitt also wants to put an end to the discriminations which affect the catholic irishmen. He also wants them to enter the Parliament. But he is confronted to the opposition of King Georges the third and the protestant colonists and as a consequence he has to resigns from his position in march eighteen o one.

When all is said and done, in the contrary of Pitt's expectations, the acts of union will aggravate the situation of the irishmen. At Westminster parliament, irish deputies will be unpowerfull to pipe up and the british deputies will use tricks to limit civil liberites in Ireland as much as possible. Otherwise, the customs union will nip the irish industry in the bud because she is incapable to compare with the british industry.

La question religieuse

Since the break with Roma, there's no more kingdom but an « established » Church which means an official Church : it's the Anglican Church. This way the catholics irishmen have to pay the tithe, that is to say a religious tax to a Church which is hostile towards them.

The government tries to settle this religious question and proposes to the catholic clergy to benefit from this status of « established » Church ». Buton the condition that the king has a right to examine the nomination of the bishops.

Right way, a young fortunated lawyer, Daniel O'Connell, convince the bishops not to sell themselves to the government. With the strength coming from this success, he founds a catholic association et succeed in recruiting the clergy under the patriotic streamer.

O'Connell gather considerable crowds and reach to get protestants who feel favorable to the cahtolics' politic emancipation in Westminster Parliament. That is this way that, on the thirteenth april eigtheen twenty nine, those one obtaine the right to be elected as deputies.

About that, O'Connell lauchs an offensive against the tithe payed for the Anglican Churcht and leads to an acceptable compromise in eighteen thirty eight. King not crowned of Ireland, he undertakes to call back the Union, that is to say, the autonomy of ireland. l

He prepares a giant meeting in Clontarf, near to Dublin, on the eighth ocober eighteen fourty three. Three million people are expected but the government worryes about skids and preclud the event. Even O'Connell is arrested but in default of credible responsability, he is discharged shortly afterward. Abandoned by a big part of his troops, he leaves the political stage and dies on the fifteenth mai eighteen fourty seven, at the age of seventy-two, during a pilgrimage to Roma.

Young Ireland sets a flag

Some romantic Irish of different religions come together in eighteen fourty two for the emancipation of their island, if necessary by violence. They exalt and revivify the Gaelic culture and the memory of Saints and Heroes.

On the fifteenth of the same year, the "Young Irishmen" create a tricolor flag : green to represent Catholics, orange for Protestants and white to signify hope for a permanent truce between the two communities! This will be the flag of Republican Ireland.

The Great Famine

A disaster silences for a time the political demands : the Great Famine . The island became one of the most densely populated country in Europe with nearly 9 million inhabitants. The peasant majority fed mainly on potatoes , reserving the grains and meat for export. A mysterious illness strikes the tuber from eighteen fourty five to eighteen fourty nine. It is the blight of potato , caused by a tiny mushroom. It is also called blight or plague potato .

The English government of Robert Peel imports U.S. corn to feed the Irishmen and vote ​​the abolition of tariffs

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