Northern Ireland: From Civil Rights to Armed Struggle

Abstract

At the time of the First World War, the Irish fought the first national-liberation war of the twentieth century. The negotiations which brought a truce between the British and a moderate faction of nationalist leaders prefigured the neocolonial settlements which have dominated much of the political life of the Third World since the Second World War. Ireland was divided in two. Formal independence was granted to twenty-six counties of Eire, although foreign control over key investment sectors tended to nullify the meaning of this independence. The remaining six counties were denied to the nationalists. They were reconstituted as the province of Northern Ireland, which remained intact within the United Kingdom. The only substantial industry within Ireland was located in the provincial capital, Belfast. The socialists within the national liberation movement had always recognized that meaningful industrial development in the republic could not proceed without control of Belfast, just as there was little prospect of socialist ideas gaining hegemony in the national liberation struggle without the adherence of the industrial workers of Belfast.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.