Historical Context of The Rising
Lenin believed the Rising was ‘a blow delivered against British imperialist bourgeois rule’, ‘a heroic revolt of an oppressed nation’.
Trotsky referred to ‘the heroic defenders of the Dublin barricades’ and there is little doubt that the revolutionaries of 1916 inspired the Russian Revolution of 1917.
The stage is set. The world is at war. Irish men are dying in the trenches of the Somme. On the Western Front, the Battle of Verdun is raging. Now in its third bloody stage, the French Army are fighting to stop a massive German offensive.
‘England ’s difficulty is Ireland ’s opportunity’, said Sir Roger Casement, and this was seen as being the perfect occasion for Irish rebellion.
Centuries of oppression and enforced starvation in Ireland has culminated in the terrible famines of 1845-1852. Over a million people, neglected by the British Government, starve to death, whilst many thousands more perish on the ‘coffin ships’, promising them a new life in America .
‘Gorta Mór’ or ‘The Great Hunger’ claims the lives of so many, whilst cattle continue to graze and the English grow fat off the land. A contemporary political writer, John Mitchel writes that, ‘The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine’.
History lights the flame and so a raging fire starts, in the hearts and minds of a group, including poets, writers, teachers, actors and freedom fighters…
Patrick Pearse, Joseph Plunkett, Sean MacDiarmada, Eamonn Ceannt and Tom Clarke form the Military Council of The Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1915 and when James Connolly joins forces, bringing with him the might of The Irish Citizen Army, events are seemingly falling into place.
The Rising is confirmed for Easter Sunday, 1916 and all appears well as The Aud sails from Germany , carrying a precious cargo of 20,000 rifles for the rebels. Sir Roger Casement boards the U-19 submarine at Wilmshaven, Germany for a rendezvous with The Aud at Tralee: this is never to be. Casement is discovered and arrested and The Aud is captured. The crew skuttle the cargo and the weapons are lost to the sea.
Eoin MacNeill, Chief of Staff of The Irish Volunteers, issues countermanding orders in the press to try and stop the rebellion. This reduces the number of men who will eventually turn out. The Military Council holds an emergency meeting and put The Rising off for 24 hours.
At noon on Easter Monday, a thousand men and women rise up from the streets of Dublin, ready to sacrifice everything for a glorious new Republic. The revolution begins...