The Pugnacious Irish: The History of the IRA

 

The Irish Republican Army is one of the most formidable terrorist groups in the history of Europe. And maybe the most formidable.

In this article, we decided to give the most complete and objective picture of the activities of this organization for almost a century of its existence.

It's always difficult to be the first.

The tradition of Irish guerrilla warfare against the English invaders can be traced back to the time of Richard II's campaigns on the island (1394-1399). The 17th century witnessed the destruction of several large British armies by partisan detachments, although later it all ended with the "reconquest" of the country by Cromwell and the subsequent genocide of the Irish. At the same time, Anglo-Scottish settlers, Protestants by religion, went to the island in large numbers, and they have yet to play a role in our history. After that, the Irish guerrilla movement was no longer successful, and three more fruitless attempts to throw off the British yoke followed until 1916. The "Easter Rising" of 1916, of course, was also unsuccessful (the leaders were arrested and shot, almost 3,000 rebels and sympathizing civilians were killed or injured during the uprising) and would have remained in history as a poorly planned rebellion, but its non-military consequences proved much more disastrous for British rule in Ireland.

It became clear to all Irish nationalists, from the far left to the far right, that the reason for their defeats was the lack of national unity, which was so necessary for independence. So, by October 1917, all more or less significant Irish political organizations (opposed to Britain) had consolidated under the auspices of the Sinn Fein Party (irl. "we ourselves"), which had existed since 1905. The party carried out a number of very successful and relevant actions for the Irish population (such as disrupting the introduction of conscription in Ireland) and won the 1918 parliamentary elections in Ireland with a crushing score. In the homeland of King Arthur and parliamentary democracy, the desire of the Irish people to gain independence was understood, but not accepted, and it was obvious that no one would just let Ireland go. It should be understood here that Britain recently lost slightly less than a million people in the First World War (or, as they said then, the "Great War"), and the Irish nationalists' ties with the Germans were not particularly hidden, so Westminster was very skeptical about the intentions of the Irish nationalists to disconnect. The Sinn Fein leaders understood that the British needed to be provoked into a military solution to the conflict (for the simple reason that the Irish would never have achieved independence peacefully), and in January 1919 they announced the creation of the Republic of Ireland, launching an armed struggle against the British administration. But tactics have undergone huge changes this time. In 1916, the Irish, having seen enough of what was happening in Europe, concluded that "they can also act like grown—up nations," and decided to act like a regular army - to seize administrative buildings, telegraphs, and mail. The only problem is that they did not have the resources (including human resources) and skills to keep them, while the British had their huge empire the size of a quarter of the globe. It was impossible to hope for outside support: at the beginning of the 17th century, the Habsburgs were expected, in 1798 — Napoleon, in 1916 — the Kaiser, but in the end no one came. So the leadership of the Irish nationalists decided to make life as unbearable as possible for the British authorities.

The Irish militants, who had already formed themselves as the IRA (by 1920, the official number was 100,000 people, 15,000 active participants, and only 3,000 militants were constantly "under the gun"), killed police officers and their informants, abducted and killed British officials, destroyed administrative buildings, prevented taxes from being collected, and staged sabotage against British troops. They did not act as a "conventional" army and, due to the sincere support of the population, they always had the opportunity to dissolve among civilians. This, of course, caused even more anger on the part of the British: during the 18 months of the conflict, British security forces carried out 38,720 raids, arrested 4,982 suspects, organized 1,604 armed attacks on places where IRA militants congregated and killed 77 civilians (including women and children).

Faced with the paramilitary movement, the smart British created their own paramilitary detachments of "black-piebald" (English "blackandtans"), who engaged in acts of intimidation and terror against overt or covert supporters of Irish independence. They did it pretty well, by the way.: there were almost only veterans of the First World War, their morale was strong, and the hatred of Irish "rebels and cowards" (Irish rebels mostly avoided conscription) was very high.

The IRA was greatly helped by the fact that many of its groups were semi-autonomous, and even after achieving some local successes, it was simply impossible to crush the entire movement — the Republicans had achieved that Britain was already at war with the whole country, and there was no end in sight to this conflict. The British had to leave, the only question was on what terms the retreat would take place. As is usually the case, the conditions were set by the British. In 1921, the leaders of the Irish nationalists and the British government agreed to transform most of Ireland into a dominion within the framework of the British Commonwealth (like Canada or Australia), that is, the country received greater autonomy. Northern Ireland, where a large number of the Anglo-Scottish Protestant population lived, eventually remained with Britain. The treaty caused a split in the Republican movement, and a small civil war broke out in the new "country" (the Irish waited for real full independence until 1949), during which many heroes of the War of independence were killed, and even the first head (semi)Independent Ireland, Michael Collins. One can, of course, speculate about the English footprint, but the reason for the civil war was not far-fetched: there were deep contradictions between those who had enough of a "tit in their hand" (broad autonomy and in the prospect of independence while giving up part of the territory), and those who wanted to catch a "crane in the sky" (full and final independence). The point of view of the former corresponds to the film "Michael Collins" with Liam Neeson, the point of view of the latter is "The Wind that shakes the heather". In any case, Collins and the "moderates" received military aid from Britain to fight the radicals.

The Northern Question

After the treaty and the civil war, the IRA split into a number of different groups, which makes no sense to discuss, because they also easily returned to the "parent" organization over time. In the period 1920-1940, relations between the IRA and the "home" Irish government went from friendly (there were many former militants in the new government) to hostile, as the group demanded the final expulsion of the British and the unification of Ireland. Cooperation with the Germans during World War II only complicated the position of the IRA, and through the joint efforts of London and Dublin (forced to obey the British on key issues and, moreover, afraid of competition from such a respected organization) The IRA was driven deep underground — many went to prison, and the most violent were killed. But it was impossible to completely destroy them: they had too deep roots in society, enjoyed the support of the majority of the population, and overwhelmed almost all crime. In the early 1950s, everything changed: Britain ceased to be a hegemon, ceding its position to the United States (where there is a huge Irish diaspora), and Ireland became a truly independent country. For the new generation of people governing Ireland, the ideas of irredentism and revolutionary struggle no longer looked so attractive, but they did not dare to stand in the way of the IRA: the risk of being known as "Windsor titties" was too great. Well, before my eyes there was an eloquent example of Michael Collins, a real titan who was not forgiven for "moderation". Therefore, at the same time, a consensus emerged: Dublin looks at the activity of the IRA in Northern Ireland through its fingers, and the IRA does not dispute the supremacy of the central government in Ireland itself (although they staged a couple of terrorist attacks in Ireland during the war in Northern Ireland). Having gone through restructuring, the IRA harassed the British with shootings and provocations on the border with Northern Ireland during the second half of the 1960s. Back in the early 1940s, for such audacity, the British would have staged an air raid on Dublin, but times were already different, such a thing would no longer be tolerated in the world. The number of people killed in these clashes was only 17, and 32 others were injured — one could say that "the IRA is no longer the same," but this "border campaign" had a decisive impact on the minds of those living in Northern Ireland. And it wasn't easy there anyway. Back in the early 1920s, riots and terrorist attacks took place in the north of the country along ethno-confessional lines: the Anglo-Scottish Protestant half opposed the Irish Catholic half (note: from now on, we will call the former Protestants, the latter Catholics). As you may remember, Britain retained the north, so Protestants tacitly became the "master race" in this region, while Catholics turned out to be something like Russians in Central Asia (a crude but understandable comparison).

By the end of the 1960s, the Catholic civil rights movement had developed in Northern Ireland. What did they demand? The reform of the police (which was 100% Protestant), the end of discrimination in employment (all businesses and all positions in government were in the hands of Protestants), the elimination of electoral restrictions (in Northern Ireland, only homeowners could vote, that is, in fact, only Protestant Unionists had the right to vote compared to Catholics, + the complicated electoral system prevented Catholic nationalists from winning even in those districts where they had a majority), the repeal of the Special Powers Act (which allowed anyone to be detained and imprisoned without trial, that is, in local conditions they were Catholics and Republicans). Clashes between the two communities and minor terrorist attacks continued throughout the second half of the 1960s, but everything was "within the bounds of decency." Finally, on January 30, 1972, a peaceful demonstration of Catholic civil rights marchers was shot dead by British soldiers in Derry, killing 13 people and wounding 14 others. This marked the beginning of a multi-year civil war between Protestants and Catholics. The Catholics had an "Official IRA," a "Provisional IRA," and a dozen other groups. The Protestants had the Ulster Volunteer Forces, the Ulster Defense Association, and a dozen other groups. There is no point in discussing the differences between them.: They often "divorced" and "merged" back together throughout the conflict. And the main marker here was not belonging to a group (although membership gave access to money, weapons, and connections), but a denomination/nationality/neighborhood. The tension in the region was enormous, there were areas where Protestants could not enter without the risk of being abducted or killed, and the same areas were for Catholics. One terrorist attack provoked pogroms and murders, which provoked new pogroms and murders, which provoked new terrorist attacks. Some groups declared a truce, others violated it, so the slaughter did not stop. You can't even name any particularly important dates here: there were very bad days (9 soldiers and 20 civilians were killed) and moderately bad days (fewer were killed and fewer were injured). The worst year was 1972, when 500 people were killed. But every day there were terrorist attacks and clashes, which caused thousands of injuries.

The IRA had a specific political goal ("The British are out, Catholics are free to return to Ireland in the future"), but they did not take concrete steps to transform from urban guerrillas into a new state (as their ancestors did in the period 1919-1921) (although they demanded the status of political prisoners in prison). However, in July 1972, an IRA delegation arrived in London for secret talks, where they demanded the complete withdrawal of British troops from Northern Ireland, but the British did not agree, and two days later the IRA canceled the truce announced in June. It is important to note here that in Catholic areas, the IRA and its affiliated groups have become the local administration. Nothing happened in these areas without their knowledge, and even the military tried not to go there (because snipers and grenade launchers were always waiting for them on the roofs). They held court locally, blessed weddings, and kept order (in their own way). Remembering the centuries-old experience of the Irish people's armed struggle, they did not get involved in open battles (like storming buildings), engaging in pure terrorism, which in urban conditions turns the life of any regular army into hell. Of the 3,531 killed during the conflict, more than half were civilians. Although it is impossible to say with certainty which of them participated or did not participate in the actions of many groups and an unknown number of individuals. A typical situation in Northern Ireland: a guy drove Catholic militants to a military action for money and out of fear of them — five years later, Protestant militants (or relatives of the victims) identified him and blew up his car when he was driving his children to kindergarten. Was he a "civilian" or not? In order to save citizens from each other, the authorities have built "peace lines" — huge walls between Catholic and Protestant areas. They are still standing. Of all the murders and injuries in the period 1972-1998, 60% were committed by Catholics, 30% by Protestants, and only 10% by the British army. Yes, the whole crazy and disorderly civil war was also overlaid by the intervention of the British army and the London government.

In theory, a separate article could be written about this, but we will try to briefly describe the main stages: from 1972 to 1975, the army ignored Protestant activity and was mainly engaged in pressure on Catholics, which led to an escalation of the conflict; from 1976 to 1982, Northern Ireland was governed directly from London and the army clashed almost every day. with ambushes and terrorist attacks; 1982-1988 was the most difficult period in purely military terms, but fruitful in political terms (the Anglo-Irish cooperation agreement in 1985, which allowed establishing a dialogue with Catholics); 1989-1998 — political bargaining, marred by constant terrorist attacks against civilians (but the number of attacks against the military has sharply decreased). Finally, in 1998, everything ended with the Good Friday Agreement, according to which almost all the demands of Catholics were fulfilled, most of the militants were amnestied and both sides received a proportionate representation (of the 1.7 million population, 60% were Protestants, 40% Catholics) in the government of the region. At the moment, the first minister of Northern Ireland is unionist Peter Robinson, and his deputy is former IRA member and Sinn Fein member Martin McGuinness (who served time in prison for his Republican adventures). At first, the Unionists grumbled that "they were sold to terrorists," but since they always focused on London (and London told them to disarm), they calmed down relatively easily. It was more difficult with Catholics: they delayed disarmament (some until 2010), and some groups of up to 5 people still remain. And this is not a "radical minority", on the contrary, these are umbrella organizations, under the auspices of which the old IRA fighters will reconvene if necessary. All the active fighters have moved to "ordinary" Ireland, where they are engaged in smuggling, arms trafficking and commercial exploitation of cultural identity (no kidding, all sorts of folklore clubs and cultural tourism for Americans are directly or indirectly linked to IRA activists). Everything seems to be calm in Northern Ireland, but tensions between Catholic and Protestant areas have not gone away. Every six months, something unpleasant happens there, for example, a car bomb is found. Or they find it too late when someone in that car gets their legs blown off. Mass brawls (on Protestant and Catholic holidays) are commonplace. Both sides have been granted amnesty, which means that both Catholics and Protestants see murderers of their friends and loved ones every day. It is difficult to agree that this helps to "forgive and forget." There is no doubt that today everything is much calmer than before: while the war was going on, on average 100 people died every year as a result of clashes between Catholics and Protestants, and now "only" 2 people a year, but since too many people suffered during the conflict (add 50,000 wounded to the dead, 500,000 people witnessed terrorist attacks or conflict-related violence), and it won't be forgotten for a long time.

In Northern Irish politics, as in Chinese "revolutionary operas," every movement is filled with deep meaning: in May, Sinn Fein chief Gerry Adams was arrested on suspicion of an old murder, and the whole of Britain began to worry that the process of pacifying the region would go into reverse, but when Adams was released, everyone exhaled calmly. Not for long: only 7% of children study in "mixed" schools (where Catholic and Protestant children study), so there is no hope for a change of mood among the new generation. Catholics in the region are breeding much more actively than Protestants, and the mainstream Unionist parties are in decline (due to corruption scandals and the apparent inability to meet the Protestants' demand for revenge), so over the next 10 years, a new conflict is quite possible: either the increased number of Catholics will decide to "take their own", or a new, more radical one will appear A unionist party that wants revenge. In general, we can say that although the fire of the war has been effectively contained, it has by no means been extinguished — and the coals are still smoldering. Conclusions

In general, the IRA is almost an ideal example of the urban guerrilla warfare of the national movement in the era of post—industrial society. First of all, they knew how to be friends. They had training camps in Gaddafi's Libya, and were friends with the Basque ETA (the Basques taught the Irish a lot about subversion) and the Colombian guerrillas (some IRA fighters are currently fighting on their side in Colombia). Secondly, the IRA made full use of the potential of the Diaspora. 40+ million Irish Americans mostly sympathized with the Catholic cause and even helped them with money (Adams had just traveled to the United States in the 1990s for large-scale "crowdfunding"). But these people did not know their native Irish Gaelic (as, indeed, did most Republicans)! The IRA created for themselves a wonderful image of freedom fighters and just tough guys, with whom the Irish Americans were very pleased to associate themselves. The Irish community of Boston was particularly noted for its donations. Thirdly, the movement was initially very decentralized and each part had great autonomy, and 80% of the time the militant groups acted and made decisions quite independently. This, of course, reduced military effectiveness, but that is why, despite the huge number of British agents in the top leadership (which is worth at least the head of the IRA counterintelligence Alfredo Scapaticci), no one could completely merge the entire "movement" (and never will). Moreover, at times the IRA was capable of truly terrible actions like the assassination of Lord Mountbatten, affecting the highest establishment of England. Fourth, instead of trying to do the impossible (defeat Britain's professional army in open combat), they set about building loyalty among the Catholic half of the population. Somewhere it was a threat, somewhere it was a kind word, but the IRA became a real power for hundreds of thousands of Catholics in Northern Ireland, and now they are in parliament, the police, and the city administration. That is, they are legally doing the same thing as they did 30 years ago. A strong network of informal connections is what contributed to the success of the same Basques (see "Mondragon"), this also led to the success of the IRA. The IRA remains one of the most terrible dangers inside Britain: these people, being very small (about 400 permanent fighters, only 10 thousand activists in 30 years), managed to force the British to sit down at the negotiating table and agree on a "fighting draw."