Conscription Crisis of 1918 facts for kids
The Conscription Crisis of 1918 happened when the British government tried to make people join the army in Ireland. This was in April 1918, during the First World War.
Many groups in Ireland strongly opposed this plan. These included trade unions, Irish nationalist political parties, and Roman Catholic bishops and priests. Even though a law was passed to allow conscription, it was never actually used. No one in Ireland was forced to join the British Army.
This attempt to draft Irishmen and the strong reaction against it made many people support political groups that wanted Ireland to be separate from Britain. It also played a big part in events leading up to the Irish War of Independence.
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Why Did the Crisis Happen?
In early 1918, the British Army needed many more soldiers for the Western Front in France. German troops had broken through the Allied lines, causing big problems for the British and their friends. The British Army lost a lot of land and soldiers quickly.
In Great Britain, a law called the Military Service Act 1916 had already started conscription in 1916. By 1918, David Lloyd George was the Prime Minister. He decided to extend conscription to Ireland and also to older men and more types of workers in Britain. This was to get more people to fight.
Many Irishmen had willingly joined the army when the war started in 1914. But the idea of being forced to join caused a huge backlash. This was especially because Lloyd George linked conscription with a plan for Home Rule (self-government) for Ireland. This upset both Irish nationalists (who wanted more independence) and unionists (who wanted to stay part of Britain).
Irish nationalist parties in the British Parliament, like the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP), were very angry. They walked out of Parliament and went back to Ireland to organize protests. Even with their strong opposition, the law to draft men in Ireland was passed. It became part of the 'Military Service (No. 2) Act, 1918'.
Ireland's crisis was similar to what happened in Australia (1916–17) and Canada (1917). In Australia, many Irish Catholics were against conscription.
Meetings and a Special Promise
On April 18, 1918, the Lord Mayor of Dublin (Laurence O'Neill) held a meeting at the Mansion House, Dublin. This meeting created the Irish Anti-Conscription Committee. Its goal was to plan how to resist conscription.
This committee brought together different nationalist groups:
- John Dillon and Joseph Devlin from the Irish Parliamentary Party.
- Éamon de Valera and Arthur Griffith from Sinn Féin.
- William O'Brien and Timothy Michael Healy from the All-for-Ireland Party.
- Michael Egan, Thomas Johnson, and William O'Brien representing Labour and trade unions.
On the same evening, Roman Catholic bishops had their yearly meeting. They said the conscription law was unfair and told people to resist it in ways that followed God's law.
The Anti-Conscription Committee and the bishops suggested an anti-conscription promise. People were asked to take this promise at every Roman Catholic church door the next Sunday, April 21. The promise said:
Denying the right of the British government to enforce compulsory service in this country, we pledge ourselves solemnly to one another to resist conscription by the most effective means at our disposal.
Strikes and Protests
After the Mansion House meeting, workers and trade unions quickly joined the anti-conscription campaign. They called for a one-day general strike. On April 23, 1918, work stopped in many places across Ireland. This included railways, factories, theaters, shops, and even government munitions factories. The strike was very successful and unusual for the time.
In the weeks that followed, anti-conscription rallies were held all over the country. For example, 15,000 people attended a meeting in County Roscommon in early May. At this meeting, John Dillon, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, and Éamon de Valera of Sinn Féin, spoke together. This was important because their parties usually disagreed on how to gain independence from the United Kingdom.
On June 11, Dublin's Lord Mayor, Laurence O'Neill, wrote a letter to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. He asked for support against conscription. He explained that the law was forced through quickly, without asking Irish voters, and was harsher than the conscription law in Britain.
The "German Plot"
The British government was worried about the growing unrest. They still desperately needed to make conscription happen in Ireland. So, they tried different ways to stop the protests.
Sinn Féin was seen as the main group causing anti-government feelings. So, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord French claimed there was a secret plan between Sinn Féin and the Germans. On May 17, he ordered the arrest of 73 Sinn Féin leaders, including Griffith and de Valera.
However, there was little proof of this "German Plot." Most people in Britain, Ireland, and the United States did not believe it. This harsh action by the British authorities did not calm the situation. Instead, it made people even angrier and increased support for Sinn Féin.
The Hay Plan
At the same time, a more subtle plan was tried. It was called the "Hay Plan." This plan aimed to convince Irish nationalists to join the French army. It hoped to use the influence of the Catholic Church in Ireland. The idea was that the Church could persuade people to support the war effort, especially since fellow Catholics in Belgium and France were suffering from the German invasion.
The plan was for a French bishop to send a letter to the Irish bishops. This letter would ask them to be less against conscription to help the war in France.
Despite some progress, the "Hay Plan" faced delays and was eventually stopped. This was due to problems in diplomatic talks and political disagreements within the British Parliament. Some British politicians worried that if France helped Ireland, it might not be good for Britain after the war.
By July, the German attacks in France had failed. The Allies successfully fought back. Recruitment efforts in Ireland continued, but with very little success. By November, when World War I ended, conscription had still not been put into action in Ireland.
What Happened Next?
By June 1918, it was clear that the war was turning in favor of the Allies. The British government dropped its plans for conscription and Home Rule in Ireland. However, the effects of the crisis remained.
The Conscription Crisis did not help get more soldiers for France. But it was very damaging for the British authorities in Ireland and for the more moderate Irish nationalist parties. The delay in solving the Home Rule issue, made worse by the conscription crisis, greatly increased support for Sinn Féin.
Sinn Féin was linked in people's minds with the 1916 Easter Rising and the anti-conscription movement. This led to their huge victory in the 1918 election, where they almost completely replaced the Irish Parliamentary Party. This then led to the creation of the first Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament) and the start of the Anglo-Irish War in 1919.
Because of this opposition, Sinn Féin was ignored by the winners at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Even though they had won the election, their requests to be part of the conference and for the Irish Republic to be recognized were never answered.
The crisis also changed how Unionists in Ulster felt about Nationalist Ireland. Unionist leader James Craig said that for Unionists, the conscription crisis proved that what Nationalists and Unionists wanted was totally different.
Irish Volunteers in the War
Most of the opposition in Ireland was against being forced to join the army, not against the war itself or against people joining the British Army willingly. In fact, many Irish people supported the war and Irish involvement.
More Irish Unionists and Protestants joined the army. But many nationalists and Roman Catholics also joined. They saw the war as a fight to defend smaller Catholic countries like Belgium, which had been invaded. Even people who later opposed conscription, like John Dillon and the Roman Catholic bishops, encouraged people to join the army when the war began.
In total, between 200,000 and 300,000 Irishmen served with British forces during World War I. Out of about 680,000 deaths from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, around 40,000 to 49,000 were from Ireland. About 12.3% of Irish men of fighting age served. This was about a quarter of the rate in the rest of the UK. About 57% of these Irish soldiers were Roman Catholics.
Images for kids
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Ireland's Solemn League and Covenant Pledge 1918, with portraits of Bishops Conference and Mansion House Committee members
