1 / 24

Nationalism & Unionism in Ireland

Nationalism & Unionism in Ireland. Do Economic Forces Matter?. Nationalist Ideology: some theory. Product of the modern industrializing world Reaction to disruptive economic & social change Especially where an ethno-cultural group feels disadvantaged

aysha
Download Presentation

Nationalism & Unionism in Ireland

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Nationalism & Unionism in Ireland Do Economic Forces Matter?

  2. Nationalist Ideology: some theory • Product of the modern industrializing world • Reaction to disruptive economic & social change • Especially where an ethno-cultural group feels disadvantaged • Nationalist intellectuals and ideologues emerge • Demand political autonomy

  3. Overview: 19th century • Economic changes • Demographic changes • Political changes: movement towards greater democracy • Context: industrializing Britain; liberalizing tendencies in the direction of mass politics

  4. Take five economic indicators & three time periods* • Living standards • Handling or avoiding economic crises • Industrialization • Emigration • Economic justice • *1800-1850; 1850-1880; 1880-1914

  5. Tables: Five economic indicators • An uncontroversial choice of indicators (I think!) • Fundamental for economic well-being • Simple scoring system: bit like noughts and crosses • Could devise a more complex scoring system but … • Score of 1 indicates a substantial gain • Score of 0 indicates little or no improvement

  6. Five economic indicators, 1800-50: Nationalist Ireland (South) • Living standards: no gain • Handling or avoiding economic crises: no gain • Industrialization: no gain • Emigration: no gain • Economic justice: no gain • OVERALL SCORE: No gains (0) • Union not working: Repealers

  7. Five economic indicators, 1800-50: Unionist Ireland (North) • Living standards: no gain • Handling or avoiding economic crises: no gain • Industrialization: gain* • Emigration: no gain • Economic justice: gain • OVERALL SCORE: Two gains (+2) *Rev Henry Cooke: look on Belfast and be a Repealer if you can

  8. Summary, 1800-1850 • Southern Ireland: no major gains in any of the 5 economic indicators, so no obvious economic reasons to favour the Union • North of Ireland: some gains (though limited), so some economic reasons to favour the Union

  9. Five economic indicators, 1850-80: Nationalist Ireland (South) • Living standards: gain • Handling/avoiding economic crises: no gain? • Industrialization: no gain • Emigration: no gain • Economic justice: no gain? • OVERALL SCORE: One gain (1)

  10. Five economic indicators, 1850-80: Unionist Ireland (North) • Living standards: gain • Handling/avoiding economic crises: gain • Industrialization: gain • Emigration: no gain • Economic justice: gain • OVERALL SCORE: Four gains (+4)

  11. Summary 1850-1880 • Southern Ireland: some limited economic progress • North of Ireland: substantial economic progress on most fronts

  12. Five economic indicators, 1880-1914: Nationalist Ireland (South) • Living standards: gain • Handling/avoiding economic crises: gain • Industrialization: gain • Emigration: no gain • Economic justice: gain • OVERALL SCORE: Four gains (4)

  13. Five economic indicators, 1880-1914: Unionist Ireland (North) • Living standards: gain • Handling/avoiding economic crises: gain • Industrialization: gain • Emigration: no gain • Economic justice: gain • OVERALL SCORE: Four gains (+4)

  14. Belfast 1911: the industrial success story • Industrial capital of the island • Two world-class shipbuilding yards • Major engineering works: Sirocco, Mackies, others • Internationally-renowned Linen industry • Other industries • So Ulster Unionists pro-Union?

  15. Summary, 1880-1914 • Southern Ireland: substantial economic gains on most fronts • North of Ireland: maintaining economic gains • Paradox: “last years of the Union were the most prosperous!”

  16. Do Economic forces matter?: Ulster Unionism • Ireland’s only industrial city: Belfast • Based on Free Trade and World exports • Economic success group confidence • Business class: financial resources for anti-HR agitation and eventually guns • DEMOGRAPHIC implications

  17. Population: political importance • Numbers vital to political power in a democratizing era • Compacting of Protestant and Unionist population of Ireland in East Ulster • Industrialization created a critical mass of Protestants and Unionists in East Ulster • Capable of resisting Home Rule • Underpinning all this: industrializing economy

  18. Do economic forces matter?: Irish nationalism • Long litany of economic woes • No great economic progress pre-1880 - Emigration, Famine & Land War • Formative period of Irish nationalism before 1880s • False optimism: political autonomy economic prosperity

  19. Conclusion • Best to see economic forces in conjunction with political and other historical forces Eg Land War, 1879-1882: - Agricultural Depression (European-wide) - But role also of political leadership: Parnell & Davitt - in conjunction to mass mobilisation powerful Home Rule movement

  20. Conclusion (contd.) • “If really pressed, my view is that, taking the long view, cultural and political forces take precedence over economic factors in the making of Irish nationalism and Ulster Unionism, even though arguments for and against the Union are often dressed up in economic terms.” - Liam Kennedy

More Related