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How Ireland began
The first colony on the "Emerald Isle" was 12th century town of Pale founded by the Normans who arrived here. From the end of the 16th century Norman rule was established over Irish territory, and the local population was deprived of almost all rights. In 1366, with the adoption of the Killkenny Statutes, the position of the Irish deteriorated significantly. By law, everyone was required to speak only English and wear clothes in the British manner. It was forbidden to sell weapons and horses to the Irish, and even food during the hostilities. In English territories, the Irish were not allowed to hold church positions, nor could they be provided with premises for religious purposes. An Englishman could kill an Irishman with impunity, for such a crime the murderer was not even threatened with a fine.
From the end of the 16th century, church, monastic and private lands of the Irish were confiscated in favor of the English colonists. The ban on free religion led to a wave of uprisings throughout the country. During the famous English bourgeois revolution, Irish riots and unrest did not subside for about 10 years. until the ambitious and cruel arrived on the island to fight the rebels Oliver Cromwell... He staged a real terror against Catholics, who were mercilessly robbed and killed. The Settlement Act of 1653 deprived all Irish participants of the uprising of their lands, they were transferred to Parliament and distributed among its members. Catholic priests were expelled from Ireland, and Protestantism was declared the state religion. This decision was sanctioned after the Jacobite wars by William of Orange, with his submission, Catholics no longer had the right to rent or acquire land, give their children an education, and taxes on the maintenance of the Anglican Church were simply ruinous. Wilhelm's reign led to a deterioration in the economic situation, the industry fell into decay, and the industries that competed with the English ceased to exist. But it is precisely this period that is characterized by the development of the Irish national identity.
The struggle for independence
Since the end of the 17th century, various societies have appeared on the territory of Ireland, opposing the unfair treatment of the British towards the Irish. Discontent grew in society and parliament, and opposition gained momentum, promoting programs that would give Ireland freedom and political autonomy. The next step was the announcement of a boycott of British goods, which forced the British government to lift restrictions on trade. The first victory was the achievement of legislative independence by the Irish Parliament in 1782. The first laws were the return of the right to vote to Catholics, then an agreement was signed that unified the relationship between the Irish and English parliaments. Since then, members from the Irish Parliament have been delegated to the House of Commons. However, complete freedom was never achieved until 1829, when Catholics were allowed to hold public office. The Irish did their best to achieve self-government and strove for complete independence, but in the 19th century they did not succeed in doing this. Programs on the creation of their own executive bodies were repeatedly proposed, but all proposals were rejected. In 1912, one of the promoted initiatives was equated by the House of Lords to the law.
The situation in the country continued to heat up, but preparations for the Protestant-Catholic demonstrations were interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. In 1916, there was an "Easter Uprising", during which government buildings were taken under control. The mutiny was brutally suppressed by British naval artillery, but popular unrest became the impetus for further full-scale uprisings against the British conquerors. In 1918, the Irish Republicans won the majority of the seats in parliament, declaring the independence of Ireland while forming their own parliament. This decision was the reason for the three-year Anglo-Irish War, which lasted from 1919 to 1921... After the end of the conflict, Britain gave independence to 26 Irish counties, and 6 counties were given the right to self-determination and the ability to secede from Britain. Northern Ireland came out in favor of an alliance with the United Kingdom, which was the beginning of the Ulster confrontation.
Northern Ireland in the 20th century
After the division of the two Ireland, the territory of the "Emerald Isle" was swept by a wave of terrorist attacks, for which the Irish Republican Army claimed responsibility. The goal of the IRA was to destabilize the situation in Northern Ireland in order to prevent the attempts of the Northern Irish government to control the situation in the country. Large-scale IRA attacks on Northern Ireland were from 1930 to 1945, in the early 1950s and from 1956 to 1961.
The parliamentary predominance of Protestants over Catholics displeased the latter. The adherents of the Catholic faith in 1967 created an association, the requirement of which was civil equality for both religious groups. Rallies by community members led to aggravation of relations between confessions, the consequence of the unrest was the protracted conflict in Northern Ireland.
The climax of the collisions came in 1969 when riots swept across the country, from Londonderry to Belfast. In order to avoid a repetition of unrest, regular troops were introduced into the country, but the situation continued to deteriorate until direct rule was introduced in Northern Ireland, which caused resistance from the population. At the end of January 1972, protests erupted into "Bloody Sunday" when the military killed 13 Catholics who went to the meeting. Protesters broke into the British Embassy and burned it down. About 500 Northern Irishmen died between 1972 and 1975, after which the British government decided to hold a referendum, but the Catholics boycotted it. Another attempt to stabilize the situation was 1973 Sunnyigdeli Agreement signed between British and Irish leaders but real the results were brought by the agreement of 1985. The document stated that Northern Ireland is a British administrative part as long as the residents of the country agree with this.
In 1993, Downing Street declared a declaration which reflected the desire of both sides to come to a political consensus, while stipulating the absence of violence in resolving any issues. The result was a ceasefire by the IRA and then by armed Protestants. A new round of terrorist attacks carried out by the IRA in 1996, put an end to the truce.
In 1997, the Labor Party won the elections, in the election campaign of which it was planned to recognize all agreements between Britain and Northern Ireland. The result was the 1997 Belfast Peace Agreement between all Northern Irish and British political forces.
