During World War II, Ireland was now officially neutral and independent from the UK. However, over 80,000 Irish-born men and women (north and south) joined the British armed forces, with between 5,000 and 10,000 being killed during the conflict.
One modern estimate estimated that at least 200,000 were killed out of a population of allegedly 2 million.
The reasons for Irish neutrality during the Second World War are widely accepted: that any attempt to take an overtly pro-British line might have resulted in a replay of the Civil War; that Southern Ireland could make little material contribution to the Allied effort, while engagement without adequate defence would ...
World War II. Ireland remained neutral during World War II. The Fianna Fáil government's position was flagged years in advance by Taoiseach Éamon de Valera and had broad support.
Despite its neutrality, Ireland experienced several bombing raids: 26 August 1940: Five German bombs were dropped on County Wexford in a daylight raid. One bomb hit the Shelbourne Co-operative Creamery in Campile killing three people. In 1943, the German government paid £9000 in compensation.
Eighty years ago, four bombs were dropped on Dublin's North Strand by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War.
During World War II, Ireland was now officially neutral and independent from the UK. However, over 80,000 Irish-born men and women (north and south) joined the British armed forces, with between 5,000 and 10,000 being killed during the conflict.
Ireland did not join the war, but declared neutrality. Indeed the world war, in Ireland, was not referred to as a war at all, but as 'The Emergency'. In staying neutral, despite British and latterly American pleas to join the war, Ireland, under Eamon de Valera, successfully asserted the independence of the new state.
Scotland at War: A City Transformed
Prepared to defend their country to the last, Edinburgh and its patriotic citizens rallied to support the Allied efforts as the Scottish Command Headquarters during the war.
During World War II Scotland suffered some 34,000 combat deaths, and approximately 6,000 civilians were killed, many in air attacks on Clydeside.
I hadn't realised that so many Irishmen had actually fought in Vietnam. Though there are no official statistics, it is estimated that over 2,000 Irish wore an American uniform. At least 18 of them are listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington DC as killed in action.
These men were shunned, ostracised from Irish society and in many cases murdered by the IRA, but that is only part of the story.
So, in conclusion, Britain/England didn't struggle to conquer Ireland, and only briefly actively opposed independence in the early 20th century. Ireland was only desirable in the sense that Britain couldn't afford such an important strategic territory to be in Spanish or French hands.
The Ballymurphy massacre was a series of incidents between 9 and 11 August 1971, in which the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army killed at least nine civilians in Ballymurphy, Belfast, Northern Ireland, as part of Operation Demetrius (internment without trial).
The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.
The landed proprietors in Ireland were held in Britain to have created the conditions that led to the famine. However, it was asserted that the British parliament since the Act of Union of 1800 was partly to blame.
On the nights of 13-14 and 14-15 March 1941 Luftwaffe bombers raided Clydeside and inflicted casualties in several industrial centres. Glasgow suffered the highest number of fatalities (about 650), but in proportion to its population of about 50,000 the burgh of Clydebank suffered the worst.
Throughout the Second World War, the Luftwaffe bombed South Wales.
Scotland was bombed in the Second World War because it had coal mines, factories and shipyards, which were important for the war effort. 4. Why were factories important for the war effort? Factories were important for the war effort because weapons and bombs were made there.
Proposed accession of Ireland to NATO
While the Irish government expressed its support for the goals of NATO, it opposed joining as it did not wish to be in an alliance with the United Kingdom (who was a signatory to the agreement founding NATO) with which it disputed the sovereignty over Northern Ireland.
Only 14 countries remained officially neutral throughout the entire war. They included Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan as well as the microstates of Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, San Marino and Vatican City.
Most of Ireland gained independence from the United Kingdom following the Anglo-Irish War in the early 20th century. Initially formed as a Dominion called the Irish Free State in 1922, the Republic of Ireland became a fully independent nation state following the passage of the Republic of Ireland Act in 1949.
From the 1780s, around a third of Army recruits were Irish. Between the 1820s and 1860s, this rose to around 40 percent. They were drawn in particular to serve in the European regiments of Britain's Indian Armies and played an important role in the building of the British Empire.
IRISH INFANTRY, THE SHARP POINT OF THE BAYONET
Built with fighting spirit, tradition, and Irish character, we are the only Irish Infantry Regiment of the line in the British Army. We recruit people of the right quality and calibre right across the island of Ireland, all parts of the UK, and beyond.
Organisation. The Army has an establishment of 7,310 personnel and consists of two brigades. Prior to 2012, the army was divided into three brigades, organised to be responsible for a geographical area of the State: Southern, Eastern and Western.