What Did Ireland Do in World War 2? | History of Ireland 1939 - 1945
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- čas přidán 25. 05. 2024
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Just what did Ireland do in the Second World War? The famous Easter Rising of 1916 occurred when the British were embroiled in the First World War (1914-1918), though Irish independence would only be secured in 1921. By 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland and war was declared across Europe, Ireland was therefore still a very new state, and following the German advance against the Benelux, Scandinavia and France, it increasingly came under pressure from both the Allies and the Axis. Both the Germans and the British planned to invade Ireland in the Second World War, though eventually neither side did. Ireland therefore had a difficult job remaining neutral, though documents made public following the end of the war demonstrate that the strict neutrality espoused was not always how things happened in practice.
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:32 - Ireland's Independence Struggle 1916-1923
3:36 - Magellan TV Ad
4:46 - Public Opinion on the War
8:45 - Ireland To Join the Allies?
9:48 - Threat of Invasion
11:57 - Secret Negotiations
14:03 - Impact of Neutrality on Eire's Standing
15:39 - Outro
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#Ireland #WW2 #Eire
I was a small boy in 1940 in West London, and my eldest Brother was in the Second Tactical Airforce in North Africa on Hurricanes. In the Battle of Britain our local Air Force Hero who had become an "Ace" was a young Irish Lad who had made his career in the Royal Airforce. . The Family lived in Richmond, on the Hill, by the name of Finucane. "Paddy" as he was kstrafing
Just a slight correction regarding Ireland being "obliged" to send our men to the frontline in WW1. We weren't actually obliged because, unlike Great Britain, Ireland, even under UK rule, did not have conscription. The government considered bringing in conscription for Ireland but it never manifested. Irish soldiers in WW1, despite joining in large numbers, were all volunteers. I did a history paper on the subject in college.
The vast majority of WW1 volunteers from Ireland went because they trusted John Redmond and believed Home Rule would be the result.
(This is apart from the Unionist minority in the Northeast who believed the opposite.)
Both beliefs were encouraged by the British government, but the Unionists were the ones whom, in practice, they always favoured.
It’s highly doubtful that so many non-Unionists from Ireland would have joined up if Home Rule had not been made law (but “deferred” to the end of the war).
To this day the Royal British Legion steal the credit and sacrifice of the Home Rule Dead every year in WW1 commemorations in Ireland despite those men standing for the absolute opposite of everything about the British Legion.
@@cou1202 indeed. It's no wonder that a lot of those Irish Volunteers who went and survived France subsequently would enlist in the IRA or at the very least covertly assist them. My own grandfather went through all 4 years and then trained the IRA company in Laffansbridge, Co Tipperary. He's only became an official member of the IRA in the truce period, going by the national military archive records
@@cou1202 Utter nonsense. Not evey Irishman was or is a political zealot. Most Irishmen volunteered for the same reasons as those in the rest of the then United Kingdom i.e. adventure, bonds of friendship, and for economic reasons. A 17 year old Tom Barry (yes that Tom Barry) enlisted ‘for no other reason than that I wanted to see what war was like, to get a gun, to see new countries and to feel a grown man’
There seems to be a trend in Ireland of rewriting history along the lines of a nationalist over romanticised work of fiction. This extends to the 1916 Irish Rebellion which was met with nothing less than public apathy.
@@Kaiserbill99 even after independance and up to the present day, Irish citizens from the Republic serve in the British military.
@@cou1202 the home rule Bill passed into law in September 1914, to cheers from Irish members of the House of Commons. Its operation was only delayed for one year or the duration of the war whichever period was shorter. all that was delayed was the move of the elected members to Dublin. Irish people are taught that they were cheated at the last minute but a separate administration is not produced out of thin air after a parliamentary vote. In preparation for home rule Britain had been putting together a separate administration for Ireland since 1911 and this was up and running by 1922 enabling pro-treaty side to take over going concern,.
as a matter of interest same thing happened in the early 1970s at a time they thought thought Scotland was going to go for its home rule. They converted the former Royal High School an imposing building in Edinburgh into a parliamentary chamber in preparation, but it wasn't needed then.
When the British found out there were actually plans by the Germans for such an invasion, they immediately sent the findings to the Irish as well. During the entire course of the Battle of Britain, the British had to station a brigade(?) in Northern Ireland, to be ready when Ireland does get invaded. The planning of the British Army were agreed upon with the Irish Army. Iirc, they both had liaisons with each other’s staff.
hi nepoleon big fan
You are not quite accurate sir; Shortly after Dunkirk, Churchill sent a minute to Lord Ismay, Head of the War Department's Military Wing, stating "Schemes should be prepared to enable two or three lightly-equipped brigades to move at short notice.....into Northern ireland."
By January 1941 there were three divisions (not brigades) in the Province - 5th, 53rd and 61st - stationed in Omagh, Armagh and Enniskillen. In fact, at that time, there were more British troops in Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the UK!
There were also up to 20 airfields in full operation, including the amphibious Sunderland and Catalina bases at Killadeas and Castle Archdale in Lough Erne (this being the base of operations via "The Secret Corridor" between Eire and NI)
Many Allied pilots crashed or otherwise landed in the ROI and were interned there, although whether they were Allied or German, they had virtuallly total freedom to go about as they wished.
The only "defensive" plans by the Eire Government, was the placing of large signs around the coastline, containing one word "Eire" to dissuade any attack on a neutral country. The signs also had a 2-digit number which only made sense to the Allied pilots, as they gave indication to the location for pilots seeking the "Corridor" and landing area in Lough Erne.
Yeah Churchill also threatened to invade Ireland at least on seven if I remember correctly this includes his victory speech on VE DAY where he said it would’ve been very easy. This really didn’t go down well in Ireland. In the response the Irish p.m. noted that Britain war only alone for 3 years Against a violent aggressor well Ireland’s do it for 700 years against its own violent aggressor.
Also a brigade is a pretty small amount to send. I’m curious to know what is this all that they could spare or were they legitimately worried that Churchill would say something that would make the Irish thing that they were going to the invaded.
Sidenote Churchill is a really hated in Ireland to this day for the black and tans and the creation of the B specials.
@@reggriffiths5769 Emergency status was declared and Irish military was substantially boosted.
aka ''the emergency''.
UK had a secret RAF airbase agreed with Irelands govt, for the case of UK being invaded.
See "Cranbourne report".
@@tedcrilly46 Why are you directing your comment to me? I made no reference to Eire's "Emergency," or it's military, and if you read my comments properly, you'll note that I made special mention of the "Secret Corridor" and the two named bases in Lough Erne. Why are you also directing me to the Cranbourne Report?
My Irish granddad from Dublin fought in WW2. He survived the war too. :)
Ooof
My grandfather fought, fought and fought.....and he still has to go.
Cool
Which side did he fight for?
Or was he a communist and fought on both sides?
@@noelpucarua2843
That was the French wasn’t it? Depending on who was winning at the time dictated which side the French were on.
'The siege of Jadotville', a very interesting movie indeed! I was in the Dutch military in 1983 and I knew some fellow conscripts served in Lebanon on a UN mission; I met one afterwards and he was completely messed up by his experience. And ofcourse about a decade later there was the drama in Srebrenica. But that weren't the only times people were left hung out to dry in a UN context; I bet there are lots of other interesting instances.
My dad was in the Irish army and he knew a guy that was kidnapped in Africa by neutral tribesmen that had no idea what the UN even was. They just saw white men with guns stomping around and kidnapped them. My details may be fuzzy or wrong, but the very high stress situation of having no idea if they'd be killed and the language barrier meant that he developed OCD about locking doors etc. My dad said the men used to take bets as to how many times he would check if he'd locked a door, often close to 8 times
@Black Lesbian Poet I'm sorry what? What does that have to do with anything?
@Black Lesbian Poet Erm, last time I checked, it is, and I can make free choices with it.
@Black Lesbian Poet ?!
Ok, I don't know what brand of paint thinner you've been sniffing, but it must be something real strong ... or you could just be a troll who knows.
@Black Lesbian Poet No I haven't
But whatever you say bud, I'm gonna travel back to reality now to save my sanity.
I really enjoyed this video, it was well researched and compact. I'll be flicking through all of your other ones now. Keep up the good work. If we don't learn from our history we are doomed to repeat it
Just a minor correction when you say in 1939 it had been thirty years since ireland and Britain had been in open conflict- it had only been 18 years. Excellent video as always!
Actually i make it 23 years - easter rising was 1916 and this could be said to be "actively fighting" against the British which is what the narration said
@@DJLtravelvids irish war of independence ended in late 1921
Mathematics is in question..but otherwise ok
@@DJLtravelvids 18 years. Easter rising wasn’t the last open conflict
🤗 Well done with the pronunciations and the content - I am about to finish Tim Pat Coogan's biography of de Valera and your presentation is a very good summary considering what little time you had available.
It's worth mentioning that the "offer" to unite Ireland was also rejected by Dé Valera because it was quite clear the British had no way to ensure it actually happened.
It was an offer without any teeth behind it, and both sides knew it.
Never Trust a Tory.
@@solidus784 yes, but more importantly the Unionists in Northern Ireland would have fought against it, regardless of the wishes of the British government.
@@Coillcara Ulidians will always fight to stop the Irish from taking them over, even if England betrays them.
@@Bemix666NUCLAR That pack of Scots
Yes, Churchill didn’t even ask or inform the northern Irish govt because he knew they’d never agree
Well, I got recommended this video, clicked, went 10 minutes in - than checked views - my god, you deserve so many more! Congrats on amazing work!
You should do one on Portugal.
They had a crazy spy scene going on and worked for both sides.
Just like all neutral countries during WW2.
Also Salazar was playing the British and Germans off each other
The Anglo-Portugese Alliance came into play.
@@geoffpoole483 Yes as Salazar managed to maintain good relations with Britian even though Portugal was Neutral
no
Good video, Hilbert, and another objective and entertaining one in the series. As others have commented, the "offer" of reunification was never taken seriously by either the Irish or the British due to the normal Unionist "no surrender" and "no popery" attitude. One other way the Irish informally supported the allies was that most aircrew who crashed in Ireland were quietly sent back over the border to Northern Ireland, while their German counterparts were interned in the Curragh. Ireland also supplied huge amounts of meat and food to Britain at what appear to be standard cost. My father was in the Irish army reserve throughout the Emergency (as an aside we never called 1919-1921 the War of Independence... we called it the Troubles) and he never really thought that the Germans or the British would invade, especially after the invasion of Russia in June 1941. In 1939 it was only 17 years since the Anglo Irish Treaty ending the Troubles was ratified in Ireland and the popular memory of the Black & Tans (the period was also called the "Tan War") followed by the Civil War of 1922-23 meant that the general population would never welcome the British back. In fact, General Percival, who surrendered to Singapore to the Japanese in 1942, had served with the Essex regiment in Co. Cork during the Troubles and his brutality was in recent memory for those who lived in that part of the country.
Montgomery was an interesting choice to plan an invasion of Cork. I believe he had served under Percival in the notorious Essex Regiment in Bandon, County Cork, in 1919-21.
No, Montgomery was equal rank to Percival. Tom Barry fought against both them. He respected Montgomery but hated Percival. He, also, considered Montgomery the more dangerous foe, because he was organised and methodical in way that Percival was not.
@@k3D4rsi554maq Interesting and I didn't know that little nugget, which is probably evidenced by the performance of both in WWII. Monty used incredible organisational skills to eject Rommel from North Africa. Percival was looking the wrong way twice when the Japanese took Singapore. First he was looking out to sea in compliance with conventional "wisdom" that any assault would come from that direction. Second, he had two months from the time the Japanese landed in Northern Malaya in December 1941 before they appeared across the Johore Strait in early February. His poor planning, siting of defences, ignorance of his opponents deficiencies, inability to react to events, and complete refusal to listen to sound advice from subordinates led to what Churchill described as the "worst disaster in British military history". Karma's a bitch, huh!
@@paulhouston670 His sister lived in Dublin all her life.
Lets not forget the roll if the Irish Met Service during WW2. The Met station at Valentia,Kerry regularly sent weather forecast to British military. Thus,the original Normandy landings were postponed due to adverse weather forecasts. If it has gone ahead,the Allies would have been defeated.
I'll watch more like this, very interesting; and thanks for the movie tip!
As an Irish man listening to a Englishman explain our history you done very well most videos favourite the British side but you explained the discussion fairly and was very interesting coming from you, keep up the videos your doing your job very well glad to see Ireland is doing better now than 100 years ago hope our ancestors would be proud if they were here to listen to this from the rising to the civil war to the part where the weather station gave important information to the allies for the weather to invade Normandy absolutely brilliant for a 23 year old to listen to our history.. I know they would be proud
If any of our forefathers came back, they'd be disgusted by the line up in the Dail. Frank aiken and Dan breen wouldn't be long giving that half cast traitor a slug.
This CZcamsr is Dutch. (I was fooled, too, the first time I saw one of their videos.)
@@gulag8735 They wouldn't be long picking out a Cairo Gang list for them arseholes in the Dail
Isn't Hilbert Dutch?
@MsMissy *vikings invaded*
Great video mate. Thanks. Very detailed and you did well.. there was a few things you missed but otherwise you did great and got it it spot on.
loved it mate, appreciate the work you put in brother, fantastic
Haven’t watched the one on Iceland but really enjoyed this one. Will check the other when I have more time since this was interesting
Was very interesting also.
This was better. But I'm a biased Irishman :P
@Black Lesbian Poet
I'm the racist?
Look in the mirror.
A few observations 1. The IRA leader (Sean Russell) who died returning to Ireland in a German U Boat actually died from a burst appendix and subsequent complications during the voyage and not as a result of the U boat being sunk. 2. After the raid on the main state armoury and ammunition dump in the Phoenix Park in Dublin by the IRA in 1940, Eamonn De Velara authorised the internment of many active members of the IRA (militant anti treaty supporters) for the duration of the Emergency. 3. While Axis combatants finding their way to Ireland during the Emergency were interned, after 1940 and especially after the Americans declared war on the Axis powers, it was rare for allied servicemen to be interned, and they were often allowed cross over to Northern Ireland (part of the UK).5. It is true that ALL foreign internees were kept in the same camp in the Curragh in Co.Kildare, Axis and Allied !5.The Irish Army was equipped with Allied (British) military equipment during the Emergency, loosing their German made WWI/Spanish Civil War helmets in 1940. 6. It was not unusual for Allied servicemen in Northern Ireland, especially Americans to travel into the Freestate on leave with no problems and return again. Some foods like dairy and meat were not as heavily rationed. 7. Ireland provided the UK with much increased supplies of food during the War compared to the 1930's.9.DeVelera also visited the US embassy to sign the book of condolences on the death of President Roosevelt BEFORE Hitler committed suicide, Dev was just being scrupulously evenhanded in application of neutrality. Remember Dev's foreign affairs experience was formed during his active participation in the League of Nations which was a different era by then. In hindsight he may have been better off staying at home on that day ! While the government officially acted with neutral impartiality, reality was Ireland was neutral but supporting the Allies !
Also de Valera paid a courtesy call to Dr. Hempel, Head of the German ligation in Dublin. There has never been any evidence of a book of condolences existing.
GREAT video, i really needed in this thanks
Excellent presentation…….. perfect and enjoyable . I love Irish history and learnt some new things on here , so new subscriber ☘️💚 🇮🇪 looking forward to relaxing and watching plenty more . Thanks 😊
Brilliant video, my great grandfather from Waterford actually served in the British Army during WW2. I’ve been told he one of the first members of the British armed forces to set foot in Japan after their surrender.
So he was a traitor to his homeland great 🤔
@@jasondoherty4773 him and all the others to fought against tyranny.
@@jasondoherty4773 don't be so stupid - unless Ireland was allied with Germany how on earth could he have been a traitor?
@@aine1169 800 hundred years of British oppression says ur wrong..🇮🇪🇮🇪✌️✌️
@@tdolan500 tyranny coming from the butcher's apron (union jack) the irony..🧐
The submarine was U65 not sunk returning from Ireland. Seán Russell (chief of staff IRA))died on board in the Atlantic and was buried at sea. Frank Ryan(IRA) also on board returned to Germany on the u65 and died in Berlin of heart problems. The mission was aborted due to the death of Seán Russell.
I really like this series. I have learned as much as I can about the main protagonists of WWII, so this will help round out my understanding of the world at that time.
Great video, thanks Hilbert. 👍
This series about overlooked countries in WW2 is great. I'd like to see a video about the channel islands, which - although not a country/sovereign nation - was the only territory of the British empire to be occupied during the war by the Germans. I feel like there's some good stories there
I read an account about the channel Islands where civilians from the islands were deported as forced labour by the Germans to mainland Europe. Their houses were taken over by collaborators and people more compliant to German rule. On their return some people had a hard time getting back possession of their houses from the illegal occupiers, causing enmities and hostilities between erstwhile neighbours which exist to this day. By some accounts some families could not bring themselves to reoccupy their rightful homes and moved elsewhere on the islands when they could. The Channel Islands were not liberated from the Germans until May 1945 the entire population, both garrisoned Germans and Islanders, suffering great hunger and privations in that time. This was similar to parts of Holland and Denmark which were also not liberated until the very end of the war in Europe.
I'm from Northern Ireland and my granddad was a teenager during the war. When he was still alive he told me many stories about that time.
It's worth noting that during the Belfast Blitz in 1941 when the Luftwaffe were bombing homes, the Irish Republic sent up fire crews and ambulances to assist the Northern Irish emergency services. Some badly injured victims were taken to the Republic to be treated as to not overwhelm hospitals in the North.
Similarly, when a British plane crashed over Ireland, the pilots were cared for then taken back to Britian - whereas when a German plane crashed in Irish territory, the German pilots were handed over to the British to become prisoners of war. So whilst they were neutral, they definitely had a preferred side, albeit not offically.
I have a copy of a newspaper from 1945 which reports on Hitler's death. It mentions de Valera's sympathy message as "one final dig at the British as victory is all but certain", and states it was likely done to remind the British that Ireland is an independent state with free choices over its actions.
Great comment, pity the governments north and south couldn’t have cooperated as well for covid as the governments at the time. And the gulf was certainly greater then moreso than now.
Still really dislike De Valera for the condolences was so unnecessary and petty in my opinion.
@@beaglaoich4418 No one particularly liked Dev but we had shot Collins so someone had to do the job.
@Black Lesbian Poet We're not taking over anything, even if they do decide to join willingly and it is an if they will be a massive financial burden in order to accommodate everyone. It's not workable in any way if the loyalists decide to rile up the rest of the unionist community into insurrection. Stop shitstirring
@Black Lesbian Poet .......are you lost? Like mentally?
@Black Lesbian Poet Jesus...my sis is a doc if you need some Valium or Xanax?
Great video. Keep up the good work. Best wishes from Philadelphia.
awesome info thanks !
The Britsh were never actually serious about the reunification promise and deVelera (the guy who literally only wants a united ireland) knew it. This is because the British could not enforce such a deal as it meant a referundum in NI which was likely to be rejected. It was an empty promise which was something the british seemed to be famous for.
According to a previous poster, who also claimed it wasn't really a unification offer, such a referendum only applied to Belfast. So....
You know, I'm not so sure about that. I know it sounds suspect, but consider the following:
- When France fell, there was serious consideration to reforming both countries into a Franco-British, though the idea was deemed slightly less palatable to Nazi occupation by the French High Command.
The environment of World War II at the time was one of absolute panic and out the box thinking. They were prepared to make a literal deal with the devil at that point. Giving up Northern Ireland in exchange for Irish entry into the War might just have sounded like a pretty good deal at that point. Remember, both America and Russia had yet to enter the War. It would have appeared fairly desperate, and there were calls to attempt a settlement with Hitler that Church was prepared to do just about anything to avoid...
- Also, consider that the dissolution of the British Empire, whilst incompetent and careless, was largely peaceful, in that it was disassembled without the need for rebellion or revolution in most parts of the world. There was little public resistance to the notion in Britain, mostly due an aversion to Empire born out of World War II, and due to the recognised contributions of most of the
Considering also that most of the Empire fell apart in the years following WWII. Compared to all of that, Northern Ireland is a very small area. It would seem strange to give up dominion over so much of the world, only to cling on to Northern Ireland...
It isn't entirely inconceivable that they could have just added Northern Ireland to list of returned territories, if Ireland had fought against Nazi Germany.
There would still have been significant sectarianism. It wouldn't have been quiet or straightforward. But it might have been enough.
And if America had entered into the War in 1941 as in our timeline, I could imagine them pressuring Britain to keep its agreements. It seems like a longshot to us now of course. But given the environment and situation at the time? I could actually see it happening. Just about.
Its fun to think about, at any rate. I like to imagine different timelines.
@@benlowe1701 I can see your point that if Ireland joined they would have the leverage over british and might actually force them into giving up NI but that's wasn't the main issue, it was the unionists in ulster themselves who were against any notion of unification. I'm talking extreme hardliners bred from over decades of sectarianism that will try anything and everything to oppose it.
We'd likely see something like the Troubles happening decades earlier if it was the case. This is why unifying the island has always difficult even if the british did not object to it and is the reason why ireland was partitioned in the first place.
9:04 Yea, this is a complete misrepresenation of what happened.
Churchill spoke of "One nation once again", which also could have meant that Ireland would have been reunited with its own british occupied north by way of re-annexation into the UK.
Churchill was very vague on purpose, as the very cunning man he was, he obviously understood that he would be accused of having lied to the Irish later on, had he made a more substantial offer, which he wasn't prepared to make.
Hence it was just a diplomatic trick to get the Irish in his boat.
Eamon De Valera had no reason to trust the British at all, and thus he rejected the extremely vague "offer" and told Churchill that the British needed to leave the Irish alone.
@@Ryan_Winter
When your backs to the wall and the freedom of Europe is at stake I’m sure you would do anything to get an advantage.
What would a free Ireland have done had Britain fallen - all alone on the western edge of a Europe dominated by an evil facist dictatorship who would have had no qualms of walking into Ireland. Dance with the devil at your peril.
I must admit that sometimes when I think of television and radio and their immense power I feel somewhat afraid. Like atomic energy, it can be used for incalculable good but it can also do irreparable harm. Never before was there in the hands of men an instrument so powerful to influence the thoughts and actions of the multitude. - Éamon de Valera
An astute observation And equally true today as it was then Perhaps even more so
"When quoting, using quotation marks helps.
It's what they were invented for."
By me, just now.
@@evanray8413 "never"
@@crossburns5753 "he's a mad man" -me
@@whitefox8376 "MAD I TELL YOU " - MEE
Good summary! Dev was, and still is, a polarising figure. And, great job on nailing the pronunciations!
Very informative and interesting. Well done.
The pronunciation for Cobh is basically Cove, and for Donegal you pronounce it as Done-E-Gaul, e as in eagle and Gaul as in Roman Gaul. But incredible accurate anyways, keep up the great work
If you want a place pronounced 'Cove' in English, then it should be spelt 'Cove' and not Cobh - otherwise the English pronunciation is similar to that of a small bun: c-o-b.
We don't call the capital of France Paree - we call it Paris.
@@reality-cheque This is one of the more ignorant things I've read in a YT comment section. In Irish, the bh sound is pronounced as a v. For example; the name Niamh is pronounced Neve. As Cobh is Cove. You don't get to tell the Irish how to spell their own names.
@@reality-cheque *
I am old enough to have known a few Irish men who joined the British Army in 1939/40. I also knew a lady who left County Mayo for London to become a nurse. Fine, brave and proud people.
That's Interesting. Did they ever tell you any war stories?
may be a relative of mine. I have ancestros from County Mayo
My grandmother left County Limerick to join the nursing effort in the UK.
Really takes some balls to join a war you aren't pressured into joining.
A Britsh man would be seen as a cowered if he didn't join up but for an Irish person to join without those social pressures, really shows courage.
@@leebush4053 Really? Well you know your grandmother? She was a heroine. Britain owed her a debt I suspect was never fully paid. I hope she lived a happy and fulfilling after the war. God bless her.
Yes, I have been enjoying the series a lot, it's really interesting
Cracking video, very enjoyable.
Have you done a video on Newfoundland during WW2? Prior to joining Canada in 1949, it remained a British colony and distinguished itself in many ways during the war.
Almost entirely accurate! Some small corrections: "Eoin" is pronounced like "Owen", and "Cobh" is pronounced as "cove".
You got there before me! However, being a fan of Lord of the Rings I actually enjoy being called Eowyn from time to time lol
I think Hilbert gets respect for a decent go raibh maith agat 😏
It’s pronounced more like Owin, as opposed to having an ‘en’ sound at the end.
And "Fianna Fáil" is pronounced Fianna Failure
Then why aren't they spelled that way?
This was very interesting and I learned a few things I didn’t know.
Well done on the video well researched and concise. And Cobh is pronounced ‘cove’. Excellently done overall.
9:10
How realistic of an offer was this, though? What was Churchill going to tell the Northern Irish Unionists? "Well, off you go, play nice"
The Ulster Volunteers were ready to start a civil war at the prospect of home rule, before WW1 gave them something else to do. Surely any attempt at reunification, even with Churchill's validation, would likely have started a fairly bloody war in Ireland?
Oh absolutely but there was a general idea back since the treaty that they would force the North in by economically devastating them by returning the 3 more nationalist counties back to Ireland making it near impossible for the other 3 to stay either independent or part of britain
@@monaghangm if the three nationalist counties were reunified, it would also mean the three remaining counties would NEVER reunify because they'd have a huge unionist majority.
@@kevburke realistically yeah they wouldn't
@@kevburke but that was still the plan. Put them in a situation where they literally couldn't survive without joining Ireland but I think the British really underestimated the unionist hatred of the irish
It would probably result in another bloody civil war in all six counties from the plan
There's an excellent book by Robert Risk about this time period called In Time of War, as well as The Emergency by Brian Girvin. You can also see the lighthouse that gave those D-day weather forecasts at Blacksod near Belmullet in north-west Mayo, a truly beautiful part of the world.
In case you are searching, the name is Fisk, not Risk. Quite an old book, but good. Trying to be helpful!
Girvin's book is a polemic, not a history. He condemns Irish neutrality and is fully of prejudice.
Great series. Love your videos
Super and most interesting very well narrated piece of Irish history. I'm sure many Irish themselves are not aware of. Thanks for sharing.
Amazing video
I'm surprised you didn't mention when assistance such as fire engines were sent to Belfast to help after the Germans bombed it.
The logic was it was still a neutral action since they claimed the north via the constitution anyway.
Also the American and other allied military flights allowed to land at airports like Shannon.
Less neutral than they let on for sure.
And the legend is that some wee Belfast man was pulled from the rubble and found it was Dublin firemen around him and reacted 'Jesus, that was some bomb!'
Eamon De Valera said of the bombings from the Luftwaffe that were raining down on Belfast were on our people. Further emphasis on a united Ireland. IRA sided with Germans during this time. The old saying "The enemy of my enemy is my friend very apt. Southern Ireland played a blinder staying out and I believe it did help the Allies by staying neutral. Invasion from Germany and the National Army wouldn't of stood a chance up against the Third Riech. Pincer movement would of been achieved from Ireland and France totally cutting off the UK and ultimate invasion.
History would of been totally different, ya meine damen und herren.
Belfast is part of the North. Which is part of the UK.. Not Ireland. I know because I live here.
@@paulnolan6866 No one here disputed Belfast's location as being in Northern Ireland. This thread of comments refers to how in the 1940s the constitution of the Republic of Ireland claimed Northern Ireland (this has since changed) because they claimed the entire island of Ireland (the name of the entire island ignoring political boundaries). Thus in WW2 it was justifiable for De Valera and still "neutral" when he send aid into the north following it getting bombed by the Germans.
Yes but Northern Ireland was still part of the UK so why wouldn't the rest of the UK send help?
Please keep up with this series!!🙂
A fascinating series!
Excellent synopsis. Balanced, objective and well informed. Thank you
In regards to the British offering reunification, yeah they didn't, the offered that Belfast would have Vote on it after the war which been the UUP would against the deal - so no reunification, Dev was aware of this and decided that it wasn't worth the risk (public opinion and the costs).
Also like the fact that Irish had helmets that look like the German ones, because that the style they used at the start of the war.
@Black Lesbian Poet stop spreading misinformation and inciting hate
@Black Lesbian Poet so you based your view on a person based on what you believe their skin colour to be... Is there a word for that?
Feel like there a word for that
Oh right racism.
@Black Lesbian Poet You don't know their race or gender... so doesn't that make you racist and sexist?
@Black Lesbian Poet I’m black and you make our race look bad
@Black Lesbian Poet I have a question do you feel suppressed
Very interesting video👍
Nice little series you’ve got going
Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were British Dominions in 1939 too. I also highly recommend watching the movie The Siege of Jadotville.
Yes but those countries had been colonized by British people and then kindly asked for a form of independence whilst retaining strong ties to Britain. Look at NZ and Australia's flags. Ireland is different in that it had been invaded by Britain, fought for centuries for independence, suffered greatly under British rule and eventually the country was controversially partitioned and its people divided so there would have been a lot of resistance to joining Britain in a war.
Also Britain had left the country in an awful economic mess and Ireland was not in a financial position to support a war effort an it made complete sense to stay out of it.
I recommend reading about Jadotville as well as the movie. The Irish soldiers saw even more action after that siege and were very impressive.
I believe after Jadotville in the Congo The United Nations adopted a policy of all united Nations peace keeping forces getting permission to defend themselves & the people in their care, hence the massacre in Serbernicina ( excuse my spelling) Bosnia.
@@murpho999 one correction: it was the Norman's who invaded and colonised Ireland, just as they had England and Wales beforehand.
England and Wales were under the rule of French speaking Norman elites in the 12th century.
British rule in Ireland was just a continuation of Norman rule.
I was quite interested in how much of unbiased history was gonna be shown in this video. You guys did a great job. 2 sides to every coin. Irish history is very complicated. A lot of rock and hard place stuff. Well done
The message I got from it was don't f**k with Ireland 😆✌
@@jamesmarrinan3244 One reason for Irish history being so complicated is its relationship with Britain and its eventual independence. One would think that a relatively small island whose inhabitants (with the exception of the Gaeltacht) spoke the same spoke the same language and followed various forms of Christianity would have a straightforward history. Wrong! I think De Valera performed a delicate balancing act during the Emergency.
True however the reason why the Irish speak English is because of the British invasion. The gaeltacht is what we could've been today had the British left us alone.
@@jamesmarrinan3244 Yes, but to be fair, we would have had to learn English in school rather than Irish.
Án amaith, very good. It's a long time since I've written I irish but I think that's how it's spelled. Anyway great vid very informative. I've heard some people be VERY wrong about the Irish stance during the second World War but it seems like you got it all well researched and right
An a mhaith ;)
Great video. I would comment on 4:10, where you mention quite a few people in Ireland at the time of the Easter rising didn't want an independent state : there were a few of course but it's worthwhile to point out that home rule parties were dominant, winning 78% of seats in the 1910 general election. I believe the anger at the rising was more to do with the violence and destruction than major political differences. After all, Sinn Fein more or less took over the home rule seats in 1918 (a video on this would be great) with a number of Rising veterans elected.
Very impressed with your pronunciation! Spot on with everything except Cobh (long o sound, think of the English word "cove"). Especially impressed with "Go raibh maith agat," you said that better than most Irish people can! Just one small thing though, that's addressed to a single person. Change "agat" to "agaibh" (ag-WIV or ag-WIE depending on dialect) for a group.
Or maybe you knew that and that people like me who care about trivial grammar stuff tend to be alone anyway? 😆😂🤣😢😪😭
And "ayawen" for Eoin like it'd not that hard to say
Doesn’t exactly fit since the US wasn’t neutral but what about the undeclared and secret American German naval war of late summer and fall of 1941 ?
A more accurate term would be non-belligerent.
aaaaand wtf has this got to do with Ireland?
oh right. absolutely nothing.
@@evanray8413 the point was about neutral nations that were involved with WWII , my request was maybe to do a video about the time period when the US was calling itself neutral but really wasn’t.
@@philvanderlaan5942
like i said.
@@evanray8413 it’s related because they were both “neutral”. Even if it wasn’t what does it matter?
Fair play to you on your pronounciations of the Irish words and names! They were quite good.
Very interesting thank you
Officially Sweden declared itself neutral.
They allowed Germany through their section of the Baltic, and where generally on at least speaking terms with Nazi Germany.
Through this, they were known to have sent people into Germany to help smuggle out Jews who hadn’t escaped yet, establishing safe houses and handing out Swedish passports people could use to hide in embassies and ultimately flee occupied countries
like all neutrals they had to tread a fine line I've read that the head of the Swedish Navy was married to a German was more sympathetic to the Nazis than he should have been. On the other hand, when a Swedish cruiser reported the Bismarck was heading into the Atlantic one of their intelligence officers informed the Norwegians knowing they would pass the information to Britain.
Sweden was the one of the NAZIs main source of raw materials in WW2. Had they refused to send the materials to Germany , Hitler would have invaded the country.
@@Struieboy Most famous was the high grade Iron Ore from the Swedish mines at Kiruna which was shiiped through the Norwegian port of Narvik down to Germany.
Great video! More could have been said about Irish spies in Britain and Germany, pow camps in Ireland, and even more so about the Irish involvement in the rebuilding effort in Europe following the war, especially in Germany.
Ireland took a lot of German refugees. Lots of kids whose parents had been killed in the War.
SUPERB documentary. I had been looking for a good documentary on a sensitive topic (Ireland's neutrality) but I found a great one. Well done on the pronunciations too (except Cobh, pronounced Cove)
Great video
Great video. By the way, Cobh is pronounced "cove" not "cov."
But fair play like, most people would go "Cob.... uhh... cobihuh"
@@fhearrbod858 He did ask how he did with the pronunciations, and Cobh was the one which stood out to me as well.
@@dyread I know, just saying, he did more well with the pronunciations than most people
@@fhearrbod858 Yes I agree. Thinking about it now I'm wondering how as an Irish person I know how that is pronounced. I'm presuming Geography class because there really isn't anything about it that looks like it could be pronounced Cove.
@@dyread It looks like it should be pronounced "Cuv" if you apply Irish language phonetics.
what's crazy about ww2 here in ireland, we live in the middle of nowhere and my late grandmother had no idea that ww2 existed, yet alone was happening, until years later
Cool! May I ask what part of Ireland you are from ?
@@keaneoldham7932 in the deepest, darkest part of West galway
The extent of the urban bombing campaigns was minimised and My parents, who emigrated to England just after the war in 1945, were appalled at the extent of the damage done to houses in their adopted new home of Manchester. Many Irish people just after the war found ready employment as builders and nurses at a time when jobs were few at home and money very tight.
Two of my Aunts on my mothers side of the family married Englishmen just after the War, one Uncle served in Coastal Command, RAF in a technical role and the other Uncle was in the Merchant Navy, carrying supplies across the Atlantic but he was not old enough at the time of great danger in such roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the worst of the U-boat attacks were over by the time he joined up.
All my family were lucky in both wars, they were too young to be involved at the height of hostilities, same with my grandparents born in the 1880's and just too old to be enlisted in WW1. It is true that many west of Ireland people did not follow or did not know much about the cataclysmic events taking place in Europe at that time. Big news items was rationing and shortages of fuel and mechanical parts. Food was relatively plentiful as most people were farmers or had relatives who were farmers so could source supplies relatively easily. My father remembers seeing bananas and oranges for the first time just after the war and rationing did not stop in England until 1953.
@@magnus4752 I find that very hard to believe.
Great video, did decent on the pronunciations as well like Cobh which is a tricky one (pronounced Cove and not Cob-h like I've heard some people say)
Fantastic video
'...de Valera wanted to respect Ireland's neutrality'
Possibly that was one reason but the main one was that de Valera simply didn't trust Chrchill. In Ireland we tend to be sceptical of 'an Englishman's word is his bond'. Well, most of us ... the DUP is a notable exception and look how well that turned out for them ...
To be fair the DUP have always been a few sticks short of a bundle!
Well also, whether rightly or wrongly (in my view over-simplistically), Dev had been (+ still often is) accused of causing the Civil War.
As J. J. Lee said (in “Ireland 1912 - 1985”), if Dev had joined Britain’s side in WW2, the *very first* result would have been a *2nd* civil war.
To paraphrase Oscar Wilde’s Lady Bracknell, to be accused of causing *one* civil war may be considered a misfortune _ to be accused of *TWO* looks like carelessness. 😉
Lee adds: *”And by 1939, there was NOTHING careless about the foreign policy of Eamon De Valera”.*
And Eire sold Her sovereignty to Germany.. EU.. For a Hand full of Euros.. To be payed back over the next 40yrs.. Brexit is A Bold Move👍🏻🍀 a Blow in Brit living in Eire for past 22yrs..
@@ianosborne188 The EU is an organisation that allows countries to come together to work and discuss policies together and to share a certain amount of sovereignty to solve problems. It is not perfect but it is an attempt to avoid the awful mistakes of the past.
If it is compared to British rule in Ireland where we had to Irexit with a violent war before we could break away from an appalling Empire where the Irish (and many others) had no say, it beats it easily.
Brexit is a great move. The spoiled brat of the EU with all its privileges and optouts took itself out of the EU. They're out and many of us in the EU will do what we can to keep them out.
@@ianosborne188 Please go home.
Been studying Irish history, this a great video, please do a video of Mexico and Brazil's contribution to the war.
Oh that's pretty epic, what parts of Irish history have you covered
@@ahopefor Well from the Dark ages to WW2, learned alot about the Troubles as well.
@@elemperadordemexico That's really cool.
Well read and most informative video .on a
Video on a little covered topic we
L done
Irish guy here, you didnt make any flubs with the pronunciation, nice job, and very good job on the video! I learned a few new things!
On the pronunciation, it was minor but Eoin is pronounced Owen and it’s said as cove instead of how it’s spelt as Cobh
Fucking Gaels... have such a cool and interesting language but god is it hard for me. It’s like French, it goes against my German language programming to not be able to sound a word out
@@Wombat_Astronaut And Craigavon has the accent on the penultimate syllable. The built a "New City" in Armagh in his memory. Quare stuff, thon filum!
@@Wombat_Astronaut I've found that breaking other languages' sounds into pieces helps a lot over time. When I first started learning Irish, I tried committing all the pronunciation rules to memory at once and failed to retain anything. BUT I always remembered how "aoi" is pronounced because I'd already known the name Aoife - so I tried just picking up one new rule at a time, and it worked out great. If you give yourself ample time to focus on one or two sounds before moving onto the next, eventually it adds up and starts feeling almost as natural as pronouncing your native language.
@@Wombat_Astronaut Oldest written vernacular language in Europe and the spelling comes straight from the seventh century (",)
@@Wombat_Astronaut as an Irish person, it’s hard for me too I don’t blame you for having trouble
DeValera also didn’t want to join the war, even if Ireland was unified, because he knew that the Unionists in NI wouldn’t agree with it so he disagreed with it
The Republic could nt digest Ulster . It would have changed the Republic beyond Catholic and rural
No, pronunciation was very good. Thank you for a great video!
One interesting thing is Devalera's view of nationhood. It was following something he had learnt about in the US. A nation must be independent and be seen to be so, to be considered by the international community as truely sovereign. I think it was Kissinger would later talked about a country only being a country when it had it's own national airline.
Basically they were neutral but when it came down to it they were naturally on the UKs side as much as a neutral country could be expected to be. The fact that 50,000 Irish people signed up to fight the Germans proves the Irish people believed the UK was on the right side, 50k is 4-5 divisions which is a significant amount
The figure was 70,000, of which about 9,100 military personnel and 200 civilians were killed.
@MrcabooseVG
The UK Was never on the right side and it is perfectly understandeble why Irland had so much symphaty for Germany and why so many hate imperialism zionist Britain. History is written by the victors and Great Britain has commited so many crimes against humanity that this damn Island should be cursed.
@@bertrecht913 The UK wasn't on the right side? The other side murdered 6 million innocent people, raped female Russian soldiers shortly before killing them and massacred entire French villages so how do you come to that conclusion exactly?
@@bertrecht913 A nazi crying about crimes against humanity. There's a certain amount of irony in that comment.😂
My dad and Uncles served in the RAF in Palestine. They were Irish.
Do you know any war stories? I'd be interested to hear.
@@alfiejob6546 no, he was a 16 y/o cook's helper.
@@avnrulz8587 Ah, okay.
@Charlie@78 I believe the pilot you're thinking of is Paddy Finucane.
@Charlie@78 He was killed after being shot down over the English channel, so it most likely is him you're thinking of.
Pronunciation spot on. Good summation of the period.
Great video thanks for sharing your pronunciation is ok
There's some minor details. This is a good video though, Hilbert.
When you talk about Pro-Treaty and Anti-Treaty, it's really the old Sinn Féin party you're talking about rather than the IRA itself. SF was formed in 1904, I believe, by Arthur Griffith who was a Home Ruler rather than a Republican. Republicans swamped the party around the time of 1916 - alongside the formation of the armed Volunteers in response to the perceived threat of UVF violence from the north.
The UVF was formed in 1914 to defend against the ongoing Home Rule movement before entering the war effort. They also imported guns from - you guessed it - Germany.
The "Peace Treaty" signed between Lloyd George and Collins was done so under Lloyd George's threat of "terrible and immediate war". It wasn't a treaty among equal parties. Collins was sent by his President, De Valera, whom he trusted. Before this Collins had been a mystery to the British.
We fed the UK...
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Mercantile_Marine_during_World_War_II
Hey lad I enjoyed every bit of it....I was born in Georgia Tbilisi. History always matters
Very interesting 👍🏾
thank you so much very few talk about this time, Im irish so i love when ye cover my peoples history lol
Ireland leaned much more towards the Allies. The Irish government relayed the details of any sightings of German U-Boats, ships and aircraft to the British, but not the other way around. Any allied aircrew who crash landed in Ireland were allowed to cross the border into Northern Ireland and back into the fight, while the German's who crash landed where interned in the Curragh prison camp until the end of the day war.
That was probably more to save cash than anything else. If they could have shipped the Germans back easily they would have.
@Charlie@78 Source for this bs please?
@Charlie@78 Allowing them to be used would have result in the ports being obliterated by the Luftwaffe (and Ireland had no air force to defend itself).
@Charlie@78 What you're talking about would have brought the war to Ireland, making it an open target for the Nazis. They probably wouldn't have limited themselves to the three ports either and gone after Dublin and Cork as well - the 'neutrality' would have become meaningless.
@Charlie@78 Britain's refusal to disengage it's molesting fingers from Ireland led to millions of deaths, in Ireland, over hundreds of years. Get out of here you disgusting little troll.
Very good. I really enjoy your content whenever I go on a history buzz. I am from Ireland and I can tell that you go out of your way to pronounce Irish words correctly, not bad bud 👍
Well done very good video
Class video, l love the videos about Ireland being as its my home and country. I would love to see a video of the two Irish Soilders who served in the Waffen SS during Ww2
I knew you were Irish based off the word "class"
I’d also love to see a video of them…lined up against a wall 💥
@@elemdy914 it's history ok, I you don't like history them don't bother watching it
@@cameronburke8002 aye its a common saying 😂😂
@@cathanmccann1769 it's a class saying
Great video! As an Irish person, I really appreciate you giving the context of Irish independence & taking care to be as neutral and objective as possible. One fact that might amuse you is that the British & German airmen who crash landed & were interned in the Curragh (Irish army base) had to be separated due to the British 'having an adverse effect on the health of the German prisoners'! That said, they were only interned during the week...they got passes to go to the local town at the weekend!
Some of them got to study for degrees.
I'm guessing the Germans didn't like the English banter.
Great video! Please cover Sweden next.
I really like this series!!!
Ireland was still part of the British Empire in 1939, but under the Statute of Westminster, as with all other Dominions, they had the right to remain neutral or take part in the war alongside the UK.
You also missed out on the actions of the Dublin government when Belfast and other cities of Ulster were bombed. They sent their fire engines to help put out the fires and rescue those who were trapped. And at the same time they had the German Ambassador on and warned him if there was a repeat of the bombing of Irish citizens (under the Irish Constitution all citizens of Ulster were defacto citizens of the Republic) then a declaration of war would follow. The Germans took this seriously and the bombing stopped.
No the Germans bombed dublin to teach us a lesson for helping the North out
@@marcphelan9883 or more likely the Germans were just lost as the British were interfering with their Y-Gerät system and thought they were over the UK as they were being shot at.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 The Germans bombed Ireland several times during WW2, none were accidents.
barnes considering there was a blackout in both parts of Ireland, although in the south it was well done in places, how can you assert that the Germans bombed the south deliberately. The only confirmed daytime bombing resulting in £9,000 in compensation.
@@neiloflongbeck5705 there were several bomb attacks on Ireland during WW2 but only one which the Nazis paid compensation , the fact that the Nazis had to fly over GB to get to Ireland is proof enough.
Hitler: commits suicide
Ireland: My condolences to Germany
Britain: Why you little shi**
Anything to upset the Brits lol
@@tc2664 No f-that! By this stage the holocaust was official, verified camp after camp by the red cross, charities, and civilians.
Shame on De Valera for this and for the nazi embassy remaining fully operational throughout the war.
De Valera said that....he did not say that on behalf of any Irish with an ounce of decency.
who signed queen victorias book of condolences.
how many innocents did she genocide?
@@oisinmccool3019 how many people did thr British "civilize" what happened in Australia cx where millions of Irish and Scottish nationalists were sent to slave away and forced to kill natives of the colonies?
I love this series. I've learned so much. More please
Great video Hilbert, just one thing "Cobh" is pronounced more like "Cove"
11:40 the Brit’s along with Russia and USA took over Iran (who was also a neutral nation)
The reason de Valera declined to join the war was a bit more complex than this. Even if Ireland had joined the war, the chances of Britain actually surrendering the north would pretty low.
@@kieranfogarty778 Churchill never gave de Valera his “word” in the first place. No such thing happened. He said that ‘if’ Southern Ireland joined the war on the side of the allies Churchill would put Irish unification to the people of Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland wouldn’t have voted for it anyway. It was an offer not a promise.
@@noodlyappendage6729 That was as much as he could do. What was he supposed to do? Offer to forcibly put NI into the rest of Ireland?
But put it this way, by not joining the war against the axis he guaranteed that there wasn't even a chance that Irish reunion would be put to a vote.
Not only that, he gifted the Ulster Unionists another reason to despise Eire.
@@DraigBlackCat he didn’t need to guarantee it, unionism was dominant in Northern Ireland and he pissed off the unionists infuriating Craig that Churchill had offered the North as a pawn.
Just reinforcing the unionist feeling and sentiment that the tory party were not to be trusted on ensuring the preservation of the Union
@@DraigBlackCat he also didn't want to sacrifice tens of thousands of Irish lives for nothing. 50000 irish men died in ww1 and Ireland got nothing for it it would be stupid to make the same mistake twice. As for unionist hatred, they would hate us either way so who cares about their opinion.
Kudos on your pronunciation of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil 👍
This is excellent work Hilbert. Balanced, reasonable and well researched. Thank you from Ireland.