Compare The Experiences Of The Tw Irelands In The Second World War

Compare the experiences of the two Irelands during the Second World War.

When war broke out on 3rd September 1939 the island of Ireland was to present the ultimate contradiction in typical wartime experience. With the 26 counties of Ireland remaining neutral as a result of propitious negotiations between de Valera and the English Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain prior to the outbreak of war, and the 6 occupied counties of Ulster being swept along in the British current of anti-fascism.

Although Ireland had no physical or natural borders, the social and psychological barriers between North and South served to provide diverse experiences for the inhabitants of the island separated only by a matter of miles. The consequence of war was to affect both societies economically, culturally and politically and the effects were to be lasting. This essay will examine these effects and how Eire and Northern Ireland reacted to the ensuing instability of the world’s largest powers. Also, how the decisions made by Britain regarding conscription and export limitations had a knock on affect in the two Irelands both favourably and negatively. What Eire’s neutrality really meant for both sides and the extent to which it was implemented?

The emergence of war meant that the North’s economy boomed. The population of the six counties was increased by more than 300, 000 in the years spanning 1939-44. This increase was due to the military invasion of men and women from Britain and later, America. This increase meant a major boost to spending and local economy as troops bought essential supplies and entertained themselves in cinemas, pubs and theatres. However this was not the case throughout the province, although the economy was being boosted and disposable income increased, unemployment was still high, rising from 64,622 to 71,633 between September 1939 and November 1940 . Opportunities for industrial expansion failed to be acknowledged by the government despite the abundance of labour, no new factories were built.

The geographical detachment of Northern Ireland from Britain and the complex political situation meant that Northern Ireland was somewhat removed from the realities of war. The wounds of insurrection at the prospect of conscription during the last World War were still fresh, and as such Britain was reluctant to enforce compulsory enrolment, however 380, 000 Northern Irish residents enrolled and saw active service. Many of these recruits had signed up at the beginning of the war but as it progressed, numbers decreased. This was mainly the religious split in the province which meant that the population was mainly either Nationalist or Unionist. Nationalist favoured Ireland’s neutral stance as a declaration of their independence from Britain, and Unionists were afraid if they were involved in active service that the way would be laid clear for the I.R.A to reclaim the North. These reasons aside, Britain was also wary of providing military training to an unstable situation, which had the potential to be used to their detriment. In a bid to replenish their armies, the war office held around 20 recruitment drives throughout the North, but to no avail, numbers steadily dwindled to under 600 new recruits per month. Despite the apparent reluctance, the comparatively attractive remuneration package offered, lured men both north and south to fight for Britain.

The main role of Northern Ireland in the British war effort was to provide food exports and munitions and as a result of compulsory tillage farmers almost doubled their acreage under the plough. They provided Britain with Ð'Ј3 million worth of sheep and cattle per year and exported 20% of home produced eggs and 25,000 gallons of Northern Irish milk were exported during four of the six wartime winters (Hennessy, Thomas, A History of Northern Ireland, 1920-1996, p89). The boost to the economy from agriculture meant that industries like linen manufacturing were hit hard. It became more profitable to use land for crops, and limitations on exports meant that linen was less in demand. This led to the closure of mills such as that in Milford in Armagh, which was never to recover.

The Harland and Wolff ship yards however benefited greatly from the war. Between 1940 and 1944 they produced 140 war ships, including 6 aircraft carriers and 500 tanks. They converted or repaired 3,000 naval ships and launched 123 merchant ships. This massive increase in productivity meant that its workforce rose from 17,850 to 24,390 between 1939- 1940 alone (Barton, Brian, 1995).

It seems the Northern Irish war experience was a lot more relaxed than that of the general British public, while rationing was imposed it was less stringent than in mainland Britain. Milk and eggs were available as was sugar. Although everything was less in abundance than before, the close proximity to the neutral South meant that smuggling of more sought after goods was rife. To the British spectator life would appear quite luxurious in contrast.

The attitude that Northern Ireland was well defended by Britain on its right and the Atlantic on its left, led to an almost complacent attitude towards implementing wartime safety measures. Blackout restrictions were poorly implemented, gas masks were rarely carried and any attempt at official evacuation drills ended in fiasco (Barton, Brian, 1995). Belfast had no fighter squadrons, no balloon barrage and only twenty anti-aircraft guns when the war began. There were only four public air-raid shelters, no provision for a smoke screen and no search light provided.

This meant that when the dream was shattered by the blitzing of Belfast on April 15 1941, when 200 German Luftwaffe bombers attacked, 1,100 died, more were injured and 56,000 (half of the houses) in the city were destroyed. Outside of London, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Battle of Britain.

On 4 May there was an even larger German air raid, over 200 aircrafts dropped 95,000 incendiaries on Belfast and 100,000 civilians fled Belfast, approximately one quarter of the population.

Eamon de Valera’s insistence of staying neutral appeared to be due to iron willed republicanism. However the fact is that Ireland did not have the resources to involve itself in such a large scale military campaign. The strength of the army stood at 18,000 at the beginning of the war, although this more than doubled by 1942 (40,535), it still was inadequate to deal with any encounter with Nazi forces as there were severe shortages in supplies and weapons. There was no Navy to speak off and only a marginally better air force.

Politically, �The Emergency’ allowed the Irish government to