See what “IRA” is in other dictionaries. Irish Liberation Army: description, functions, strength The activities of the Irish Republican Army relate to terrorism

The Irish Republican Army, IRA (Irish: Óglaigh na hÉireann, English: Irish Republican Army) is an Irish national liberation organization whose goal is to achieve complete independence of Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, including - and mainly - the reunification of Northern Ireland (part of Ulster) with the Republic of Ireland.
The IRA in its activities relies on the support of part of the Catholic population of Northern Ireland. He considers his main opponents to be those who support the preservation of the province as part of the United Kingdom.
Opposes both British security forces and Protestant paramilitary groups.

Its history dates back to the Easter Rising in Dublin (1916) led by Patrick Pearse, when the Irish Republic was first proclaimed.

The Irish Republican Army was founded in 1919 following the merger of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army. The former were armed units of the Sinn Fein party and the heirs of the Fenian organization, while the latter were created by the hero of the Easter Rising, James Connolly, to defend the labor movement. The IRA took part in the war against the British Army from January 1919 to July 1921, with the most intense fighting lasting from November 1920 to July 1921.

After the conclusion of the Anglo-Irish Agreement and its ratification by the Irish Parliament, the IRA split - a significant part of it, including such prominent figures as Michael Collins, Richard Mulcahy, Owen O'Duffy, took the side of the newly formed Irish Free State, occupying important posts in the National army,” the rest turned their arms against their former comrades. However, the National Army, strengthened by British support, proved stronger, and on May 24, 1923, Frank Aiken gave the order to lay down arms. Those who submitted in 1926 created the Fianna Fáil party, led by Eamon de Valera, which is now the largest party in the Irish Republic. Those who did not comply went underground.

Since 1949, it has moved the center of its activities to Northern Ireland. Since 1969, the IRA switched to urban guerrilla tactics and divided into a number of secret autonomous cells. Some of these groups subsequently switched to purely terrorist methods of struggle both in Northern Ireland and in the rest of Great Britain.

On August 14, 1969, London sent troops to the region to resolve the conflict. The surge in violence began after Bloody Sunday on January 30, 1972, when British soldiers shot at an unarmed civil rights protest in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 18 people.

On May 30, 1972, the IRA announced the cessation of active hostilities. However, since the British government refused to negotiate with the separatists, IRA militants resumed terrorist attacks in Ulster and England.

The main signature of the IRA was a telephone warning 90 minutes before the detonation of a car filled with explosives, which reduced the possibility of casualties, but served as a demonstration of force. One of the main suppliers of weapons to the IRA was Libya. The main targets of the IRA were British army soldiers, police officers and judges.

On November 15, 1985, at Hillsborough Castle (Northern Ireland), an agreement was concluded between Great Britain and the Irish Republic, according to which the Irish Republic received consultant status in resolving issues regarding Northern Ireland.

As a result of lengthy negotiations between Great Britain and Ireland, the Downing Street Declaration was signed on December 14, 1993, which enshrined the principles of non-violence and provided for the formation of a local parliament and government. The implementation of the agreements was frozen due to new IRA terrorist attacks - in particular, in connection with the mortar attack on London Heathrow Airport.

In the summer of 1994, the IRA announced a “complete cessation of all military operations,” but after the conclusion of the British-Irish agreement, which provided for the disarmament of the militants, the organization’s leadership abandoned its obligations.

On April 15, 1998, in Belfast, the British government and the leaders of the main political parties in Northern Ireland signed the Good Friday Agreement, devolving power to local governments and holding a referendum to determine the status of Northern Ireland. Negotiations between Northern Irish Protestants and Catholics were disrupted after another terrorist attack in the Northern Irish city of Omagh on September 10, 1998, which killed 29 people.

In 2000, as a result of the failure of negotiations to disarm the IRA, the Northern Ireland Assembly, which had existed for only two years, was dissolved.

In January 2004, London and Dublin created an independent monitoring commission (IMC), which regularly monitors the situation in Northern Ireland. The commission consists of four people representing Great Britain, Ireland, Ulster and the United States.

In the summer of 2005, the IRA leadership issued an official order to end the armed struggle, surrender weapons and move to a political solution to the conflict. A new stage of negotiations was started.

The commission's latest report (autumn 2006) states that the IRA has undergone dramatic changes over the past year. Most of its main structures have been dissolved, and the number of others has been reduced. According to observers, the organization no longer plans terrorist operations or provides financial assistance to criminal groups in Ulster. Even opponents of the IRA agree with the conclusions of the commission members - for example, Ian Paisley, leader of the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party, admits that “the IRA has made great progress in abandoning terrorist activities.”

In October 2006, in the Scottish city of St. Andrews, negotiations took place between the leaders of all Northern Irish parties, the prime ministers of Great Britain and Ireland on the issue of returning Ulster to the control of local authorities (instead of direct control from London)

Political wing
The political wing of the IRA is Sinn Fein (Irish: Sinn Féin) (leader - Gerry Adams).

The name of the party roughly translates from Irish as “ourselves.” In 1969, the party split into “provisional” (en provisional) and “official” due to a split within the IRA, and the escalation of violence in the region (an outbreak of intercommunal terror on both sides, the dispatch of British troops in support of the Royal Ulster Constabulary).

The “official” ones lean towards Marxism, and are called the “Sinn Féin Labor Party”.

Weapons supply

Libya
It is believed that the main supplier of weapons and financing to the IRA was Libya, which made large arms supplies in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2011, Britain's Daily Telegraph wrote: "For nearly 25 years, virtually every bomb made by the Provisional IRA and its splinter factions contained Semtex from the Libyan shipment unloaded on an Irish pier in 1986."

Irish diaspora in the USA
The main source of weapons and financial assistance to the IRA were, in addition to Libya, Irish Americans, especially the NORAID organization. These channels have been significantly reduced since September 11, 2001.

Allegations of arms supply to the IRA

According to defector Vasily Mitrokhin, the KGB of the USSR provided weapons to the Marxist “official” IRA (the personal diaries of Anatoly Chernyaev contain exactly the opposite information);
In 1982, the CIA was accused of supplying weapons (the CIA itself denies the accusations);
Cuba;
Palestine Liberation Organization;
Hezbollah;
Colombia;
In 1996, the Russian FSB accused the Estonian paramilitary organization Kaiteseliit of supplying weapons;

Stocks IRA

1972, July 21 - Bloody Friday - a series of bombings in Belfast, carried out by the Belfast Brigade of the "Provisional" Irish Republican Army and resulting in the death of 9 people (2 British Army personnel, 1 member of the Ulster Defense Association and 6 civilians). The number of wounded was 130 people.
1974, February 4 - a bomb exploded on a bus transporting British Army and Air Force personnel from Manchester to permanent deployment sites near Catterick and Darlington.
1982, July 20 - Members of the Provisional IRA detonated two bombs during a parade of British troops in Hyde Park and Regent's Park. The explosions killed 22 soldiers and injured more than 50 soldiers and civilians.
1983, December 17 - explosion at a London supermarket.
1984 - assassination attempt on British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Brighton.
1993 - car bombing near Warington Shopping Center.
1994, March 11 - shelling of Heathrow Airport (London) from mortars.
2000, September 20 - a shot from an RPG-22 grenade launcher on the 8th floor of the MI6 building.

After the outbreak of the First World War, the leader of the Irish Home Rule Party called on the Irish Volunteers to fight on the side of England. And there was a split among the Volunteers. The most liberal ones were recruited into the English army, and among the rebels the most radical republicans remained, who began to plan an armed uprising.

The Irish Republican Army begins its history with the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, under the leadership of Patrick Pearce, when the Irish Republic was first proclaimed.

The core IRA was founded in 1919 following the merger of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army. The former were armed units of the Sinn Fein party (which later became the political wing of the army) and the heirs of the Fenian organization, and the latter were created by the hero of the Easter Rising, James Connolly, to protect the labor movement. The IRA took part in the war against the British Army from January 1919 to July 1921, with the most intense fighting lasting from November 1920 to July 1921. According to the IRA leaders, their group consisted of more than 100 thousand people, but in fact no more than 15 thousand people were involved in combat and terrorist operations. The head of the IRA reconnaissance and sabotage unit, Collins, at one time created a closed organization, “The Squad,” which destroyed police officers. They also attacked the police barracks, killing four counterintelligence officers of the Dublin police. 16 barracks were reduced to a pile of smoking rubble, and 29 were badly damaged. The British response led to the conflict breaking out with renewed vigor.

The then British Prime Minister David George, who considered the IRA “bandits and murderers,” nevertheless realized that the colossal costs of a war with the rebellious Irish could have a very negative impact on his political career and he had to make concessions. King George V himself in Belfast suddenly called on the parties to cease fire at least for a while and sit down at the negotiating table. Long and hard bargaining for independence led to the fact that the IRA achieved its right to arms, but during the truce both sides promised not to leave their barracks. At the top of the IRA, however, they believed that all this was temporary and were gathering new forces for the war.

After England and Ireland entered into a peace agreement, the IRA split into liberals and terrorists. A significant part of the once warlords, such as Michael Collins, Richard Mulcahy, Owen O'Duffy, took important positions in the new government, securing seats in the cabinets. Orthodox comrades turned their guns against their former brothers in arms. The "National Army", with the support of the British military contingent, was able to quickly suppress the discontent of its opponents. As a result, at the end of May 1923, the separatist commander Fran Aiken was forced to give his people the order to surrender. But they did not give up and in 1926, on the initiative of Eamon de Valera, the Fianna Fáil party was created, which became the largest party in Ireland. The irreconcilables went underground.

A new outbreak of conflict began in 1954, when members of the organization attacked a number of Royal Armed Forces installations in Ireland and England. The biggest sabotage was the attack on the barracks at Arbofield in England. Law enforcement agencies and politicians again took on the IRA. In 1955, a number of Sinn Fein MPs were arrested. The Irish have risen again. By mid-1969, Belfast was in flames with riots between Protestants and Catholics. The conflict was so violent that the British sent troops into Ulster to maintain order. The IRA clashed with the Orange Order and its Protestant organizations. During those clashes, more than 4 thousand people died on both sides, of which slightly more than half were civilians. The conflict has not been resolved to this day and has stalled only at the Belfast Agreement, which declares that the incident has been settled. But it's just paper.

Meanwhile, the IRA itself began to split into several organizations.

The “Provisional” IRA, which did not agree with the position regarding the government of Northern Ireland, in 1969 announced a severance of relations with the “Official IRA” and escalated the conflict.

The "Official" IRA, opposing the "Provisional IRA", considers itself the official political wing of the Sinn Féin party.

The “continuous” IRA is another fragment of the “temporary” ones who left due to disagreements in participation in official government bodies.

The “true” IRA appeared in 1997, through the efforts of officer Michael McKevitt, and was created exclusively for terror. Their attacks continue to this day.

According to current data, today the IRA includes about 400 first-line activists, and more than a thousand second-line activists (reservists). They are volunteers and live in Northern Ireland. The IRA has cells in the UK, USA, Canada and a number of other countries.

The main sources of weapons for the IRA are the United States and Libya (which, due to current events, has ceased to be a stable supplier). In addition, the IRA receives assistance from the Basque terrorist organization ETA.

Currently, the IRA has signed a ceasefire agreement with England. But these are only temporary measures. And if you don’t take any active action, then sooner or later the IRA will take up arms again.

The IRA originates from the Irish Citizen Army of J. Connolly and the National Volunteers (a military organization under the Sinn Fein party, founded in 1905). The IRA is a Sinn Féin military organization that has had this name since 1919, when the Irish Volunteers were subordinate to the Irish Minister of War. In 1917-20, the IRA carried out guerrilla operations against the British in Ireland: they launched attacks on barracks and seized weapons. In 1919-20, the police were forced, under pressure from the IRA, to concentrate in large populated areas. On the night of April 4-5. 1920 The IRA launched an operation to destroy 153 tax offices in 32 counties; end of April - 182 attacks on police stations; 14.5.1920 - 70 barracks were burned; July 1920 - seizure of government mail. M. Collins prepared and organized actions to destroy English spies on November 21, 1920. IRA in the 1920s adhered to non-Marxist socialism. In the fall of 1920, in response to repression by the English police, the Minister of War of the Irish Republic, Cathal Brugga, decided to transfer military operations to the territory of the metropolis. The operations were led by the head of the technical service, IRA O'Connor. The IRA in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle struck industrial and commercial facilities, communications. The militants carried out terrorist attacks against officers, police and soldiers returning from Ireland - “so that the British felt the same thing that the Irish felt throughout the country during the punitive atrocities"; attacked the country's leaders, government buildings; organized operations to disrupt communications and electrical networks. The militants prepared attempts on the lives of Winston Churchill and David Lloyd George, but were captured.

After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on December 6, 1921, which granted Ireland dominion rights and split the country, the radical republicans of the IRA, led by O'Connor, continued to fight. In 1922, the IRA opposed the separation of Ulster from Ireland and launched military operations against the governments of Britain and Eire. Summer 1922 - murder of Wilson, a military adviser in Ireland. In 1922, the British and Irish governments suppressed the movement. The leaders - O'Connor and Mellows - were shot. In 1923-32 the IRA went underground. In the 1930s launches attacks on police and judicial institutions, wealthy Irish people under the slogan of the fight for the republic. In 1935-36 the IRA carried out an explosive campaign against customs posts and police stations located on the Ulster border. In 1936 it was outlawed, the reason for which was the murder in County Cork of Vice Admiral G. Sommerville, committed by an IRA militant. In 1938, a terrorist campaign was carried out: on the night of November 28, 1938 - a house explosion near Castlefin in County Donegon (3 people were killed). The next night several customs posts were burned. On the eve of World War II, the idea was spreading in Ireland to take advantage of the upcoming military conflict to win complete independence from Britain. Maurice Twomey said: “Britain should not get help from Ireland. England's difficulties are Ireland's chance. The next war is inevitable, and Ireland must take advantage of it, fighting not for but against England! On the eve of the war, the IRA leadership developed Plan C, the goal of which was to achieve Irish independence. As part of the plan, on January 15, 1939, an ultimatum from the underground republican government and the IRA was published (it was also sent to Roosevelt, Mussolini, Hitler, the English and Irish governments) (signed by S. Russell, S. Hayes, etc.): “The Government of the Irish Republic is considering those in "English troops in Ulster as a hostile army demands their immediate evacuation and the English government's refusal to interfere in the internal affairs of Ireland." The response time was 4 days. “Otherwise,” the ultimatum said, “we will interfere in the economic and military life of your country, just as England interfered in our life.” There was no satisfactory answer, and on January 17, 1939, a terrorist campaign began that lasted more than 8 months. The IRA carried out a series of explosions of energy, communications, communications, and urban facilities in the metropolis (excluding Scotland and Wales). Up to 1,000 people took part in these actions, and 300 explosions were carried out. The Terror of 1939 was also carried out using time bombs placed in parcels and suitcases. As a result of the activities of the IRA in 1939, 7 people were killed and 137 were injured (continued with variable activity until the fall of 1941). S. Hayes, the IRA chief of staff who led the operations, was shot on 8/9/1941, after which the IRA ceased active activities.

Since 1954, a new upsurge has been observed: in 1954-55, individual actions were taken (attacks on military barracks in Arborfield (England) in 1955, etc.). In 1955, two Sinn Féin MPs were arrested and stripped of their parliamentary seats for an attack on a military depot. The social base of the protest is workers, artisans, intellectuals, office workers, and farm laborers. The protest was caused by the activities of the British who had invaded the country and seized a dominant position in the economic and cultural spheres. But the English can be driven out by force of arms, which must be obtained from military depots and police offices. The IRA has been actively fighting for the reunification of Ulster with Ireland since 1956, under the slogan: “Defeat the state, army, police and auxiliary forces.” The IRA Army Council stated: "Resistance to British rule 4 in occupied Ireland has entered a decisive stage." Since 1956, more than 600 raids have been carried out. The targets included weapons depots, radio stations, customs and police offices on the Ulster border. In 1957, the British authorities carried out mass arrests. The campaign of terror ended in 1959, which was officially announced in February. 1962. In the 1950s, unlike in 1939, Irish civilians, military personnel and police were not attacked. Since 1962, the leadership of the IRA reoriented itself towards mass activities. In June-July 1969 there were street clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Derry and Belfast. To prevent bloodshed, the government of the United Kingdom in Aug. 1969 brought army units into Northern Ireland. Initially, the presence of the army in Ulster was positively received by the mass of Catholics, but the army was soon compromised by the pro-Protestant position. It was mainly Catholics who were subjected to repression, often without following formal procedures. In 1970, the IRA split into two organizations: the so-called. "official IRA" and "temporary IRA". The split occurred over the issue of the use of armed violence in the political struggle. The “Official IRA” assumed the use of weapons only for the purposes of self-defense. The “Provisional IRA” was focused on conducting active terrorist activities, including on the territory of England.

The view that is now popular in some circles that terrorism is a purely Eastern phenomenon and necessarily associated with Islam, or rather, with its incorrect interpretation, is refuted by European experience. A radical organization has been operating in the United Kingdom for many decades, which aims to separate one of its parts from Great Britain. The members of this structure were never shy about their means, terrifying millions of residents of Foggy Albion. The name of this terrorist organization, which has recently slowed down, but is still on everyone’s lips, is the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

From the very beginning, the IRA set itself an ambitious goal: to achieve complete independence of Northern Ireland (Ulster) from the United Kingdom, and most importantly, the reunification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. The activities of the IRA were initially underground and associated with violence, notes Alexander Tevdoy-Burmuli, associate professor of the Department of European Integration at MGIMO:

"This is one of the elements of the Northern Irish political radical camp, which is fighting for the separation of Northern Ireland from Great Britain. There are legal elements there, and there are illegal ones, such as the IRA. It was created at the beginning of the 20th century in the context of the armed uprising that began in 1916 in Ireland against Great Britain. Then the so-called "Easter Rising" begins in Dublin, and the IRA arises in 1919 as an armed force of the Irish who fight against British rule. Then the Anglo-Irish agreement was signed, according to which the Republic of Ireland was created, but part of it remained "as part of Great Britain. Accordingly, since the late 20s, the IRA continues to fight against British rule, but not in Ireland as such, but in Northern Ireland."

In the late 1960s, the IRA split into a number of well-covered autonomous cells. And some groups switched to purely terrorist methods of struggle in Ulster and the rest of Great Britain. Director of the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements Boris Kagarlitsky said that the second life of the IRA was associated with the economic crisis in the late 70s of the last century:

“Against the backdrop of the worsening economic situation in Northern Ireland, relations between Catholics and Protestants worsened. As a result, the IRA began to actively recruit supporters among the impoverished, marginal part of the Catholic population. Catholics were losing their jobs faster, and in this sense there was a ready social base for recruiting militants. In "As a result, during the 70s we saw almost a war in Northern Ireland: murders, bombings, shootings, clashes between militants and police. British regular troops were sent there."

But then the situation changed. The intensity of passions has subsided, including due to the concerted actions of the British authorities. London did its best to suppress nationalist sentiments in Northern Ireland. He is doing this now, attracting politicians who previously stood on a radical platform to various government bodies, including central ones. Financial flows are flowing from the British capital to ensure job creation and social stability in the region. In the early 2000s, the leaders of the hardline wing of the IRA received long prison sentences. However, this organization still has several hundred members. Their last attack was launched in 2010. The precedent of Scotland, which managed to achieve a referendum on its being part of the United Kingdom, inspired many supporters of the separate existence of Ulster. And let the Scots say “no” to the supporters of sovereignty. The main thing is that they had the opportunity to speak out. So the slogan “Give Ireland back to the Irish,” voiced in one of Paul McCartney’s songs, has still not lost its relevance.

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Introduction

The history of the subjugation of the Irish to newcomers from a neighboring island dates back to the 12th century, but the final transformation of Ireland into a colony occurred during the period of the English bourgeois revolution of the 17th century. Desmond Greaves. Irish crisis/G. Desmond. - M., 1974. P.15.

The most important means of enslaving the Irish people, a weapon for strengthening colonial rule since the time of the English conquest, was the split between Ireland and the Irish. Colonization marked the beginning of the religious schism of the Emerald Isle. The conquerors of Catholic Ireland were Protestants and also Episcopalians from England. Desmond Greaves. Irish crisis/G. Desmond. - M., 1974. P. 7. Catholicism - in the conditions of religious persecution, the underground faith of the conquered people - became a symbol of national resistance, a banner of national consolidation and protest both in the reserve of the colonialists - Ulster, and in the South of Ireland. The national liberation movement in Ireland has always been a natural phenomenon. And the appearance of the Irish Republican Army was not surprising.

The history of the IRA goes back about a hundred years, it is the brainchild of the national liberation struggle of the Irish people. At the cradle of the IRA there were two military organizations - the “Irish Citizen Army”, formed on the initiative of J. Connolly from workers during the famous Dublin strike of 1913, and the “National Volunteers”, a petty-bourgeois military formation in defense of Home Rule. Ed Moloney. A secret history of the IRA/ Moloney E. - op.cit. p. - 280. In the early days of the Irish national liberation revolution of 1919-1923, these volunteer armed organizations were proclaimed the Irish Republican Army. She was subordinate to the Minister of War of the Irish Republic, headed by K. Brugga. The IRA was poorly armed and trained, but strong in its connection to the people. Workers, small tenants, farm laborers, farmers, small traders, and teachers fought in its ranks. Increasingly, groups of volunteers from tenants and small farmers arose and began to fight the British on their own initiative. Unlike the British army, the IRA was organized territorially. The main centers of IRA offensives were the southern and western regions of the island - Cork, Kerry, Galway, and in the east - Dublin. By the 1920s, the police, whose losses were increasing (and along with it the fear of a surprise attack by IRA troops), began to evacuate from small villages and hamlets and flock to large populated areas. Entire regions were practically freed from British rule. Ed Moloney. A secret history of the IRA/ Moloney E. - op.cit. p. - 54-56 Every day of the anti-colonial war honed the IRA’s tactics, its actions turned into a systematic, well-organized campaign on a national scale. Zimulina L.A. The Irish Republican Army and the Ulster Crisis// Socio-political development of capitalist countries in modern times. - Vladimir, 1988. - pp. 22-24. The IRA began to wage a siege of the English garrisons as if according to a single plan. The intended targets of the siege - military barracks, police stations, tax offices - were primarily cut off from the outside world. When the IRA found itself in a difficult situation, it could always count on help, while the police and troops could always expect opposition. Such passive public pressure led to mass refusal to serve in the police, which in turn caused a decrease in the effectiveness of the royal forces. Jackson T.A. Ireland's struggle for independence./ T.A. Jackson. - M., 1949. - P.342-345

In general, the IRA represents not only a paramilitary organization, but an entire act of protest by the Irish people for self-determination and independence.

The purpose of our course work is to study the Irish Republican Army from its formation to the 60-70s of the 20th century. To accomplish this, we need to solve a number of research problems.

Identify the origins of the Irish Republican Army

Study the activities of the Irish Republican Army in the first half of the 20th century

Explore the ideology of nationalism as interpreted by the Irish Republican Army

Study the activities of the Irish Republican Army at the turn of the 60-70s of the XX century

The assigned tasks determined the structure of our work. It consists of Introduction, main part, conclusion and sources used. The first chapter restores the history of the creation of the IRA and its active activities in the first half of the 20th century, the second chapter is devoted to the issue of nationalism, the third chapter became key. It contains an attempt to analyze the Irish Republican Army at the turn of 1960-1970.

To implement these tasks, it was necessary to study modern scientific literature on the topic. First, there is Desmond Greaves's monograph on Irish exploration. Desmond Greaves. Irish crisis. M., 1974 The author examines in detail the issue of the Irish crisis, paying special attention to the study of the history of the creation of the IRA.

The second book is T.A. Jackson, examines the history of Ireland's struggle for independence. Jackson T.A. Ireland's struggle for independence. M., 1949 The work reflects not only historical facts, but also an assessment of the problems of Ireland, with its prerequisites and further development.

Finally, a book in English written by E. Moloney turned out to be extremely valuable for our topic. Ed Moloney. A secret history of the IRA. London. 2002 This source is the cornerstone for the study of the Irish Republican Army, as, being written in 2002, it examines and analyzes all aspects of the IRA's activities that have not previously received sufficient attention. The articles by L.A. were also useful. Zimulina, dedicated directly to the Irish Republican Army and its connection with the Ulster Crisis. Zimulina L.A. The Irish Republican Army and the Ulster Crisis // Socio-political development of capitalist countries in modern times. - Vladimir, 1988 // Irish Republican Army // Questions of history. - M., 1973. No. 8.

The Northern Irish crisis of the last twenty years proves that the anti-imperialist struggle in modern conditions increasingly covers the sphere of national relations in developed capitalist countries.

1. Origins of IIrish Republican Army

1.1 Predecessors of the IRA

The history of Ira goes back about 100 years. At the cradle of the IRA there were two military organizations - the Irish Citizen Army (CA) and the National Volunteers (NV). During the days of the famous Dublin strike of 1913, J. Connolly formed transport workers armed with batons who guarded the stands of strike rallies from attacks by the police and civil servants. Zimulina L.A. Irish Republican Army // Questions of history. - M., 1973. No. 8. P.130 In October 1913, its fighters in dark green uniforms and hats with lowered brims marched through the streets of Dublin. On November 25, 1913, at a meeting in the Rotunda (Dublin), it was decided to form the organization of the National Volunteers, the fighting forces of the urban petty-bourgeois strata. Armed volunteer detachments were formed to protect Home Rule (self-government within the British Empire) and the integrity of the country in opposition to the Ulster gangs of E.G. Carson. Ed Moloney. A secret history of the IRA/ Moloney E. - op.cit. p. - 34.

Lord Carson, relying on the landlords of the big bourgeoisie of Ulster, as well as the material support of the English Conservatives, organized resistance to Home Rule under the pretext of protecting the “independence” of the Protestant population of Northern Ireland. In Ulster, signatures were collected for a “covenant” - a special obligation to resist Home Rule.

For almost a year, the English government quietly observed the arming and training of Carson's gangs. But this position changed dramatically when GA and NV detachments began to form. On 4 December 1913, Asquith's coalition government banned the importation of arms and ammunition into Ireland. The formation of the NV detachments took only 1-2 weeks. The actual leadership, albeit gradually, was carried out by the neo-Fenians - the successors of the work of the Fenians, the petty-bourgeois revolutionaries. Gribin N.P. Tragedy of Ulster./ N.P.Gribin. - M., 1983.- P.127. This time they were led by P. Pierce, a 34-year-old teacher, lawyer and patriotic poet. The Citizen Army, branches of the United Irish League (the so-called Parnellites led by J. Redmond), and the American Hibernians (members of the Catholic order from among Irish immigrants to the USA) expressed a desire to join the organization of National Volunteers in full force. However, the volunteer leadership insisted on individual recruitment on a strictly territorial basis, trying to maintain control over the new armed forces in their hands. Then the GA began to arm itself and get equipment on its own Zimulina L.A. Irish Republican Army // Questions of history. - M., 1973. No. 8. P.131. .

Taking up the challenge of the Ulster extremists, artisans and traders, clerks and teachers, small entrepreneurs and university teachers joined the ranks of the NV in droves, declaring: “ I, the undersigned, wish to join an organization of Irish Volunteers founded to promote and protect the rights and freedoms of all the people of Ireland without distinction of religion, class or political opinion.» Ed Moloney. A secret history of the IRA/ Moloney E. - op.cit. p. -207. . They demanded that J. Redmond, who headed the Irish faction in the English parliament, achieve a ban on the import of weapons by Carson's gangs. In response, Redmond stipulated that 25 members of the Home Rule Party of his choice as party leader should be included in the volunteer executive body. Pierce and some of his supporters protested, but most accepted Redmond's condition.

Both NV and GA regularly conducted field exercises. The authorities thought it best not to interfere, and the police were so accustomed to these maneuvers that they did not show much alarm even when Connolly’s fighters staged a real siege of Dublin Castle and stopped only at its fortress walls, to which assault ladders were placed.

However, the motley composition of the NV did not contribute to the strong unity of this organization. And the outbreak of the First World War divided the true and imaginary patriots of Ireland. The Home Rule Bill was postponed until after the war. The recruitment of Irishmen into the English army began. Meanwhile, immediately after England entered the war, the leader of the Home Rulers, Redmond, in a fit of “sudden generosity,” declared in the House of Commons that the government could withdraw soldiers from Ireland and entrust its defense to volunteers. Jackson T.A. Ireland's struggle for independence. / T.A.Jackson. - M., 1949. - P.329.

And speaking to volunteers at a rally on September 20, 1914, he stated that their duty was to fight in the war for England in order to “defend the rights, freedoms and religion in this country.” From conciliation with British imperialism, the Home Rule party moved on to direct betrayal of the national liberation movement.

Pierce and other Republicans on the Volunteer Executive Committee sharply denounced Redmond's position and expelled his appointees from the committee. They called for a convention to elect a new executive committee. Redmond responded with a counter-call to boycott the convention. The volunteer organization split into Republicans and Redmondites in September 1914. Most were still following Redmond. Of the 200 thousand people on the NV lists, only 12 thousand responded to the call of the Republicans and sent delegates to the convention, which opened on November 25, 1914 and proclaimed the creation of a new organization - the Irish Volunteers. But the Redmondites quickly began to lose their superiority: in April 1915, their number was only 1/10 of the original, and a year later this organization consisted of only a few companies. The number of “Irish Volunteers” grew steadily, reaching 18 thousand people, although a quarter of them were equipped with weapons. Connolly’s “Civil Army” was even worse equipped with weapons: it was barely enough for 200 people, although there were tens of times more people who wanted to join the Civil Army. Many Dublin workers joined the Irish Volunteers just to get weapons. Soon, both of these organizations began to hold joint parades and exercises. In fact, since the autumn of 1914, a militant alliance of leftist movements emerged that fought the British colonial regime 10.

The Fenians who stood at the leadership of the Irish Volunteers were not united in determining the tactics of the struggle. The Old Fenians, whose representative was T. Clarke, put forward at the beginning of the war the traditional slogan “England’s difficulties are a chance for Ireland,” deciding to raise an uprising, relying on help with money from the United States and weapons from Germany. The Gaelic Republicans (another wing of the Fenians), the most prominent representative of which was Pearse, supported the decision to revolt, but were skeptical about help from Germany, preferring to rely on their own, Irish forces. The leader of the Irish proletariat, Connolly, also saw a favorable moment to strike at British imperialism in the outbreak of the World War. But unlike the petty-bourgeois Fenian democrats, he hoped to raise a general uprising of the masses in the name of socialism as the ultimate goal of the movement. After the forced departure to America in October 1914 of the popular people's leader J. Larkin, Connolly became the de facto leader of the transport workers' union, the commander of the GA and the editor of the Worker's Republic newspaper, which he printed on his own printing press in Liberty Hall under guard citizen army soldier with loaded guns and screwed bayonets

The socialist republican teaching fearlessly and tirelessly disseminated by Connolly also influenced the left-wing leaders of the Fenians - P. Pearce, T. McDonagh and S. McDermott. The Fenians initiated Connolly into the secret plans of the uprising, which was decided to take place during Easter week 1916. Connolly joined their plan and became a co-opted member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood's military directorate. The plan for the uprising was known to a narrow circle of people. Even the chief of staff of volunteers, E. McNeil, did not know about him. The plan was based on the fact that all Connolly's volunteers and fighters were ready to carry out a coup d'etat, and if the uprising lasted for two weeks, the general public would join him

The uprising was planned to begin on Easter Sunday, April 23. Volunteers and GA fighters were ordered to appear on the Easter “weekend” for the next maneuvers, carrying a three-day ration with them. On the eve of the speech, members of the volunteer executive committee Clark, Pierce and McDermott stunned the nominal leader of the fighters, McNeil, with the message that instead of a festive appearance in the field, a real uprising was planned. They believed that they would be able to win him over to their side, and in case of failure, he would not be able to interfere with anything. However, they were sadly mistaken. It was McNeil who dealt the first blow to the uprising by placing in all Sunday newspapers an announcement signed by him as chief of staff about the cancellation of all maneuvers scheduled for Easter Sunday and sending telegrams with the same content to all areas. Volunteer units on the ground were in disarray. The Dublin rebels could now rely only on their own strength.

Sunny Monday, April 24, did not seem to foretell any trouble for Dublin Castle. Festive crowds filled O'Connell Street and tightly surrounded the tram stop at Nelson's Column. Few people paid attention to the armed detachment of GA fighters in dark green wide-brimmed hats and Irish volunteers in sepo-green uniforms, which had already become familiar to Dubliners, appearing from the Abbey side. street. The detachment headed towards the post office building. Having caught up with it, the soldiers stopped on command, turned their front to the facade, closed their bayonets and suddenly rushed into the building. A few seconds later, glass fell from the windows, employees and visitors were taken out through the back door, above the pediment of the house a green banner with the letters "Irish Republic" gleaming in gold in the sun waved, and two green, white and orange republican flags fluttered from the sides. A group of military leaders emerged from the main entrance of the post office. One of them, in the uniform of an Irish Volunteer general, Pierce stood on the steps of the stairs , began to read an appeal to the people: "Irish people and Irish women! In the name of God and past generations, from whom she received her ancient tradition of national existence, Ireland, in our person, calls on its children to follow its flag and to fight for its freedom!" The appeal was signed by the President of the Irish Republic, Commander-in-Chief of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) Pearce and the Vice-President of the Republic, Commander of the Dublin Military District Connolly. This was followed by the signatures of Clark, McDermott, McDonagh and other rebel leaders. As soon as Pearse read the address, the crackle of rifle shots was heard on the other side of the River Liffey, as if to confirm that the Irish Republic had been proclaimed by force of arms. This was the actual birthday of the IRA, although it has only been called that since 1919.

Already in December 1916, volunteer detachments began to form again. They were created by the “Red Easter” fighters who escaped from prison dungeons. Despite all government orders and arrests, volunteers again marched in their uniforms along the city streets, although they were now armed only with clubs. In October 1917, a coalition of political parties fighting for Irish independence was formed, which included Sinn Fein. The post of party president was taken by I. De Valera, who had just been released from prison. Sinn Fein also took over the leadership of the volunteers. Attacks on military barracks and police stations and the seizure of weapons and ammunition became a constant occurrence. In December 1918, the Shinfeiners won the elections of Irish deputies to the English parliament. But the elected deputies did not go to London, but met on January 21, 1919 at Dublin City Hall and proclaimed themselves the Constituent Assembly. The city hall, where parliament met, was guarded by a detachment of volunteers. The country was declared a republic, a national parliament (Doyle), government, and local governments were created. The Irish Republican Army was the name given to the organization of Irish volunteers that was now subordinate to the War Ministry of the Republic and headed by K. Brugga.

1. 2 IRA activities in the first halfXXcentury

In the autumn of 1920, the IRA was reorganized along the lines of the Boer Commandos (some IRA officers had fought on the Boer side in Bride's Irish Brigade in their youth during the Boer War). Unlike the British army, the IRA was organized on a territorial basis. The county constituted the territory for manning the division, the commander of which was responsible directly to the General Staff. The division was divided into brigades, the brigade into battalions, the battalion into companies of 20 to 50 people each. These companies became famous as the IRA's "flying squads". They moved mainly on bicycles, which ensured their mobility. Knowing the terrain very well, the IRA fighter rode a bicycle over mountains and paths where military trucks could not pass. The Republicans kept in touch with each other through members of Cumman na Mban (the women's organization of the IRA), who often took up arms and fought alongside their husbands and brothers. But the IRA's actions were complicated by the fact that, in addition to superiority in weapons, the British authorities had in Ireland a complex intelligence apparatus of spies, informants and "intelligence officers." The backbone of these forces remained the Royal Irish Police, which was well known to the population of that or other area. Additionally, the British colonialists used degraded social elements, as well as military officers, for the same purposes.

On January 11, IRA officers established a Military Council headed by O'Connor. The Council stated that the IRA is and remains the army of a republic, not a dominion. At the end of March, on the initiative of the Military Council, more than 200 delegates from IRA brigades were convened in Dublin. They came to convention in full military uniform and with weapons. The axis revealed that 80% of the IRA fighters were opponents of the treaty. The convention decided not to obey the Collins government and fight for the republic by all possible means. The executive committee it elected declared that it was an enemy of the “four Irish governments": Doyle, who approved the treaty; the provisional government of the dominion; Dublin Castle (English administration) and the government of Ulster. The Executive Committee thereby set as its task the preservation of the unity of the country. Meanwhile, Collins feverishly recruited mercenaries into the “army of order”, which already included those 20% of the IRA units , who came out in support of the treaty. England generously supplied her with weapons, ammunition and money. Demobilized soldiers of the British service, who now found themselves out of work in their homeland, were also recruited here; former Irish police officers suspended from service by the IRA; finally, the desperate unemployed, whose ranks during the years of the economic crisis of 1920-1921. amounted to 130 thousand people.

There were two armies confronting each other in the country. The IRA fighters began to be called “irregulars” or “reds”; soldiers of the dominion army - “regulars”, or “freestaters” (from the English name of the dominion “Irish Free State”). The Catholic hierarchy of Ireland came out in support of the “army of order”.

In the spring of 1922, land-poor farmers and farm laborers, among whom were many IRA fighters, began to seize landlords' lands and refuse to pay rent. In County Luitrim, peasants under the leadership of IRA captain J. Gralton divided the landlord's estates among themselves. The wave of seizures spread from the west of the island to the south, southwest and southeast. However, in this agrarian war, IRA fighters acted spontaneously, at their own peril and risk. The army executive committee continued to defend the “purity” of the struggle for the republic and dissociated itself from the social struggle of the masses. England was extremely concerned about the new exacerbation of the “Irish disease” and sought to cure it through the hands of the provisional dominion government. However, the new revelry of the Orangemen in Ulster, who staged another series of pogroms against the Catholic population in the spring of 1922, temporarily confused the maps of London.

The IRA was unable to resist the well-armed and trained Dominion army and in the fall of 1922 switched to guerrilla methods of warfare. However, its support among the masses began to weaken, because the leadership of the IRA still did not dare to combine the national struggle with the class struggle. Only by uniting the national and social movement of peasants and workers into one powerful stream could the republic be saved. This is exactly the conclusion that the Irish communists came to when they proposed that the IRA executive committee immediately adopt a program of social reforms. This was also demanded by the most consistent and far-sighted leader of the IRA, L. Mellows, when in September 1922, from prison dungeons, he sent a famous message to the IRA headquarters, inviting the Executive Committee to address the people with a new revolutionary appeal, which would be based on the program of the Irish communists. However, the left wing of Sinn Fein, which stood at the leadership of the IRA, refused to lead the social struggle, thereby revealing the limit of its revolutionary nature, and doomed the republic to death. On April 27, 1923, the president of the underground republic, De Valera, appealed to the IRA to stop the fight, but not by laying down, but by hiding their weapons. The IPA went underground. The dominion regime established itself as an outpost of British imperialism.

The events of 1931 revealed far-reaching socio-political divisions in the IRA. Secretly meeting in September, delegates from various IRA units created the political organization Saor Eire (Free Ireland). Its goal was to create a new leadership of the working class and the working peasantry; overthrowing the oppression of British imperialism and the Irish bourgeoisie; the formation of the Irish Republic based on the socialization of the means of production, distribution and exchange. However, Saor Eire did not have any strong ties with the vanguard of the labor movement. Its leaders campaigned against members of the organization joining trade unions and talked about a “new Christian social religion” in the future republic. The bulk of the IRA members went with Fianna Fáil. The dominion government, headed by W. Cosgrave, in an atmosphere of intensified class struggle and intensified attacks by the IRA in the fall of 1931, outlawed all progressive organizations in the country, including the IRA and Saor Eire. However, despite the terror, the parliamentary elections of 1932 brought victory to the opposition Fianna Fáil party. The government was headed by De Valera. The IRA came out of hiding. She saw her main task in eliminating the split in the country, that is, in reuniting Ulster with it.

During the period of the fight against the Nazis, the process of movement to the left in the ranks of the IRA continued. This was evidenced by the fact that at the founding meeting of the Communist Party of Ireland at Dublin's Connolly House in July 1933, the majority of participants were members of the IRA. This was also evidenced by the formation of the Republican Congress organization within the IRA in September 1934, which contrasted its program with the actions of the right-wing leadership of the IRA, which supported the De Valera government in its reactionary domestic policy under the slogan of “giving the government a chance” and expelling communists from the ranks of the IRA. The manifesto issued by the Republican Left in April 1934 stated: “We are convinced that the republic of a United Ireland cannot be established except through a struggle that sweeps capitalism out of its way... Therefore, the willingness to serve the republic which is expressed in words by leaders bound by close ties with Irish capitalism, can only mislead sincere republicans and distract them from the struggle for freedom." The Communist Party was invited to the congress, which joined it as a section, considering the “Republican Congress” as a step towards creating a united anti-imperialist front.

Busy with the internal struggle against the “reds,” the petty-bourgeois leadership of the IRA remained, however, faithful to its previous course - the armed struggle for the republic (Ireland was still a dominion) and the unification of the country. The strengthening of supporters of the social revolution in the IRA greatly worried the government. De Valera now turned the Broy Hounds against the IRA. Wholesale searches began in the houses of IRA fighters in order to seize weapons. One winter day in 1934, IRA Chief of Staff S. Russell was invited to De Valera’s residence. In response to the president’s demand to lay down his arms and stop hostilities as having “lost” all meaning under the current conditions, Russell refused. No agreement could be reached. On July 19, 1936, in County Cork, English Vice Admiral G. Sommerville was killed by members of the IRA. The murder served as a reason for outlawing the IRA. The IRA went underground again, but did not lay down its arms. There were fewer and fewer supporters of the social revolution in its ranks. The positions of “pure” politicians have now become stronger in it.

Remaining true to the traditional slogan “England’s difficulty is a chance for Ireland,” the IRA did not fail to take advantage of the pre-war difficulties of the mother country. At the beginning of 1939, the IRA General Staff and the underground government of the republic put “Plan C” into action. In January 1939, the underground government and the IRA headquarters presented an ultimatum to the government of N. Chamberlain. At the same time, copies of the ultimatum were sent to the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, as well as F.D. Roosevelt, Hitler and Mussolini. The ultimatum read: “We have the honor to inform you that the government of the Irish Republic considers the English troops in Ulster as a hostile army and demands their immediate evacuation and the English government’s refusal to interfere in the internal affairs of Ireland”; If the British government does not respond to the ultimatum within 4 days, “we will actively intervene in the economic and military life of your country, just as England intervened in our life.” The ultimatum was signed by S. Paccel, S. Hayes and other IRA leaders. Leaflets outlining the ultimatum were distributed in Irish-populated areas of London, Northern Ireland and Ayr (as the Irish Republic became known in 1937).

The British government did not honor the ultimatum with a response. On January 17, “Plan C” was put into effect. For more than 8 months, bombs exploded in one area or another in England. The blows fell on the centers of the energy system, urban services and communications of many cities. Only cities populated by national minorities in Scotland and Wales were not attacked. Mass arrests of Irish people living in England, surveillance, denunciations, and executions plagued the country. The Eire government was quick to disassociate itself from IRA operations and intensified the persecution of both its members and communists. The Irish Communist Party was banned. Meetings and demonstrations were called in Dublin and other cities in defense of the prisoners. At one of these meetings, a prominent IRA figure, O'Donnell, said: “We do not currently have the power to wrest our country from the rule of England, but we can continue our efforts to show that we are only waiting for an opportunity to to force England to leave here."

Early in the morning of September 8, 1941, a squat man of about thirty came out of the building into the courtyard of the Civil Guard barracks, barely able to stand on his feet. His hands and bare feet were chained, a rope dangled around his neck, and he could barely speak. This was S. Hayes, Chief of the IRA General Staff, one of those who signed the ultimatum and Plan C in 1939 and then headed the IRA operations. After painful torture, he was shot by government order. The IRA effectively ceased to exist.

2. The ideology of nationalism in the interpretation of IIrish Republican Army

2.1 IRAand nationalism. Origins of the conflict

It is difficult for an outsider to understand the history of the Irish conflict. It dates back to the 1920s, when the Island was divided and Catholics in Northern Ireland realized that they would be on the “wrong” side of the border and realized that the division was made without regard to their political preferences.

But for the Protestants, the history goes back at least to the seventeenth century, when, from the establishment of the province of Ulster in the early 1600s, they had to find their own means to ensure that they controlled the northern part of Ireland once they had lost control of the rest.

So there are two sides with very different understandings of history, a history in which they see themselves as victims. Catholics believe that they are victims - Protestants believe the same about themselves, they have two completely different senses of history. And as long as they have this selective understanding of history, both sides have the ability to use history to justify any of their actions in the present. This is why history is such a strong factor in the Irish conflict. You have to remember that Ireland is Britain's oldest colonial problem, the oldest unsolved colonial problem. The British abandoned imperial ambitions everywhere; the only unresolved issue remains the problem of Ireland. Since the beginning of the 20th century, Ireland has been a constant presence on the British political scene, to such an extent that it constitutes a serious issue, and all British politics will soon be permeated by the Irish question. Throughout the First World War, the British constantly put pressure on the Woodrow Wilson administration, demanding that they decide something regarding Ireland, because because of this, during the war, Britain could not act as a united front.

In the 1920s, the British political establishment decided that it was time to leave Ireland, militarily, politically and psychologically, but they could not leave the region that later became known as Northern Ireland because the majority of Protestants were convinced that they were British. and represent the majority.

Thus, the best that Britain could do in the 1920s was to divide the island of Ireland, turning the north-eastern part of Ireland into a new entity called Northern Ireland, and maintaining British jurisdiction over this part of the country, but giving it some autonomy.

Britain had no real solution other than partition. I think the British should have rejoiced at the exodus from Ireland - after all, a presence there was fraught with enormous material costs and a serious loss of reputation in the international arena. But Britain felt a debt to generations of its fellow citizens in the north of Ireland, to the majority of Protestants who considered themselves British. And these Protestants declared that they would fight for the right to be British. Partition seemed the best solution, since the Irish Government Act maintained the prospect that at some future time the Island would be united again. Thus, from a psychological, emotional and military point of view, the exodus of the British from Ireland occurred in the 1920s. Only the northern territories, severed from the southern ones after the Civil War in the 1860s, remained in their old state. This was one of those “don’t wake up a sleeping dog” cases.

The separation was a compromise that satisfied neither side.

Irish Nationalists in 26 counties reluctantly accepted Partition, and the main argument used by the majority was that they had the opportunity to achieve freedom.

But the militant minority refused to acknowledge this event, and, in fact, a civil war broke out, in 26 districts, between the militants and those who were willing to accept a compromise.

Militant activists believed that Ireland should be united. They saw that the Crown was still strong over Irish soil, and that, in fact, they were still dependent on the British state. The militants, however, were a minority. Most Nationalists and Catholics were prepared to accept Partition, and believed that Northern Ireland would implement its own will. They believed that economically it could not survive, and that the Catholic majority would at some stage split from the Protestants. They believed in the doctrine of Manifest Destiny: God made Ireland an island that must be one and one day it will be one.

In Sinn Fein, which was the main driving force, so to speak, within the Irish Republican movement, at this time there was a split between those who believed that Partition should be accepted for granted and those who believed that it should not be done. The majority accepted Partition, the minority did not. A civil war broke out, the bitter irony of which was that more Irish were killed in it than the British killed in the War of Liberation.

3. Irish Republican Army at Turn 60-7 0 years

3.1 Disagreementsinside the IRA

Irish army nationalism republican

The Irish Republican Army was re-established and began fighting only in 1954, when the reactionary Fine Gael party came to power. The reason for the new activation of the IRA was the still ongoing preservation of the division of the country imposed by England, Ireland’s exit from the Commonwealth in 1949, its entry into the so-called European Council, as well as the general rise of the national liberation struggle after the Second World War. In Eire there was a kind of protest among some young people from among workers, artisans, farm laborers, office workers and the intelligentsia against the relegation of the republic to the position of a vegetative province, against the dominance of the British, who still owned the best lands in the country and set the tone in Irish society.

The IRA leadership returned to the 1935-1936 plan to attack the Ulster border. Hardly a month passed without IRA attacks on British customs posts and police blockhouses. It seemed incredible, but banned by both Irish governments and repeatedly condemned from the pulpit by the Catholic Church, the IRA was increasingly replenished by young people who showed miracles of heroism in the fight against those whom they considered occupiers. However, weapons could not help even come close to resolving the issue of unity. The Border Campaign gradually lost support among the broad masses. Civilians suffered from military operations, and Northern Irish reactionaries received another reason to fan anti-republican sentiments and intensify police terror in Ulster. And in March 1962, the underground IRA announced a cessation of hostilities on the border with Ulster, although its headquarters stipulated that this decision did not mean recognition of the status quo. Organizationally, the IRA still remained associated with the nationalist "Sin Fein" party. The failures of the 1954-1962 campaign convinced its most far-sighted IRA leaders of the need to develop a socio-political program that would provide the army with broad support from the masses. The presence of such a program turned out to be more necessary in the context of a new stage of the Ulster crisis, which began with the events of the autumn of 1968 in Derry.

The civil rights movement in Northern Ireland caused disagreements in the leadership of the IRA and Sinn Fein on issues of tactics and ultimate goals of the struggle in the current conditions. The internal struggle was so intense that it led to a split in the IRA and Sinn Fein in the early 1970s. On "Official" (or "red") and "temporary" (or "traditional") wings. The “official” IRA proceeds from the fact that in the absence of extensive explanatory and propaganda work among the population, the armed struggle for the unity of the country by itself cannot lead to the desired results. The leaders of this wing advocate the widespread use of political methods in order to win over the masses; for the participation of the IRA in all labor actions, be it strikes, demonstrations of the homeless or unemployed, protest rallies against the “common market” or the fight against the seizure of Irish lands by foreigners. At the same time, the leadership of the “official” wing believes that it is impossible to completely abandon the armed struggle. The chief of staff of the “official” IRA, K. Goulding, speaking in the summer of 1971 in Cork, said: “We strive to achieve the complete liberation of the Irish people by peaceful means; but, unfortunately, it is not in our power to determine which path the forces of imperialism and exploitation will choose to deprive the people of their rights, and then our answer will be bombs and bullets.” The “Official” IRA proclaims the ultimate goal of its struggle to be the creation of a workers’ and peasants’ republic in a united Ireland, which will lay the foundations for building socialism in the country.

The “provisional” wing of the IRA adheres to the traditional view of “pure republicans”, according to which it is possible to defeat the forces of unionism, Northern Irish reaction and force England to agree to the reunification of the country only with the help of weapons. Hence the tactics of terrorist actions carried out by the Provisional IRA, which were sharply condemned by the Irish Communist Party. At its XV Congress in Belfast (October 1971), it stated that such actions of the Provisional IRA “only contribute to undermining the unity of the working people, deepening religious hostility and strengthening the very basis of the split, using which England ensures its dominance in the country.” Differences in methods of struggle between IRA factions only benefit the British authorities.

The sharp aggravation of social contradictions does not allow the leaders of the “provisional” IRA and Sinn Fein to dissociate themselves from issues of class struggle. That is why they again raised the theory of “Christian socialism”, calling, however, for the creation of such a republic in a united Ireland. Thus, there is a new, very difficult stage in the development of the liberation struggle of the Irish people.

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See what “IRA” is in other dictionaries. Irish Liberation Army: description, functions, strength The activities of the Irish Republican Army relate to terrorism

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