The economy

This chapter will show that the Russian conflict was a distinct period in Ireland’s economic history, being a catalyst for Ireland’s post-Famine agricultural recovery. It will be shown that this was caused by the increase in prices and demand which in turn encouraged farmers to alter the distribution of their tillage, export more livestock, hire more labourers and increase the latter’s wages. It will also include various (largely neglected) aspects of industry; showing Irish shipping companies’ comparable astuteness in relation to government contracts, which many entrepreneurs and merchants also eagerly sought, but also the inflexibility of the linen sector and the consequent problems experienced. Finally this chapter will show that the war was, much like the 1850s as a whole, a distinct period in the history of Irish taxation and Irish society’s relationship with its government in London in the nineteenth century and its relationship, or place within, the wider society of the United Kingdom.

Introduction

The year 2014 marked the 160th anniversary of the beginning of the Crimean War, 1854–6. It was during that anniversary year that the names of Crimea, Sevastopol, Simferopol and the Black Sea re-entered the lexicon of Ireland, and so did the terms ‘Russian aggression’, ‘territorial violation’ and ‘weak neighbour’. Coincidentally, those same places and terms, and the sheer extent to which they perpetuated within Irish and even world media as well as popular parlance, had not been seen nor heard since 1854. It was in that year that the British and French Empires committed themselves to war in the wider Black Sea region and beyond against the Russian Empire. The latter had demonstrated clear aggression, initially diplomatic and later military, against its perceived-to-be-weak neighbour and long-term adversary in the region, the Ottoman Empire, or Turkey. As part of that aggression Russia invaded the latter’s vassal principalities in the north-western Balkans, namely Wallachia and Moldavia (part of modern-day Romania), collectively known as the Danubian Principalities. Russia had previously taken Crimea from the Ottomans in 1783....

Ireland’s popular response

This chapter will show that between 1854 and 1856 the Crimean War formed a central part of life for a broad cross-section of Irish people, regardless of class or creed, and even Irish culture. It will be argued that these responses of Irish society to the conflict were a mix of martial and often imperial enthusiasm coupled with substantial local interest. These exemplify the ambiguity of Ireland’s relationship with the union and the empire, but they also demonstrate the complex historical ambiguities of identity-formation on the island. This it will do by showing how Irish people demonstrated an insatiable public appetite for information relating to the war and a desire to engage with it physically; through newspapers, ballads, exhibitions, monuments but also the movements of troops and public celebrations. It will also be shown that the war also stands as a notable period for a variety of traditions, trends and practices during the wider nineteenth century and beyond.

National and nationalist politics

This chapter will show that the Crimean War was perhaps the most positive chapter in Ireland’s nineteenth century history of governance, agitation and conspiracy and society’s relationship with the executive. It will do this by illustrating that between the Famine and the rise of the IRB Irish people demonstrated an aversion for political upheavals, and that this was especially manifest during the Russian campaign. This will be shown to have stemmed from several factors, including a lack of external support and internal organisation, which ensured that there could be no nationalist response comparable to the Great War in the case of those involved in the Easter Rising. It will also be shown that, due to the rampant anti-British rhetoric and apparent active preparations of Irish-Americans to invade Ireland, precautions were taken the British government in Ireland – Dublin Castle. A specific policy was pursued in order to ensure that nothing disturbed what was deemed by the Irish authorities to be a prosperous, loyal and peaceful country. Finally, it will be shown that those positive attributes were also eagerly fostered and encouraged by the lord lieutenant of Ireland, through speeches, visits to invalided Irish soldiers and orchestration of a national banquet.

Ireland’s parliamentary response

This chapter recounts the responses of Ireland’s MPs and peers in the British Houses of Parliament between 1853 and 1856; a period when there was no nationalist party that opposed the war. It will be shown that during the conflict Irish MPs and peers were largely indistinguishable from their British colleagues and counterparts. This chapter will show that the holders of Irish seats were largely absent from the ranks of the Conservative rebels and they did not participate in the goading and divisive tactics of Benjamin Disraeli, but also that Irish Liberals were absent from the anti-war and often anti-ministerial section of the Liberal benches. Irish members also responded to a number of distinctly Irish issues, and although they never moulded imperial issues into Irish ones, they did use the perceived valour and actual participation of Irish soldiers and sailors in the war to defend other distinctly Irish interests. It will be seen that the war represents a distinct period in Ireland’s parliamentary relationship with the British Empire, during which Irish members supported its defence and its interests in what they saw as a just and necessary war.

Conclusion

The Crimean War was an important and influential event in Irish nineteenth-century history, to which a large cross-section of Irish people responded between 1854 and 1856. This they did in a variety ways and to a variety of different degrees, but when combined it represents a substantial and multifaceted response, that, much like the event, has remained under-researched and largely absent from Ireland’s modern historiography and history. As with the Great War, the conflict with Russia touched every part of Irish society, and elicited responses from the same, albeit on a far smaller scale. These were often similar to those in Great Britain, other parts of the empire and even in France in certain instances. It has been the aim of this book to illustrate the degree to which the Crimean War impacted upon Irish society, through an analysis of the latter’s responses in the six areas of parliamentary and nationalist politics, popular and religious reactions, the military and the economy. Within its parameters this book has endeavoured to produce as in depth and balanced a study of that response as possible, within the context of the United Kingdom and the British Empire....

Irish society and the military

This chapter will show that the war was a period in which people’s perception of the soldier and his family was irreversibly altered, and that Irish people partook in this social movement as much as their peers in Britain through widespread charitable activity. It will also provide detailed analysis of charities’ organisations and lives of the soldiers’ wife. This chapter will also discuss the motivations of the men and boys who enlisted or obtained commissions in the land and naval forces between 1854 and 1856, the recruitment strategies employed by various state agencies and the effectiveness of the same. To all this will be added the geographical and social disposition of recruits and the fluctuations in recruit numbers. This chapter will show that due to the politicisation which Irish population and the army underwent in the subsequent decades the Crimean War represents the last popular surge in Irish recruitment as well as enthusiasm for the military before the First World War.

Ireland’s religious response

This chapter will highlight how the various Christian denominations in Ireland reacted to the Crimean War, and how, unlike the Indian Mutiny and Boer War, it stimulated a substantial, although not general and still quite brief, resurgence of inter-denominational cooperation and friendly relations. It will be shown that all Irish denominations, with the exception of the Quakers, supported the war against Russia and thus focussed their attention and vehemence upon the external enemy instead of each other, and that this was part of a wider Christian militarism within the United Kingdom at the time. This chapter will show that all the pro-war denominations viewed the conflict as just, necessary and even providential. This support for the war will be shown to have been manifest by the leadership, clergy and laity of all the churches through sermons, prayers, pamphlets, and newspapers and journal editorials, and through the provision of chaplains and nursing nuns to the armed forces.