When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

The Irish problem had not solved itself. Ever since the aftermath of the 1916 Rising, the neighbouring island had provided troubling signs of a future catastrophe, and with the proclamation of the Dáil or Irish assembly coinciding with an attack launched on Royal Irish Constabulary policemen, the catastrophe seemed to have arrived. The conflict which followed did not erupt evenly across the island. Instead it took the form of several ripples; a murder here, a robbery there, a high profile assassination somewhere in between.It was however, an unmistakable fact that Ireland was becoming more volatile. With the political mandate vested in Sinn Fein, violent Irish nationalism had reached a level of popularity and acceptance previously unknown, and this in turn meant that Britain faced an island mobilised more completely against her occupation and domination than ever before. Such facts were painfully awkward at a time when David Lloyd George was attempting to cast British rule as benevolent and civilising, as a f