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PM Asquith's poor handling of the Irish Home Rule Crisis, 1910-1914. - page 1
Keywords: ireland home rule crisis 1910 1914 20th century asquith redmond carson bonar law liberals conservatives ulster unionists unionism irish parliamentary party
By exploiit on 19/06/2010
Level: A Level (Year 13)
Page Number: 1 of 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5The crisis surrounding the third Home Rule Bill in 1910-1914 was the result of a number of issues stemming from both proponents and opponents of the bill. It is an understandable assertion that the Liberal party’s failure to recognise the strength of opposition was primarily responsible for the crisis, although it is important that factors such as Asquith’s leadership, the role of Irish nationalists and the outbreak of international crisis are also cited as significant.
Although the policy of Home Rule had been steadily supported by the Liberals since it had been adopted by Gladstone in the 1880s, successive Conservative administrations had ensured that the British government largely ignored the issue of Home Rule. For this reason, the opposition to the bill in Ireland (that is, unionists) saw no immediate threat to their position. This remained true even through the first decade of the 20th century when the Liberal party took control under an electoral commitment to serve the British public as its main priority, further ignoring the concept of Home Rule. However, two consecutive general elections in 1910 saw support for the Liberals diminish and, with an equal number of seats won by both the Liberals and the Conservatives, the balance of power in the House of Commons lay in the hands of 73 Irish MPs under the leadership of the IPP leader, John Redmond. With this influence, the prospect of Home Rule became imminent and, both in Ireland and in the United Kingdom, opposition to Home Rule continued to strengthen.
Unionist opposition to the bill, particularly in Ulster, was vehement and as it continued to develop between 1910 and 1914, it is obvious that Asquith’s failure to identify the real threat was a key cause of the crisis. With the support of the Conservative party in parliament, Irish Unionists had helped to ensure the bill’s failure at all stages – in 1886 and 1893 – and intended on a similar block on it’s third circuit through parliament. However, with power firmly in the hands of an informal Liberal-IPP alliance the bill was successful in it’s passage through the House of Commons and, after the introduction of the Parliament Act 1911, the House of Lords was unable to veto the Home Rule Bill as it had been approved for a third time by the Commons, despite the overwhelming Conservative opposition which dominated the Lords. “The removal of the Lords veto in 1911
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