Easter Rising (Irish. Éirí Amach na Cásca, English. Easter Rising), which took place from April 24 to 30, 1916, — is one of the largest uprisings raised by the leaders of the Irish independence movement.
Throughout centuries of British rule in Ireland, the Irish liberation movement was built on a basic principle: the agony of Britain — chance for Ireland. With Britain's entry into the First World War, a split began in the movement.
Some believed that the right moment had come for a new speech: the empire was stuck in a terrible war for a long time, millions had already died, millions still had to die in this bloody massacre, the economic situation was rapidly deteriorating, and trust in the government was also rapidly falling, throughout Ireland, one after another new and new recruitment kits are taking place, which do not at all add popularity to the authorities.
From the point of view of others, on the contrary, the country was not ready for an uprising, too many Irish went to fight in France, and this would be a kind of betrayal towards them.
Among the opponents of the uprising was Owen McNeill, chief of staff of the Irish Volunteers (ID). His main argument was the lack of the required number of weapons in the hands of potential freedom fighters. He believed that as long as Britain did not try to forcibly disarm them or, conversely, drag them into hostilities on the continent, it was inappropriate for the Irish Volunteers to enter into open confrontation.
Eventually, Pierce and the other Volunteer leaders, along with Connolly and his Irish Citizen Army, decided to raise a rebellion on Sunday 23 April 1916, under the cover of long-planned E.D. maneuvers for the day. McNeill was not privy to their plans. He was not informed until Thursday, and at the first moment he agreed, his decision was influenced by the hopeful news of the arrival of a transport with weapons for the rebels from Germany. But when, following the good news, discouraging news came of Sir Casement's arrest and the loss of all precious cargo, McNeill, by his order, canceled the maneuvers and, in an address to Volunteers throughout the country, declared that there would be no uprising.
Despite McNeill's orders, the Military Council decided not to abandon the uprising; the only concession in the current situation was to postpone the date of the speech to Monday, April 24. A Declaration was prepared proclaiming the establishment of the Republic of Ireland.
The honor of being the first to sign the historical document was given to 59-year-old Thomas Clark (he spent 15 of these 59 in British prisons). After him, Sean McDermott, Thomas Mac Donagh, Patrick Pearce, Eamonn Kennt, James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett took turns taking up the pen.
On April 28, the British deployed artillery. The army command chose the Post Office in Dublin as the main target; none of the other rebel fortifications were attacked or bombed with such power. As a result of the shelling, the entire Sackville Street block adjacent to the Post Office was destroyed, and a fire started in the building itself.
On April 29, the leaders of the uprising and the surviving soldiers left the Post Office engulfed in fire and took up positions on Moore Street. Entire areas of the city were in ruins, civilian casualties were rising, and there was a shortage of food and ammunition among rebels besieged in buildings scattered throughout Dublin. As a result, Patrick Pierce made the difficult decision to surrender and sent out his order to all the surviving detachments.
On April 30, the last of the rebels laid down their arms, at five o'clock the flags of the rebels were thrown from the roof of the Post Office, and with them the dream of freedom.
However, in subsequent years, Ireland continued to fight for freedom and independence from Britain. As a result, tensions in Anglo-Irish relations led to the Irish Civil War (1922-1923), as a result of which Ireland was divided — 26 southern counties of the island declared their independence.
The very start date of the Easter Rising began to be celebrated as a memorable date, and in 2006, on the 90th anniversary of the uprising, lavish celebrations were held in Ireland and Great Britain under the slogan of reconciliation and theatrical performances were organized on the sites of those memorable events. In 2016, ceremonial events took place in Dublin, including a military parade dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, and a commemorative 2 euro coin with a circulation of 4.5 million copies was issued.
By the way, currently many events dedicated to the anniversary of this important event in the history of Ireland are held not on the day of the uprising, April 24, but on Easter.