Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 525 The Irish War of Independence

When news of the large-scale protests in Russia reached Spain, Carlo immediately realized that something was seriously wrong.

The rule of Tsarist Russia was very likely to perish in this great parade, and the Allied Powers would lose an extremely important ally, which would have a very serious impact on the war in Europe.

With no other option, Carlo had to launch the Irish War of Independence ahead of schedule in an effort to minimize the impact of Russia's withdrawal from the war.

When the Allies learned that large-scale demonstrations had broken out in Russia and that Tsar Nicholas II had to mobilize troops to suppress them, the German and British governments realized that this was a golden opportunity that could not be missed.

The Russian government is busy suppressing domestic protests and strikes, so they certainly don't have much energy to focus on the war on the front lines.

With a large number of railway workers participating in demonstrations and strikes, Russia's transportation system is bound to be affected. This also means that the Russian front will not receive any supplies, or even reinforcements, until this large-scale demonstration is completely resolved.

If the German army at the front can seize this opportunity and defeat the Russian army, it may be able to force the Russian government to withdraw from the war.

Just as the German and British governments were discussing offensive plans for the Eastern Front, news from India reached Britain, causing the British government to turn pale.

Britain's repressive policies in India provoked widespread discontent and resistance among Indians. Taking advantage of this, the Indian National Congress launched speeches in various princely states, gaining substantial support from the Indian public.

The most famous of these was Gandhi. Gandhi openly proposed the idea of ​​non-violent non-cooperation, demanding that all Indians completely terminate their cooperation with the British government without the use of violence.

Joining the colonial army formed by Britain was naturally included in the cooperation, and Gandhi's idea was actually a confrontation with British colonial rule.

As expected, as Gandhi's ideas gained widespread support among Indians, fierce resistance began to emerge in India against the British mobilization of large numbers of colonial troops.

Although the situation in India has not yet escalated to a state of large-scale unrest, the British government cannot afford to take any risks regarding India.

Because a large number of troops from the various colonies had been mobilized to the European theater, Britain was unable to move troops from its South African and Egyptian colonies to India in the short term.

The loyalty of the colonial troops mobilized in India was unreliable. After much deliberation, Britain had no choice but to temporarily mobilize some troops from its homeland to go to India and resolve the local problems first.

If the Indian problem were resolved, the vast Indian colonies could provide Britain with a continuous stream of troops. If the Indian problem remained unresolved, even if Britain managed to hold onto its homeland, it would inevitably suffer heavy losses in this world war.

Britain's move to deploy a large number of troops from its homeland to India to quell the rebellion was naturally not kept secret from the Allied Powers.

Throughout the war, the Central Powers and the Allied Powers had sent a large number of spies to each other, frantically gathering intelligence and information on any suspicious activity.

Perhaps because of its high regard for its Indian colonies, Britain did not intend to conceal its actions, but simply accelerated the deployment of troops to the Indian colonies.

Realizing that the British mainland forces were already quite depleted, the Irish Republican Brotherhood did not hesitate and immediately launched the Irish War of Independence.

By this time, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, after years of covert operations, had secretly gained substantial support among the Irish people. With the outbreak of war, large numbers of Irish people were forcibly mobilized by the British government, which aroused widespread discontent among the Irish.

As mentioned before, the UK's reserve system is significantly lagging behind that of other European countries.

This also made it difficult for the British government to mobilize millions of troops in a short period of time after the outbreak of war.

In order to accelerate the mobilization for war, the British government had to adopt a two-pronged strategy: on the one hand, increasing the soldiers' treatment, and on the other hand, carrying out semi-coercive conscription.

Ireland is a key area for British conscription. For the British government, having too many Irish people is actually not good news.

If this war can be used to effectively reduce Ireland's population, it will not only reduce local resistance in Ireland, but also strengthen the stability of the entire United Kingdom.

The British government's forceful mobilization was only one reason for the Irish discontent. Another reason was the starkly different treatment of British and Irish soldiers.

Discrimination against the Irish by the British is widespread. This phenomenon exists not only among civilians but also within the British military.

Almost all mid- to high-ranking officers in the British Army are British; it is very difficult for Irish people to rise to high-ranking positions. Even if they achieve the same merit as British soldiers, it is always the British who are given priority for promotion.

More importantly, British soldiers were treated far better than Irish soldiers in terms of food and allowances.

This is another major reason for the Irish people's anger. The British government's attitude has made it clear that they do not regard the Irish as part of the empire, which naturally increases the Irish people's desire for independence.

The Irish War of Independence began with a large-scale armed uprising. Thanks to Spanish funding, the Irish Republican Brotherhood not only recruited a large number of Irish people but also formed an army of nearly 10,000.

Although these troops can only conduct secret training and are not as combat-effective as regular troops, there are not many regular troops that can be considered elite within the Irish region.

The British troops stationed there numbered only a few thousand at most, with the rest being mostly British members of the Royal Irish Police, who also numbered around a few thousand.

This military force of nearly 10,000 men was key to British control of Ireland and also the biggest challenge that the Irish War of Independence needed to address first.

After much deliberation, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, controlled by Patrick Henry Pearce, ultimately decided to launch its armed uprising in County Tiberley, Ireland.

County Tiberley is located in south-central Ireland, far from British troops stationed in Ireland, and only a small number of Royal Irish Police are deployed there.

If they could forcibly capture this area, the entire County Tiberley would not only serve as a major rear base for the Irish Republican Brotherhood, but would also help them control tens of thousands of square kilometers of surrounding land.

There's not much to say about this armed uprising. The Irish Republican Brotherhood controlled an armed force of nearly 10,000 men, while the entire Royal British Police in County Tiberley numbered less than 100.

The Irish independence forces quickly seized control of the Tiberley municipal government and council, as well as the local armed police depot. Without further hesitation, the Irish Republican Brotherhood immediately announced to all of Ireland the immediate formation of the Republic of Ireland, with Tiberley as its capital, and Patrick Henry Pearce, leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, as President of the Republic of Ireland and Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Ireland's Armed Forces.

The very next day, the newly established Republic of Ireland issued the Irish Declaration of Independence, demanding that the British government immediately withdraw its troops from Ireland and respect Ireland's national independence and territorial sovereignty.

At the same time, the Irish government publicly appealed to free countries around the world, hoping that countries that respect democracy, freedom, and independence would recognize Ireland's independence and help Ireland resist British invasion.

If India's independence movement only raised the British government's high alert, then Ireland's War of Independence gave the British government a real scare.

The British government was not without its concerns about the Irish Republican Brotherhood. In fact, in previous years, the British government had planned several arrests of senior members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and had issued public arrest warrants for all members of the Brotherhood in Ireland.

However, in Ireland, the Republican Brotherhood remained the most popular. The British government organized several arrests, but ultimately only a small number of high-ranking members of the Republican Brotherhood were apprehended, which did not have a significant impact on the entire organization.

On the contrary, it was because Britain's repeated arrests seriously endangered the personal safety of Irish people that many Irish people spontaneously joined the protests against Britain.

After the so-called Republic of Ireland declared independence and issued a declaration of independence, the British government immediately issued a statement saying that Ireland's so-called independence was illegal and completely disregarded the sovereignty of the British Empire in the Irish region.

The British government stated that the British Royal Family and government will absolutely not recognize Irish independence, and that Britain will spare no effort to maintain peace in Ireland and eliminate criminals who attempt to divide the United Kingdom.

The complex relationship between Ireland and Great Britain was a major drama at the beginning of 1915.

On the Allied side, Germany and Austria-Hungary immediately voiced their support for Britain, stating that Ireland's so-called independence was illegal and that Britain was the rightful sovereign power over Ireland.

On the Allied side, none of the countries minded causing trouble for Britain. Spain was the first to publicly support Irish independence, and its current Prime Minister, Andrés Rosso, stated in an interview that Britain should respect the opinions of all Irish people, stop its invasion of Ireland, and allow all Irish people to hold an independence referendum.

If the Irish people agree to remain in Britain, then the Irish Republican Brotherhood's independence movement would be illegal. However, if the majority of Irish people support independence, then Ireland should naturally gain independent status, rather than having everything decided by the British.

Although the Spanish government's statement seemed fair, everyone understood that Spain was openly favoring Ireland.

In fact, there's no need for any investigation; everyone understands that public opinion in Ireland leans towards the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

If the referendum is fair, the most likely outcome is Irish independence. Will the British government allow a referendum in Ireland?

The answer is, of course, no, because the British government naturally understands what the referendum answer will be.

Following Spain's statement, France and Italy also expressed their support for Irish independence, arguing that Ireland was a nation with a clear national consciousness, rather than a vassal state of the British.

The Irish people certainly have the right to pursue independence, and the current President of the Republic of Ireland, Patrick Henry Pearce, is a national hero of the Irish people.

The Allied powers' support for Ireland immediately alerted the British government to the dire situation.

The British government was well aware that Irish independence absolutely had the support of one of the Allied powers. To put it even more skewed, Irish independence might have had the support of multiple Allied powers.

Now Britain has no choice but to stop Ireland's independence at all costs, otherwise it will become a laughing stock in the European world during this war.

On March 4, 1915, British troops stationed in northern Ireland began to move south to stop the Irish Republican Brotherhood's northward expansion.

Meanwhile, Britain began mobilizing troops from its homeland to Ireland to quell the rebellion. The British government was clearly serious; knowing that the Irish Republican Brotherhood had at least several thousand armed men, the government decided to deploy five infantry divisions at once to quell the rebellion, a numerical advantage of several times over.

Ireland and Spain had anticipated the British government's large-scale troop deployment to quell the rebellion.

After Ireland officially declared independence, transport ships carrying large quantities of weapons and equipment quietly headed to Ireland under the protection of the Spanish Navy.

In addition, Carlo also planned to form an expeditionary force to go to Ireland to help the Irish win the war of independence.

The Irish Republican Brotherhood did not surrender easily. After taking control of County Tiberley, the Irish army began to expand south and east, quickly occupying land in several surrounding counties and seizing a large amount of weapons and equipment from the local armed police arsenal, which they then distributed to their own hastily mobilized troops.

There is good news for the Irish Republican Brotherhood: Ireland's declaration of independence has the support of the Irish people.

In the counties currently under the control of the Irish government, the vast majority of Irish people support the republican government. Local Irish residents have even actively participated in the government's mobilization efforts, and within just a few days, the Irish government organized an army of tens of thousands.

However, there's bad news: the Irish Republican Brotherhood doesn't possess that much weaponry. Over the past few years, Spain has shipped more than 2 rifles to Ireland, which is why the Irish Republican Brotherhood has been able to build an armed force of tens of thousands.

However, even with all the weapons and equipment they possess, plus what they've captured, they can only muster a maximum of 2 troops. Currently, the Irish Republican Brotherhood has mobilized nearly 4 troops, meaning that almost 2 soldiers will be unable to obtain weapons.

Although both the Spanish and French governments have pledged to send a shipment of weapons and equipment to Ireland, the delivery will take time.

This also means that the Irish Republican Brotherhood and its armed forces must face the first wave of attacks from the British government on their own.

Fortunately, the British government's military strength on the mainland was relatively depleted. Even if the British government spared no effort to quell the Irish rebellion, they could only mobilize a few divisions at most, amounting to only tens of thousands of troops.

If Ireland can hold out until the arrival of weapons and equipment from Spain and France, it can readily assemble an army of tens of thousands, at which point it will no longer need to worry about an attack from the British army.

There was even a chance to defeat the British army, thereby reclaiming all of Ireland and achieving Irish independence.

(End of this chapter)