Ulster Volunteer Force (1912)
Encyclopedia
The Ulster Volunteers were a unionist
militia founded in 1912 to block Home Rule for Ireland
. In 1913 they were organised into the Ulster Volunteer Force, with many of its members enlisting with the 36th (Ulster) Division at the outbreak of World War I
. A modern loyalist paramilitary group founded in 1966 shares the same name (Ulster Volunteer Force or UVF), and lays claims to a direct descendancy from the older organisation, but there are no organisational links between the two.
as Unionist militia
s in the tensions surrounding the potential success of the third Irish Home Rule Bill. At the start of 1912, Unionists and members of the Orange Order started drilling and on 9 April (Easter Tuesday) Carson and Conservative
Andrew Bonar Law reviewed 100,000 Ulster Volunteers marching in columns. On 28 September, 237,368 men signed the Ulster Covenant
pledged to "using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland", with the support of 234,046 women.
On 13 January 1913, the Ulster Volunteer Force was formally established by the Ulster Unionist Council. Recruitment was to be limited to 100,000 men aged from 17 to 65 who had signed the Covenant, under the charge of Lieutenant-General Sir George Richardson
KCB.
During this time, the unionists enjoyed the wholehearted support of the British Conservative Party
, even when threatening rebellion against the British government. On 23 September 1913, the 500 delegates of the Ulster Unionist Council met to discuss the practicalities of setting up a provisional government for Ulster.
Carson and Craig, supported by some British Conservative politicians, threatened to establish a Provisional government in Ulster
should the province be included in any Home Rule settlement. The Curragh Incident
in March 1914 showed that it would be difficult to use the British army to enforce home rule from Dublin. In April 1914, 20,000 German rifles with 3,000,000 rounds were landed at Larne
, with the authorities blockaded by the UVF (see Larne gunrunning). Not surprisingly these developments had already led to the formation of the Irish Volunteers
in Dublin on 25 November 1913 by southern nationalists
, in order to safeguard the granting of Home Rule.
was eventually passed despite the objections of the House of Lords
whose power of veto had been abolished under the Parliament Act 1911
. While Carson had hoped to have the whole of Ulster excluded, he felt a good case could be made for the "six plantation counties
." The home rule issue was temporarily suspended by the outbreak of World War I
and Ireland's involvement
in it. Many UVF men enlisted, mostly with the 36th (Ulster) Division of the New Army
. Others joined Irish regiments of the United Kingdom
's 10th and 16th (Irish) Divisions. By the summer of 1916, only the Ulster and 16th divisions remained, the 10th amalgamated into both following severe losses in the Battle of Gallipoli
. Both of the remaining divisions suffered heavy casualties in July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, to be largely wiped out in 1918 during the German Spring Offensive
.
Although many UVF officers left to join the British Army during the war, the unionist leadership wanted to preserve the UVF as a viable force, aware that the issue of Home Rule and partition would be revisited when the war ended. There were also fears of a German naval raid on Ulster and so the UVF was recast as a home defense force.
World War I ended in November 1918. On 1 May 1919, the UVF was 'demobilized' when Richardson stood-down as its General Officer Commanding
. In Richardson's last orders to the UVF, he stated:
began in January 1919. It was fought between the Irish Republican Army
(the army of the self-declared Irish Republic
) and the forces of the United Kingdom (which included the British Army, Royal Irish Constabulary
and the "Black and Tans
"). The Government of Ireland Act 1920
provided Home Rule for Northern Ireland
and Southern Ireland
, giving Northern Ireland the option of Irish unity or Irish partition
; the Unionist dominated Parliament of Northern Ireland chose to remain a part of the UK.
As a response to IRA attacks within Ulster, the Ulster Unionist Council officially revived the UVF on 25 June 1920. In early July, the UUC appointed lieutenant colonel
Wilfrid Spender
as the UVF's Officer Commanding. At the same time, announcements were printed in unionist newspapers calling on all former UVF members to report for duty. However, this call met with limited success; for example, each Belfast battallion inheld little more than 100 men each and they were left mostly unarmed. The UVF's revival also met with little backing from unionists in Great Britain.
During the conflict, loyalists set-up small independent "vigilance groups" in many parts of Ulster. Most of these groups would patrol with the intention of reporting anything untoward to the RIC. Some of them, however, were armed with UVF rifles from 1914. There were also a number of small loyalist paramilitaries. The most notable of these was the Ulster Imperial Guards, who may have overreached the UVF in terms of membership. Historian Peter Hart wrote the following of these groups:
Owing to the sluggish recruitment to the UVF and its failure to forestall IRA activities in Ulster, James Craig beckoned the formation of a new special constabulary
. In October 1920, the Ulster Special Constabulary
(USC) was set-up. This was an armed reserve police force whose main role, during 1920–1922, was to bolster the RIC and fight the IRA. Spender encouraged UVF members to join, and although many did so, the USC did not engulf the UVF (and other loyalist paramilitaries) until early 1922. Craig hoped to "neutralise" the sundry loyalist paramilitaries by enrolling them in the C Division of the USC; a move that was backed by the British government. Historian Michael Hopkinson wrote that the USC, "amounted to an officially approved UVF". The USC was almost wholly Protestant and was greatly mistrusted by Irish Catholics and Irish nationalists. Following IRA attacks, its members sometimes carried-out revenge killings and reprisal
s against Catholic civilians during the 1920–22 conflict.
In his book Carson's Army: the Ulster Volunteer Force 1910–22, Timothy Bowman gave the following as his last thought on the UVF during this period:
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
militia founded in 1912 to block Home Rule for Ireland
Home Rule Act 1914
The Government of Ireland Act 1914 , also known as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide self-government for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.The Act was the first law ever passed by the Parliament of...
. In 1913 they were organised into the Ulster Volunteer Force, with many of its members enlisting with the 36th (Ulster) Division at the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. A modern loyalist paramilitary group founded in 1966 shares the same name (Ulster Volunteer Force or UVF), and lays claims to a direct descendancy from the older organisation, but there are no organisational links between the two.
Before World War I
The original Ulster Volunteers were formed by Edward Carson and James CraigJames Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon
James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon, PC, PC , was a prominent Irish unionist politician, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland...
as Unionist militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
s in the tensions surrounding the potential success of the third Irish Home Rule Bill. At the start of 1912, Unionists and members of the Orange Order started drilling and on 9 April (Easter Tuesday) Carson and Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Andrew Bonar Law reviewed 100,000 Ulster Volunteers marching in columns. On 28 September, 237,368 men signed the Ulster Covenant
Ulster Covenant
The Ulster Covenant was signed by just under half a million of men and women from Ulster, on and before September 28, 1912, in protest against the Third Home Rule Bill, introduced by the Government in that same year...
pledged to "using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland", with the support of 234,046 women.
On 13 January 1913, the Ulster Volunteer Force was formally established by the Ulster Unionist Council. Recruitment was to be limited to 100,000 men aged from 17 to 65 who had signed the Covenant, under the charge of Lieutenant-General Sir George Richardson
Sir George Richardson
Lieutenant General Sir George Lloyd Reilly Richardson KCB served in the British Indian Army until he retired in 1909. He served across southern Asia, becoming a veteran of the Second Anglo-Afghan War and Boxer Rebellion, and later as commander of the Ulster Volunteer Force in...
KCB.
During this time, the unionists enjoyed the wholehearted support of the British Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, even when threatening rebellion against the British government. On 23 September 1913, the 500 delegates of the Ulster Unionist Council met to discuss the practicalities of setting up a provisional government for Ulster.
Carson and Craig, supported by some British Conservative politicians, threatened to establish a Provisional government in Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
should the province be included in any Home Rule settlement. The Curragh Incident
Curragh Incident
The Curragh Incident of 20 March 1914, also known as the Curragh Mutiny, occurred in the Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. The Curragh Camp was then the main base for the British Army in Ireland, which at the time formed part of the United Kingdom....
in March 1914 showed that it would be difficult to use the British army to enforce home rule from Dublin. In April 1914, 20,000 German rifles with 3,000,000 rounds were landed at Larne
Larne
Larne is a substantial seaport and industrial market town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a population of 18,228 people in the 2001 Census. As of 2011, there are about 31,000 residents in the greater Larne area. It has been used as a seaport for over 1,000 years, and is...
, with the authorities blockaded by the UVF (see Larne gunrunning). Not surprisingly these developments had already led to the formation of the Irish Volunteers
Irish Volunteers
The Irish Volunteers was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland"...
in Dublin on 25 November 1913 by southern nationalists
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
, in order to safeguard the granting of Home Rule.
World War I
The Irish Home Rule Act 1914Home Rule Act 1914
The Government of Ireland Act 1914 , also known as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide self-government for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.The Act was the first law ever passed by the Parliament of...
was eventually passed despite the objections of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
whose power of veto had been abolished under the Parliament Act 1911
Parliament Act 1911
The Parliament Act 1911 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is constitutionally important and partly governs the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords which make up the Houses of Parliament. This Act must be construed as one with the Parliament Act 1949...
. While Carson had hoped to have the whole of Ulster excluded, he felt a good case could be made for the "six plantation counties
Plantation (settlement or colony)
Plantation was an early method of colonization in which settlers were "planted" abroad in order to establish a permanent or semi-permanent colonial base. Such plantations were also frequently intended to promote Western culture and Christianity among nearby indigenous peoples, as can be seen in the...
." The home rule issue was temporarily suspended by the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Ireland's involvement
Ireland and World War I
During World War I , Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which entered the war in August 1914 as one of the Entente Powers, along with France and Russia, when it declared war to halt the military expansion of the Central Powers, consisting of the German Empire, the...
in it. Many UVF men enlisted, mostly with the 36th (Ulster) Division of the New Army
Kitchener's Army
The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, Kitchener's Mob, was an all-volunteer army formed in the United Kingdom following the outbreak of hostilities in the First World War...
. Others joined Irish regiments of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
's 10th and 16th (Irish) Divisions. By the summer of 1916, only the Ulster and 16th divisions remained, the 10th amalgamated into both following severe losses in the Battle of Gallipoli
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
. Both of the remaining divisions suffered heavy casualties in July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, to be largely wiped out in 1918 during the German Spring Offensive
Spring Offensive
The 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht , also known as the Ludendorff Offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during World War I, beginning on 21 March 1918, which marked the deepest advances by either side since 1914...
.
Although many UVF officers left to join the British Army during the war, the unionist leadership wanted to preserve the UVF as a viable force, aware that the issue of Home Rule and partition would be revisited when the war ended. There were also fears of a German naval raid on Ulster and so the UVF was recast as a home defense force.
World War I ended in November 1918. On 1 May 1919, the UVF was 'demobilized' when Richardson stood-down as its General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...
. In Richardson's last orders to the UVF, he stated:
Existing conditions call for the demobilisation of the Ulster Volunteers. The Force was organised, to protect the interests of the Province of Ulster, at a time when trouble threatened. The success of the organisation speaks for itself, as a page of history, in the records of Ulster that will never fade.
After World War I
The Irish War of IndependenceIrish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
began in January 1919. It was fought between the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
(the army of the self-declared Irish Republic
Irish Republic
The Irish Republic was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature , a government , a court system and a police force...
) and the forces of the United Kingdom (which included the British Army, Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
and the "Black and Tans
Black and Tans
The Black and Tans was one of two newly recruited bodies, composed largely of British World War I veterans, employed by the Royal Irish Constabulary as Temporary Constables from 1920 to 1921 to suppress revolution in Ireland...
"). The Government of Ireland Act 1920
Government of Ireland Act 1920
The Government of Ireland Act 1920 was the Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which partitioned Ireland. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill or as the Fourth Home Rule Act.The Act was intended...
provided Home Rule for Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and Southern Ireland
Southern Ireland
Southern Ireland was a short-lived autonomous region of the United Kingdom established on 3 May 1921 and dissolved on 6 December 1922.Southern Ireland was established under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 together with its sister region, Northern Ireland...
, giving Northern Ireland the option of Irish unity or Irish partition
Partition of Ireland
The partition of Ireland was the division of the island of Ireland into two distinct territories, now Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland . Partition occurred when the British Parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act 1920...
; the Unionist dominated Parliament of Northern Ireland chose to remain a part of the UK.
As a response to IRA attacks within Ulster, the Ulster Unionist Council officially revived the UVF on 25 June 1920. In early July, the UUC appointed lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Wilfrid Spender
Wilfrid Spender
Sir Wilfrid Bliss Spender, KCB, DSO, MC was an army officer, colonial administrator and civil servant - being responsible for laying the foundations for the civil service of Northern Ireland. He served as Secretary to the Northern Ireland Cabinet, 1921-1925, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of...
as the UVF's Officer Commanding. At the same time, announcements were printed in unionist newspapers calling on all former UVF members to report for duty. However, this call met with limited success; for example, each Belfast battallion inheld little more than 100 men each and they were left mostly unarmed. The UVF's revival also met with little backing from unionists in Great Britain.
During the conflict, loyalists set-up small independent "vigilance groups" in many parts of Ulster. Most of these groups would patrol with the intention of reporting anything untoward to the RIC. Some of them, however, were armed with UVF rifles from 1914. There were also a number of small loyalist paramilitaries. The most notable of these was the Ulster Imperial Guards, who may have overreached the UVF in terms of membership. Historian Peter Hart wrote the following of these groups:
Also occasionally targeted [by the IRA] were Ulster Protestants who saw the republican guerrilla campaign as an invasion of their territory, where they formed the majority. Loyalist activists responded by forming vigilante groups, which soon acquired official status as part of the Ulster Special Constabulary. These men spearheaded the wave of anti-Catholic violence that began in July 1920 and continued for two years. This onslaught was part of an Ulster Unionist counter-revolution, whose gunmen operated almost exclusively as ethnic cleansers and avengers.
Owing to the sluggish recruitment to the UVF and its failure to forestall IRA activities in Ulster, James Craig beckoned the formation of a new special constabulary
Special Constabulary
The Special Constabulary is the part-time volunteer section of a statutory police force in the United Kingdom or some Crown dependencies. Its officers are known as Special Constables or informally as Specials.Every United Kingdom territorial police force has a special constabulary except the...
. In October 1920, the Ulster Special Constabulary
Ulster Special Constabulary
The Ulster Special Constabulary was a reserve police force in Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the founding of Northern Ireland. It was an armed corps, organised partially on military lines and called out in times of emergency, such as war or insurgency...
(USC) was set-up. This was an armed reserve police force whose main role, during 1920–1922, was to bolster the RIC and fight the IRA. Spender encouraged UVF members to join, and although many did so, the USC did not engulf the UVF (and other loyalist paramilitaries) until early 1922. Craig hoped to "neutralise" the sundry loyalist paramilitaries by enrolling them in the C Division of the USC; a move that was backed by the British government. Historian Michael Hopkinson wrote that the USC, "amounted to an officially approved UVF". The USC was almost wholly Protestant and was greatly mistrusted by Irish Catholics and Irish nationalists. Following IRA attacks, its members sometimes carried-out revenge killings and reprisal
Reprisal
In international law, a reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them. Reprisals in the laws of war are extremely limited, as they commonly breached the rights of civilians, an action outlawed by the Geneva...
s against Catholic civilians during the 1920–22 conflict.
In his book Carson's Army: the Ulster Volunteer Force 1910–22, Timothy Bowman gave the following as his last thought on the UVF during this period:
It is questionable the extent to which the UVF did actually reform in 1920. Possibly the UVF proper amounted to little more than 3,000 men in this period and it is noticeable that the UVF never had a formal disbandment ... possibly so that attention would not be drawn to the extent to which the formation of 1920–22 was such a pale shadow of that of 1913–14.
See also
- Irish VolunteersIrish VolunteersThe Irish Volunteers was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland"...
- National VolunteersNational VolunteersThe National Volunteers was the name taken by the majority of the Irish Volunteers that sided with Irish Parliamentary Party leader John Redmond after the movement split over the question of the Volunteers' role in World War I.-Origins:...
- The Battle of the Somme
- William McFadzean
Sources/Further Information
- Proclamation by the UVF in the Larne TimesLarne TimesThe Larne Times is a newspaper based in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The paper was taken over by Johnston Press in 2005 from Scottish Radio Holdings and is now operated by the holding company, Johnston Publishing ....
newspaper January 1914 here. - Mont gomery Hyde, H. Carson. Constable, London 1974. ISBN 0-09-459510-0.
- Details on UVF links to the 36th Ulster Division which fought at the SommeSommeSomme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
here. - Fisk, Robert "In time of War: Ireland, Ulster, and the price of neutrality 1939 - 1945" (Gill & Macmillan) 1983 ISBN 0-7171-2411-8