On this episode of the Irish History Show, we looked at the Conscription Crisis. The crisis stemmed from a move by the British government to impose conscription in Ireland in April 1918. This was a response to the German Spring Offensive towards the end of the First World War. Conscription in Britain had already come into effect with the Military Service Act of 1916. Vigorous opposition was led by trade unions, Irish nationalist parties and Roman Catholic bishops and priests. A conscription law was passed but was never put in effect. The proposal and backlash galvanised support for Sinn Féin and seperatism in Ireland.
To discuss this, we were pleased to be joined by two very special guests. Dr. Spencer Jones is an award-winning historian and author. He is Senior Lecturer in Armed Forces and War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton and serves as the Regimental Historian for the Royal Regiment of Artillery. His key works include From Boer War to World War: Tactical Reform of the British Army 1902-1914 and Stemming the Tide: Officers and Leadership in the British Expeditionary Force 1914, which was runner-up for the Templer Medal in 2014. He has published several critically acclaimed books on the British Army in the First World War including Courage without Glory: The British Army on the Western Front 1915 and At All Costs: The British Army on the Western Front 1916. His most recent volume is The Darkest Year: The British Army on the Western Front 1917. Dr. Jones is also the co-host of the popular First World War podcast Not So Quiet on the Western Front.
Daragh Fitzgerald is a PhD candidate and researcher in the Department of History at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where his doctoral research focuses on the Irish Conscription crisis.
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Intro / Outro music “Sliabh” from Aislinn. Licensed under creative commons from the free music archive.
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