The dynamics of war and revolution: Cork city, 1916-1918

At the beginning of the First World War, Irish separatists in the city of Cork were marginalised and without political power. By the war's end, they had supplanted the local elite and launched a bloody war for independence. Using Cork as a case study, this book considers how the First World War brought about political revolution in Ireland, examining: wartime failures of constitutional nationalism; anxieties over food shortages; explosions in trade unionism; the effects of government repression; rising expectations for self-determination; the creation of a mass independence movement; and strident opposition to military conscription. For the first time, the Irish Revolution is viewed through a First World War prism, yielding results that will surprise students of both subjects.