World press reaction to the 1916 Irish Rebellion

• Main Author: Williams, James David
• Published: University of Edinburgh 2002
• Subjects: 941.5
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.663824

This study of the world’s press reaction to the Easter Rebellion of 1916 is primarily concerned with the manner in which the events in Dublin were interpreted in a particular nation’s press and the impact that the coverage had upon the public’s perception of Irish affairs. In addition, the work gauges the extent that the public’s interpretation as to the significance that Irish matters had upon subsequent domestic affairs such as affecting conscription for the European war, the presidential election of 1916 in the United States and prospects for American intervention in the war. Since the rebellion occurred during a war involving nations with well-established media systems, the thesis includes discussion of the propaganda efforts of nations involved in the war. In regard to this aspect, the thesis analyzes the manner in which Germany sought to manipulate Irish tales of atrocities to discredit the British claim that they were fighting the war to defend small nations against Teutonic aggression and in which the United Kingdom attempted to paint the German Empire as fomenters of the Easter Rebellion. This is also a case study of the ability of a particular immigrant group, the Irish, to influence domestic politics in the nation to which they immigrated. Public perception as to the role of the Irish immigrant in national affairs differed from place to place but the majority of Irish immigrants were Catholics who settled in Protestant nations. Only in Canada was the Irish, Catholic part of a group that constituted a religious sectarian plurality albeit one that was still a minority in the country as a whole.