Revision as of 23:09, 11 April 2013

The Irish Revolution (2011)

Date January 2011 – April 2011 Location Ireland Result Revolutionary Victory Irish Army founded Irish military strength increases greatly Irish economy partially communised Belligerents Irish Revolutionaries (Primarily political parties affiliated to Irish Citizen Army) Independent reformists Irish Counter-Revolutionaries (Political parties affiliated to: Irish Defence Forces) Commanders and Leaders orangejuicemmm Marcus Suridius CelticTiger211 Irishbhoy1967 Seanan Nephworks Brian Boru Various

Under Construction

The Irish Revolution of 2011 was a period of massive political, economic and military changes to Ireland, which dismantled the economic and political establishments of the country, after occupation by the United Kingdom created a new national army. These changes greatly altered the economic nature of eIreland. The political class that had ruled Ireland for years previously collapsed within three months, and Irish military culture and society was transformed greatly. The Revolution has at various times been considered a large factor in the entrance of eIreland onto the international scene, its continued membership of large military alliances, and the optimisation of the Irish economy for war.

Background

Economic Issues

The pre-revolutionary economy of eIreland was dominated by ideas from "real life", and as such reflected the post-Cold War situation in reality, with an economy greatly based on the market module, production being sold as normal, and with the state reliant on taxation income as opposed to monetary market manipulation or communes. This was particularly reflected in the acquisition of arms for the Irish state military, the Irish Defence Forces, which relied on the state procuring arms from the private sector in times of war, and with limited state production paying market wages in much the same manner as corporations. The IDF's elite unit, the Fianna, was an exception to the rule in that it did have its own companies, but even this unit did not exploit the full benefit of commune systems.

This economic model greatly increased both the cost of national defence and of training military personnel in order to increase Ireland's damage output, as well as placing a huge reliance on the private sector, which lead to war profiteering as is natural with supply and demand. The economic problems were of paramount importance to the revolution's occurrence, though their urgency was only revealed with the First Anglo-Irish War and the subsequent occupation.

Political and military elitism

By late 2010, the political establishment that had ruled Ireland essentially from the aftermath of the Irish coup d'état of September 2009 was very secure in its position. Key military and political figures often changed, but the core personnel in both administrative and military terms did not change either in terms of the people running government or in their ideas on how to do so. Furthermore, the political and military elite were from the same peer groups, their friends were often the same.

This lead to the opposition becoming isolated and increasingly radical, as the established players refused to allow hints of a new order to emerge, and retaliated politically against any successful change of guard in government, particularly in the office of President. The three left wing Presidents of the era (Dubhthaigh, Irishbhoy1967, Orangejuicemmm) faced impeachments or significant political unrest, often carried out with the very barest of justifications to cover for the open partisan motivations behind them. Similarly, soldiers not part of the peer groups of the officers in the IDF were discriminated against for supplies, even in time of war.

The elitism in both politics and military ranks lead to fertile ground for radical opposition to recruit from and organise within. However, the elitism was not greatly opposd by anyone other than a small group of dedicated revolutionaries, and did not lead to a mainstream reaction until early 2011, which came in three forms, political, economic and military.

The Labour Movement and the Irish Citizen Army

In December 2009, the controversial socialist and republican figure Brian Boru set up The Labour Party. An alliance party of "socialists, communists, Irish Republicans and militarists", the party quickly gathered significant support from those groups, particularly soldiers who were unhappy at the state of the country. The party also aligned itself with the communist eInternationale, a large group of socialist and communist parties worldwide that often provided both material and personnel support to the party. It was from this party that Irishbhoy1967 and orangejuicemmm launched their political and military careers. The party set up communes, demonstrating their viability for both economic and military purposes. The party's contribution to the revolution cannot be understated, as it solidified the need for a large left wing party to engage with the political scene, with emphasis on military strength. It also openly challenged the establishment to an extent unseen before in Ireland.

The party did not survive the political scene, as orangejuicemmm's impeachment on dubious grounds lead to a seizure of the treasury by him, and the changing of the party. The Labour movement's ideas did not die however, and the party's spirit was reborn in the Sons of Eireann party, the same party which would later take power via the revolution.

Just as important was the foundation of the Irish Citizen Army. Created in January 2011 by Joe_Hitman, the ICA became the military wing of the Labour movement and eventually came to dominate it. A communised military force, the first of its kind in eIreland, its effectiveness relative to its size was great. Furthermore, it proved that a military unit could be organised along communist lines, and that doing so was actually more efficient than the old system used by the government. The ICA was committed to changing Ireland's direction, and its members highly disciplined with regard to pursuing that objective.

Anglo-Irish Relations

Hostility between Ireland and the United Kingdom was high in the period leading up to the First Anglo-Irish War and the revolution. Irish Republicans, including the likes of Brian Boru, ian arbuckle, and Padraig Pearse, had succeeded in swinging Irish opinion on the status of Northern Ireland a year previously, and in early 2010, the Edana Savage administration used a massive EDEN attack on the UK to attack a then-Norwegian held NI. This represented a significant breakdown in relations with the UK, which lead to Ireland joining the Brolliance and aligning itself with the United States and Canada against the UK. This change was perhaps greater than the revolution that followed it; Britain and Ireland had been close allies since the very start of eRepublik, and the change in diplomatic attitude was crucial to both eIreland and to the revolution.