Good as a Drink is, it Ends in Thirst - An Irish AAR

[Mr.G 24]

The New State​

The Newly Formed Ireland​

In early 1836 the United Kingdom in response to the growing nationalism and escalating protest and violence, created the Kingdom of Ireland or contemporarily known as the Commonwealth of Ireland. A product of the recent Tithe War, this puppet state was the hope of the British Parliament to appease the Irish and provide a stabile government in order to expand theEmpire's interest elsewhere, such as the growing colonial presence in India.

Unfortunately for the British, the administrative prowess of the English upper class in Ireland had failed to control the Irish population and in a series of costly ambushes found itself on the verge of civil war. Within 5 months the experimental "Irish State" was on the verge of collapse and drastic expenditures began to prepare for an eventual Irish rebellion. This drastic and monetarily unsound move proved a catalyst for the future war, in order to climb out of the debt, the Irish lower class consisting of mostly farmers were taxed 3/4th their income. With 80% of its population taxed to the breaking point, Ireland was at the most profitable state that if would be for years to come. Ironically this profit would only hurt any further British intentions.

Militancy Grows​

By New Years 37' the first anniversary of Irish "independence" the first move of the war was executed, with the attempt on acting Prime Minister Patrick Kelly's life in Dublin’s Independence Parade. Kelly although born Irish was of British sympathy and his prestigious political and military career for the British made him the most likely candidate for the Whig Party as they assumed power in Ireland for the same reason he was elected into power the Irish wanted him out. Now knowing his power, unless exercised, would be taken from him Kelly retreated north towards Belfast to plea for British help in asserting control of Eire. Although unwilling to send manpower in order to keep the facade of Irish independence to the international community authentic, Britain did however send material aid and supply which would be needed for an extended campaign against the Irish "terrorist".

When reaching the outskirts of Londonderry, Kelly began to assemble an army, most of which unsurprisingly were Northern Irish-British who were happy with the status quo. Also large contingents of British regulars guised as volunteers were sent to unofficially put down rebellion. Kelly's army was not close from being ready but control would need to be established in larger cities to secure the large populations from rebel use. On February 26th a 1,000 strong Irish regiment under the command of Morgan O'Connell was sent to quell unrest in Galway and arrest prominent members of "Young Ireland" a radical Irish nationalist group suspected for the failed coup d'etat on PM Kelly.

Unknown to Kelly was O'Connell's intention of offering his men and him to the service of the rebels and on the outskirts of Sligo he did just that becoming the first troops of the Irish Defense Force (IDF). Hearing of the news, the incensed Kelly rushed to crush this open rebellion and quell the insurrection all around the country. With a force of 5,600; less then half of which he hoped for, Kelly marched to face the 1,000 man strong IDF which would be forever known as the opening battle of the Irish Civil War.

Kelly's Troop Composition​

 

[unmerged(51332)]

I cant wait for the upcoming Civil war!

 

[peer-LAN]

you had me at hello... I mean Ireland. If it's with Ireland, I'm hooked. Good luck (use the four leaf clover) in the Civil war, hopefully it won’t get too messy.

 

[Hardstuff]

Huzzah!


I'm following this!


Damned annoying, that Belfast. Were Ireland to be granted Home Rule as early as possible, or to be continuous from 1800, Belfast would not be seperate. That issue only arose in the late 1880s and 1890s.

For one the demographics of Ulster are completely insane, there was an Irish majority at that time. Ie, there are 3 mostly Catholic, 3 mostly Protestant and 3 equal counties.

You know it'd be funny to see an Irish nationalist/Republican playing this game, solely for the name of Londonderry. They can't accept that as the name of the town.




Whenever I play Ireland: Haiti is an easy target, and brings nice manpower and resources.


Well, at least you use IDF correctly! 'Tis Irish!

 

[Mr.G 24]

Thanks everyone for the replys. I guess now I should just point out I'm playing V:R on Normal/Normal with Ireland liberated as a sattelite from the UK. This is my second game in V:R and I haven't played Victoria in atleast a year. So this game should be interesting.

You know it'd be funny to see an Irish nationalist/Republican playing this game, solely for the name of Londonderry. They can't accept that as the name of the town.

I knew it, I never heard of Londonberry and figured it might be Derry as I have seen it, (never heard of the london prefix) but I relied on Paradox spelling

Admittedly my knowledge of Ireland pre 1900 is not so good and certainly things will contradict themselves and make sure you point that out to me. As you will see in the update the game also tends to contradict itself.

 

[Mr.G 24]

The Irish Civil War

​

Lacking morale, Kelly could not sustain lenghty battles​

The Battle of Sligo was the first and most decisive battle of the Irish Civil War. Kelly’s Army as it was to be known engaged the dug-in troops of Morgan O’Connoll in the suburbs of the town of Sligo. Although numerous in men, the army lacked discipline and morale due in part from its hasty preparation and mix and match of experienced troops and green ones. Nonetheless the opening days of the battle went well with the modest goals achieved on the first day. At first glance the favor was overwhelmingly for Kelly but on the second day IDF troops whom were holed up on the first day refused to budge and the following week went to the destruction of these troops while little progress was made else where. By the time Kelly made his second push into Sligo, he had already put a hefty toll on the rebels but his own troops were feeling the effects of guerilla warfare where streets gained would just as easily be lost and morale was suffering. To damper the morale even more cavalry rebels joined O’Connell and proved to be the turning point in the battle as Kelly was then pushed back out of Sligo. Finding the situation untenable, Kelly retreated in face of worsening situations elsewhere in the country.

The defeat of Sligo was soon reached the rest of Ireland and rebellions all over the country followed. Reinforcements for Kelly were waiting in Londonderry along with much needed supplies. Although safe in his shortened supply line, he was also handing the island to the IDF. By the time he was on the move again O’Connell was leading an attack towards Londonderry, Kelly seeing this, left a minor screening force behind to hold up O’Connell which would effectively end O’Connell’s involvement in the war. Still looking for his decisive victory Kelly moved south.

​

Kelly's Southern Campaign, his only campaign of the war​

The following year of 38’ was spent quashing the poorly trained, if trained at all, IDF garrison forces most of which unlike O'Connell's army had no military service to speak of. The final move after clearing the southern rebels was to consolidate in Dublin. The slow progress made by constant revolts, gave enough time for the IDF to create its first real division of nearly 10,000 men which awaited Kelly in Dublin. Not heeding to his loyal generals, Kelly moved in for what he thought would be the shattering blow to the IDF and its claim to the leadership of Ireland. The battle that ensued ended in dismal failure for his war torn troops. Most of which fled the battle soon after it begun. Although he would retreat to Wexford and prepare fortifications there, Kelly soon after surrendered to the overwhelming forces of the IDF and conceded his puppet British rule over to Ireland.

​

The Unionist main platform was continued unity with Britain!​

In disbelief to many Irish the unionist had gained power in Dublin and surrounding areas. The civil war leaving estimate of 100,000 civilians and soldiers dead and numerous wounded, had seem to be in vain as the Unionist party established itself as the party of Ireland. One of the first diplomatically move was the proclamation of the young Queen Victoria as the Queen of Ireland to strengthen British relations. Once again it seemed civil war would begin and the 3 year war would extend to a 6 year war. Fortunately for Ireland, seeing the growing dissent Daniel O'Connell father of warhero Morgan O'Connel and leader of the Irish unionist party made the most important political decision for Ireland in the Victorian Era; elections were to be held.

 

[stnylan]

A very exciting start! I imagine those elections could get a bit heated.

 

[unmerged(56979)]

don't know much about Ireland, but i wish to learn a lot. You started out great, stay that way, im going to follow this till the end.

 

[coz1]

Well, that was short lived. Seems the folks don't want to split from Britain near as much as was thought.

But Ireland is fun to play. I recall it was the most successful of the three I played in Holy Trinity.

And just a note on my extremely limited knowledge on Belfast - seems to me that goes all the way back to Henry VIII or some such and the English "colonialism" practiced there. It always seemed to have a different bent than the rest of Ireland. The trick for you is to get it back, I would think. Good luck.

 

[Mr.G 24]

Trials of a New Nation​

The New Irish Flag​

The Election campaign started in full swing and for the first time since before the Norman conquests, Ireland would be in control of their own political destiny. Three parties showed themselves quickly as the major contenders, the Unionist party, the Conservative Party and the Whig Party, although the initial feeling was that the Unionist would uphold their power, it soon came clear that the Conservative party was the dominant party in Ireland, most aligned with the issues of the people. The death knell to the Unionist came when their leader although not a running mate, Daniel O’Connell publicly backed the Conservatives and he is credited with the overall rout of an election where the Conservatives took almost all the seats in Parliament and won the presidency. On January 1st the young vibrant President William Smith O’Brien took his seat along with the new Taoiseach Daniel O’Connell whom was considered ‘the most loved man in Ireland” of course not to the Unionist minority. The Whig Party took 10% of the vote and the Unionist being the utmost of insignificance with about 1%. The “jump ship” actions of O’Connell bittered the Unionist and caused a severe, almost fanatical void between the Unionist and the other political parties of Ireland planting seed for internal conflict in Ireland.

President O'Brien and Taoiseach O'Connell​

Economically Ireland was a mess and although the civil war was a fairly bloodless war compared with past resistances, it was still however a costly one. The expenditures for the army’s raised by both sides were now the responsibility of victors, in this case to the creditors go the spoils. The debt would take time to erase but in the current state of stagnation the prediction of total debt relief at the current income rate would be a decade far too unacceptable. Despite this, taxes reached an all-time low at 46% of the lower and middle class while the upper class remains tax-free in hopes of spurring much needed growth. Although this “elite class” angered the common Irish peasant, one could not deny the growing independence and heightened state of living coming into Ireland.

The new economy under Ottoman advisement​

For an agrarian based society as in Ireland it founds itself outpaced in production by almost every European country. The years of inefficient bureaucratic disasters under British rule was to blame and in the period from 41’-43’ a great deal of ‘fixing’ took place in which advisors from an unlikely ally were hired; the Ottoman Empire. During this time production nearly doubled and an economic boom made further expansion possible and the elimination to debt to a modest $3,000. It was during this time that the first time industrialization was seen in Ireland. Cattle farmers and fisherman alike began a growing trend of moving to the cities. These movements into urban areas were made possible by expansion in the Glasswork industry and the construction of railroad networks extending from Cork to Dublin. This period of peace and prosperity lasted until the political turmoil of 44’ that nearly halted all production in the country. And once again put the country on course for civil war.

A look at the demographics of 44' Ireland​

 

[stnylan]

Seems like you have some Dutch advisors in your population also!

 

[Lord Boreal]

Oooh this might be quite interesting!

*subscribes*

 

[unmerged(55206)]

I like this, I hope you have the luck of the irish.

 

[coz1]

Turks in Ireland? Well, there goes the neighborhood.

I particularly liked this little line - "to the creditors go the spoils." Very nice.

And O'Coner certainly sealed the deal. Were I him, I'd be watching my back constantly for fear of a rabid Unionist coming along and assassinating him.

 

[Hardstuff]

I knew it, I never heard of Londonberry and figured it might be Derry as I have seen it, (never heard of the london prefix) but I relied on Paradox spelling

Admittedly my knowledge of Ireland pre 1900 is not so good and certainly things will contradict themselves and make sure you point that out to me. As you will see in the update the game also tends to contradict itself.

Well, as I was saying, the town is called Londonderry, but the county's called Derry. It has always been so.

Though Irish nationalists and Republicans purposly drop the "London" suffix - interestingly enough, the Irish state has also done so.

So the signs down here point to "Derry" then when you cross the border it changes to "Londonderry".

Ah, I love Irish history. Find it very interesting. But I doubt your lack of knowledge will be much of a disadvantage - as this is alternative history!

My only quarrels are with what Paradox has done.

Ie - Why is Belfast not included in 1836? If not Belfast, then why not Armagh or Londonderry, both of which are towns in Northern Ireland, even though they both contain large nationalist areas, ie Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan, then including three counties with more or less equal demographics - Fermanagh and Tyrone. The rest would be 65%+ Unionist. So the province of Londonderry should be about 75 - 80% Catholic and similarily for Armagh. Belfast is about right.

Still doesn't explain the exclusion of Belfast before Home Rule came into existance. Crazy Paradox.


Good AAR so far though. Update more!

 

[unmerged(17581)]

As I was reading this, I was drinking a good, ice-cold drink of water.

 

[Lord Boreal]

I find the fact there appears to a few crazy dutchmen in ireland amusing too!

 

[Mr.G 24]

The Mediocre Revolt


A look at Ireland in mid 43' before the revolt​

“Reform and Industrialization” were the slogan during the term of O’Brien and O’Connell; to some those words were very scary. Those words meant change and people who had power grew contempt for the government each passing day. In fact one did not have to look far for to find potential enemies of the state, there was the bitter Unionist, Catholic clergy, the British upper class, and socialist to name a few. By 1843 most of these ‘factions’ were facing a loosing power struggle against the government and by 44’ arms were taken up to topple the Irish government.

The political reform that was presumed the reason for the revolt​

The mobs of people ransacking the streets of Dublin were a mix breed, many of them a conglomerate of British sympathizers whether the members of the radical Unionist Party or thugs of rich aristocrats or a entirely different group of religious fanatics who saw the new Ireland as a haven for Muslim infidels which were brought under a Protestant president. The dissidents had no central leadership but answered to their respective leaders, what was worse was they had no definitive goal save entrench themselves in and around Dublin. The 10,000 strong revolutionaries fed themselves on what they could find, specifically the large fields of wheat outside of Dublin but this charade of a revolt was loosing momentum, word of an Irish army’s closing in scared many away and fear of being ousted by loyal Irish Dubliners was becoming a real possibility. So in no real order or fashion, the mob went out to the countryside.

Outside of the Dublin commune there was an uneasy panic, stationed ironically in Londonderry like O’Brien’s predecessor just years before; the Irish army was preparing to move into Dublin where heavy resistance was expected. It came as a surprise, a delightful surprise that the mob was moving to the countryside becoming exceedingly vulnerable and soon enough the mob was greeted by artillery and musket fire and soon it dispatched all over the hills. Troops were sent to capture the mob that apparently lost more then 50% strength before a shot was fired due to desertion.

The rather quick Battle of Londonderry casualties we light troops showed were not at full strength​

The quick victory took sometime to get over, troops moved into Dublin and were seen as liberators. By September there was unruffled peace around the country, no revolts took place in response to the execution of prominent unionist leaders who were caught after the battle and blamed for the initial uprising and the Conservative party was as popular as ever.

It just so happened that the election season was upon Ireland and unsurprisingly the Conservative party was again elected although one prominent member was missing, Daniel O’Connell whom resigned from his post of Taoiseach after the revolt. He would die two years later at the age of 72 of natural causes.

The revolt had shaken the government into action, a standing army was to be always present on Irish soil, crimes in urban areas were cracked down and social programs were funded. The words reform and industrialization rang louder then ever.

 

[Mr.G 24]

Thanks all for the replys and sorry for a late update.

I will tell you what happened so far ingame maybe it will answer some questions.

1836 I loaded up UK and liberated Ireland as a sattelite. Then proceeded to raise Irish militancy as Ireland to the point of revolution. Leaving my division with 50% military upkeeep I saw if I could crush as many as possible, it was a dismal failure.

The ottomans offered an alliance after the revolt event detached me from being a UK sattelite. I made some trades with the ottomans asking for money in return for some industrial techs hence the ottoman advisors because that money allowed me to upgrade certain RGOs and factorys, that is where most of my debt is coming from despite the money I got from the Ottomans but I refuse to take anymore because it seems to easy.

Had I known the dutch loved my country so, I would of had them as the advisors to be honest. I suppose its too late to change. I'll have to put a little piece in about them.

 

[stnylan]

A well-titled post! Something of a mountain out of a molehill, but if those politicians do not take note they might not have it so easy next time.