Why did Ireland move from Home Rule to partition and conflict between 1900 and 1985, and how did Britain respond?
The Home Rule crisis and Ulster resistance, the Easter Rising and the War of Independence, partition and the creation of the Irish Free State, and the origins and course of the Troubles to 1985.
An SQA Higher History answer on Britain and Ireland 1900 to 1985, covering the Home Rule crisis and Ulster resistance, the Easter Rising and War of Independence, partition and the Irish Free State, and the origins and course of the Troubles in Northern Ireland to 1985.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this key area is asking
The SQA wants you to explain the changing relationship between Britain and Ireland from the Home Rule crisis, through the Easter Rising, War of Independence and partition, to the outbreak and course of the Troubles in Northern Ireland up to 1985. This is a British option assessed by extended-response (essay) questions, so you must build balanced arguments about causes and turning points and reach a judgement.
The Home Rule crisis and Ulster resistance
- Home Rule had been demanded by Irish nationalists since the 1880s; the loss of the Lords' veto in the 1911 Parliament Act made the 1912 bill likely to pass.
- Ulster Unionists, led by Sir Edward Carson and James Craig, resisted by every means, including the Larne gun-running of April 1914.
- The First World War (August 1914) suspended Home Rule and postponed the crisis, splitting the nationalist Volunteers.
The Easter Rising and the War of Independence
- 1918 election. Sinn Fein won 73 of 105 Irish seats, refused to sit at Westminster, set up its own parliament (the Dail Eireann, January 1919) and declared independence.
- War of Independence (1919 to 1921). The IRA, with Michael Collins directing intelligence, fought a guerrilla campaign against the Royal Irish Constabulary, the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries, leading to a truce in July 1921 and negotiations.
Partition and the Irish Free State
- The Anglo-Irish Treaty (December 1921) created the Irish Free State (a self-governing dominion) and allowed Northern Ireland (six of the nine Ulster counties) to opt out and remain in the United Kingdom, which it immediately did.
- Civil war (1922 to 1923) followed in the south between pro-Treaty forces (Collins, Cosgrave) and anti-Treaty republicans (de Valera) over the oath of allegiance and partition; the pro-Treaty side won.
- Northern Ireland, under the Government of Ireland Act (1920), became a self-governing region within the UK with its own parliament at Stormont, dominated by the Unionist majority.
The origins and course of the Troubles
- Civil rights and escalation. The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marched from 1968; peaceful marches were attacked (Burntollet, January 1969), and after rioting British troops were deployed in August 1969.
- Bloody Sunday (30 January 1972) saw paratroopers kill thirteen unarmed civil rights marchers in Derry, boosting Provisional IRA recruitment; Britain abolished Stormont and imposed direct rule in March 1972.
- Paramilitary conflict. The Provisional IRA and loyalist groups (the UVF and UDA) waged a campaign of bombings and shootings through the 1970s and 1980s.
- The hunger strikes (1981), in which Bobby Sands (elected an MP) and nine others died, energised Sinn Fein as a political force.
- The Anglo-Irish Agreement (November 1985), signed by Thatcher and FitzGerald, gave the Republic of Ireland a consultative role in Northern Ireland, a step towards later peace negotiations despite fierce Unionist opposition.
Examples in context
A strong analytical paragraph on the executions might run: "The Rising had little popular support during Easter Week, and Dubliners jeered the captured rebels. The decisive change came from the British response: General Maxwell had fifteen leaders shot between 3 and 12 May 1916, including the wounded James Connolly, who was tied to a chair to be executed. These executions, carried out slowly and under martial law, transformed failed rebels into martyrs and shifted moderate nationalist opinion away from the constitutional Irish Parliamentary Party towards Sinn Fein, as the 1918 landslide showed." This makes a point, supports it with precise detail, and analyses the effect, which is what SQA rewards.
Try this
Q1. What document did Ulster Unionists sign in 1912 against Home Rule? [1 mark]
- Cue. The Ulster Covenant.
Q2. What did the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 create? [2 marks]
- Cue. The Irish Free State in the south and Northern Ireland within the UK.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher 201820 marksHow important was the Easter Rising of 1916 in changing the relationship between Britain and Ireland?Show worked answer →
SQA marks the essay out of 20 for structure, an introduction with a line of argument, knowledge, analysis and a supported conclusion. The named factor here is the Easter Rising.
Argue its importance: the Rising itself failed militarily and was unpopular at first, but Britain's execution of fifteen leaders (Pearse, Connolly and others) between 3 and 12 May 1916 created martyrs and shifted opinion towards republicanism, helping Sinn Fein win 73 of 105 Irish seats in December 1918.
Balance the other factors: the long failure of constitutional Home Rule, Ulster Unionist resistance from 1912, the radicalising effect of conscription threats in 1918, the War of Independence (1919 to 1921), and British policy. A strong conclusion ranks the Rising as a major turning point in opinion while noting it was one stage in a longer process.
SQA Higher 202220 marksTo what extent was partition in 1921 the main reason for the later conflict in Northern Ireland?Show worked answer →
A "to what extent" essay needs a weighed judgement. Explain partition under the Anglo-Irish Treaty (December 1921), which created the Irish Free State and left six Ulster counties in the UK with a Unionist majority.
Argue partition's role: it built in a permanent Catholic minority (around one third) subject to discrimination in housing, jobs and gerrymandered local-government voting, the structural grievance behind the Troubles.
Then weigh other causes: Unionist control of Stormont, the failure to reform, the 1968 to 1969 civil rights crisis, the deployment of troops, Bloody Sunday (1972) and IRA and loyalist violence. SQA rewards a conclusion that partition created the conditions but later decisions turned grievance into conflict.
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Sources & how we know this
- SQA Higher History Course Specification — SQA (2018)