The impact of WW2 on the North and South.

This is a student essay corrected by an SEC examiner, marked 70/100. The feedback is in italics. You may also like H1 History Notes for Leaving Cert.

World War 2(WW2) had an enormous impact on both Northern Ireland (NI) and The Irish Free State (FS). Following the outbreak of WW2 in September 1939, DeValera(Dev) was keen to declare FS neutral, highlighting their newfound independence. NI, on the other hand, was quick to side with the British showing their loyalty. NI experienced an economic boom, while FS experienced economic stagnation. The agriculture in the south also weakened whereas in the north, it prospered as the British relied on them for goods. The South managed to escape with little physical damage while NI suffered greatly from German bombings, which had an immense impact on the city of Belfast. The war also highlighted the deepening division between the societies and saw the idea of an independent republic become a distant memory. Good introduction, well done. Pop a quote in here if you can find one! 5/12

Dev was quick to declare the FS neutral. He had various reasons for this – the FS economy was too weak, they would not be used as a base for Germans to fight Britain, and being an island meant they would be vulnerable to attack. Their neutrality was also a stark symbol of independence. They organized a lot to ensure they remained neutral – letters, news and radios were censored so the Irish public had little knowledge of the violence occurring in Europe. This neutrality did, however, have a distinctly British flavour as the government passed on vital weather information to the Allies. At the beginning of the war, Prime Minister Winston Churchill offered Dev an independent republic if they returned the treaty ports. Unionists were outraged at hearing this, and Lord Craigavon exclaimed it was “an act of treachery to loyal Ulster”. Nonetheless, Dev declined this offer, recognizing it would have a grave impact on the safety of his people. 6/12-nice work, good paragraph.

Meanwhile, in NI, everything was normal. They believed that they would not face attacks from the German side as they were too far from the conflict. This meant that they only had 24 anti aircraft guns. The shelter was above ground and could only cater for a quarter of the population providing little protection. 30,000 children were supposed to evacuate, but only 7000 did. The hospitals and fire services had little training in how to react to a German invasion. There had been over 20 false alarms also, which meant that NI had felt completely justified in its complacency. This was to have a huge impact on the people of NI. 4/12 The British government were happy to focus on defending other cities than Belfast and also Northern Ireland.

As NI felt that they would not be subject to attack from Germany they were called upon to manufacture many of the implements used in the war effort. This had a huge impact on the economy, unemployment dropped from 30% to 5%. The linen industry was very busy producing 2 million parachutes, over 90% of the military shirts, and three quarters of all ropes used in the war effort. Harland and Wolff produced 550 tanks, NI was also responsible for the production of 123 merchant ships and 140 warships. They did not realize that this made them a huge threat to the Germans. NI was also home to 100,000 American soldiers from 1941. So it is fair to say World War Two had a great impact on Northern Ireland’s economy. 6/12 Many people migrated to Belfast in to work in British industries. Shorts Brothers built 1,200 Stirling bomber planes. In 1943 the British government took over Harland and Wolff. Women also began to work in textiles industries and made uniforms and parachutes. Talk about the differences in women’s roles in the war North and South.

The South could not say the same. They experienced huge economic stagnation and had their first taste of international isolation. Many jobs were lost, which meant that 50% of all those who joined the British army from Ireland were from the south. The period was known as the emergency. Sean Lemass introduced the Irish Shipping Company to bring goods to Ireland, which helped although the goods had to be rationed. There was a shortage of fuel, so they were encouraged to use turf, and the use of private cars was banned. Households were only allowed to use a small amount of electricity and ‘glimmermen’ went from house to house to ensure no one exceeded the limit. Inflation rose to 70% without wages rising at all, which led to a poor standard of living in the South. The lack of goods also led to a thriving black market, which highlights the impact WW2 had on the economy of the Free State. Good paragraph  6/12

The South also experienced the fall of agriculture, mainly due to the lack of fertilizer. In 1939 British exports of fertilizer were 80,000 in 1941 they had fallen to 7000. This meant that many crops had failed. People were encouraged to grow their own vegetables and keep chickens but with the lack of fertilizer this was very difficult. The north on the other hand was called upon to produce goods for the British. So agriculture also prospered. Cattle production rose from ¾ million to 1 million and they produced goods such as oats and flax. The British gave grants to NI farmers for purchases of machinery. The war had a stark contrast in impacting the agriculture of both societies.5/12 In Northern Ireland farmers received grants from the government and guaranteed prices for their produce, which did not happen in the South.

Up until 1941 the war had been having a positive impact on the North. In April 1941, they were shaken out of their complacency. On the night of the 7th – 8th of April, Germans dropped bombs on the Belfast shipyards. 13 people died and there was extreme damage to the docks. This violence increased and on the night of the 15th – 16th of April, Germany dropped a large number of bombs. They had aimed for the factories but ended up hitting the densely populated residential areas, damaging 56% of the housing stock. Over 900 people were killed in this attack, as they had not been properly prepared. The water sources were cut off, so firefighters struggled immensely. Dev was called upon and he sent 20 fire brigades from Dublin to aid the people of Belfast. Hospitals were also underprepared and they were unable to help many victims. This was to have a huge impact on the mental health of the nurses and doctors. Aside from London, Belfast suffered more damage than any other British city and this would have a huge effect on the lives and people of Belfast. 5/12 a good paragraph, but you could include two separate paragraphs on Northern Ireland before and after the Fall of France and how things changed and the North got more pulled into the war. You could include some of the following points: There was no preparation for war in Northern Ireland-there had been little effort to build bomb shelters and supply gas masks. Northern Ireland had left the preparation for defending the North to the government in London, who had done very little. You could also mention the Air Raid Precuations Act of 1939 here, and the fact that public transport and Stormont were painted dull colours to avoid being bombed. One million gas masks had been requested for Belfast but only 420,000 were received. Trenches were built in parks in case of an attack. Bomb shelters began to be built but not enough. Blackout was not strictly enforced. Some foods were unavailable, rationing was in place and smuggling between north and south occurred. You should mention that after the Fall of France 100,000 troops were stationed in Northern Ireland. As the war progressed the likelihood of being bombed by Germany increased and there were efforts to put anti-aircraft machinery in Derry and Belfast. The Luftwaffe had taken recon flights of Northern Ireland in 1940 and had notes on all the major industries. 1100 people died in bombing raids in Belfast and large scale industries had to be rebuilt after the war.

The South managed to escape much of the brutality that the North had faced. However, in May 1941, the North Strand in Dublin was bombed, killing 28 people. This was believed to be an accident, but historians later discovered that it was an act of retaliation to the Irish for aiding Belfast. For the most part, the country remained unharmed. However, the bombings in Belfast had a detrimental effect on the city. Over 220,000 evacuated and they practiced ‘ditching’, where at night they would leave the city and sleep in ditches to avoid being killed in attacks. Many children moved to the south and this brought to light the atrocious living conditions in the south. The bombings did mean that Belfast would be rebuilt to a higher standard, which did improve the conditions after the war. (4/12 more facts needed in this paragraph)

At the end of the war, there was widespread relief from both nations. Winston Churchill praised NI in his speech but accused the south of ‘frolicking’ with the Germans. Dev responded with a speech of his own, which made him very popular. This encounter did however, highlight the growing divide between the two sides and made ending partition impossible. The war had a huge impact on both societies, as South experienced a recession while North experienced a boom the south escaped little physical damage which contrasted the North. Despite this, the south became isolated internationally, as the allies continued to stick together. (4/12-try to put another researched quote in to end this essay)

CM 45/60

OE 25/40

Total: 70/100 H3

Well done, you have the start of a very good piece here, but this can easily be improved upon. Try to add in the facts I have given you and only write eight solid paragraphs. You have nine paragraphs here, but I would put more facts into one and just go with eight. You know the topic well, but more facts and figures and quotations will add to this as at times it is a bit too general in the statements that you have made. Can easily be a H2 with a little more attention to layout and details. Keep up the fantastic effort!