The "Irish question" was so central to the discussion of the United Kingdom constitution that many of the federal schemes which were developed from 1870 to 1922 focused on resolving the problem of home rule for Ireland. John Kendle examines this key issue in depth and gives full attention to the concerns and ideas of Scottish and Welsh nationalists as well. The debate over internal constitutional change took place at a time when many people were concerned about relations between Great Britain and the self-governing colonies. The issue of Imperial federation was continuously and exhaustively discussed and promoted from the late 1860s through World War I. The waters became so muddied that at times it has been difficult to separate arguments for closer imperial union from proposals for internal decentralization. Kendle comments extensively on this confusion. During the fifty years from the early 1870s to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, politicians and publicists devoted considerable energy and attention to the notions of "home rule all round," "devolution," and "federalism" as possible means of resolving the urgent political, administrative, and constitutional issues confronting the United Kingdom. The increasing complexity of government business, the gathering forces of ethnic nationalism in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, and concern with maintaining and strengthening the role of the parliament at Westminster in imperial affairs combined to keep the possibility of decentralization at the forefront of political and public debate. Kendle explores and analyzes the motives and attitudes of participants in this debate and looks at the schemes and proposals that resulted from this power struggle. Ireland and the Federal Solution gives a lucid appraisal of what was meant at the time by the terms "federalism," "home rule all round," and "devolution" and evaluates how firmly the participants grasped the constitutional similarities and differences between existing federal systems.

"Alvin Jackson's Home Rule: An Irish History examines the development of Home Rule and devolution in Ireland from the nineteenth century to the present. It traces some of the main themes in Irish peace-making from their late Victorian roots to the beginning of the millennium: it explores the origins of the Good Friday Agreement, and many of the interconnections between Irish political history and contemporary affairs. The work offers an incisive reappraisal of different political leaders through the period. Drawing on new archival evidence, Home Rule illuminates a crucial aspect of British and Irish history over a two-hundred-year span."--BOOK JACKET.

A holistic, all-Ireland history of the causes, course, and consequences of the partition of Ireland between 1918 and 1925.

The United Kingdom faces with two major federal constitutional debates. The first is about the nations which comprise the British state and hence the division of power between Westminster and regional parliaments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The second surrounds the United Kingdom and the European Union. This text explores the British engagement with the federal idea from the early 1600s onwards, and sets contemporary discussions in context. In the past four centuries, the British have often looked to the federal idea as a possible solution to problems of the unity of the United Kingdom and of the British Empire. This period has also seen successful adoption of federalism by many countries, including Britain's former colonial possessions. John Kendle examines the break-up of the first British empire and the development of modern federalism. As well as discussing the Anglo-Irish relationship and the United Kingdom's relationship to Europe, the author focuses on other contemporary issues such as the world order, imperial federation and decolonization.

This book explores the political and ideological developments that resulted in the establishment of two separate states on the island of Ireland: the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. It examines how this radical transformation took place, including how British Liberals and Unionists were as influential in the “two-state solution” as any Irish party. The book analyzes transformative events including the third home rule crisis, partition and the creation of Northern Ireland, and the Irish Free State’s establishment through the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The policies and priorities of major figures such as H.H. Asquith, David Lloyd George, John Redmond, Eamon de Valera, Edward Carson, and James Craig receive prominent attention, as do lesser-known events and organizations like the Irish Convention and Irish Dominion League. The work outlines many possible solutions to Britain’s “Irish question,” and discusses why some settlement ideas were adopted and others discarded. Analyzing public discourse and archival sources, this monograph offers new perspectives on the Irish Revolution, highlighting in particular the tension between public rhetoric and private opinion.

Globalizing Confederation brings together original research from 17 scholars to provide an international perspective on Canada’s Confederation in 1867. In seeking to ascertain how others understood, constructed or considered the changes taking place in British North America, Globalizing Confederation unpacks a range of viewpoints, including those from foreign governments, British colonies, and Indigenous peoples. Exploring perspectives from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France, Latin America, New Zealand, and the Vatican, among others, as well as considering the impact of Confederation on the rights of Indigenous peoples during this period, the contributors to this collection present how Canada’s Confederation captured the imaginations of people around the world in the 1860s. Globalizing Confederation reveals how some viewed the 1867 changes to Canada as part of a reorganization of the British Empire, while others contextualized it in the literature on colonization more broadly, while still others framed the event as part of a re-alignment or power shift among the Spanish, French and British empires. While many people showed interest in the Confederation debates, others, such as South Africa and the West Indies, expressed little interest in the establishment of Canada until it had profound effects on their corners of the global political landscape.

It has been argued that Walter Long was the most powerful single voice on Irish affairs in the British government for the critical period from 1916 to 1920. As the leader most committed to a federalist approach to constitutional reform in Ireland, he was a central figure in maintaining a firm stance on Ireland as an integral part of the union and in determining the eventual shape of the union after the First World War.