The IRA also allied with the Germans in the first world war. They were simply operating under "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" philosophy which has been used for hundreds if not thousands of years by nations, kingdoms empires and groups the world over. Churchill said that Mussolini & his blackshirts had “rendered a service to the whole world” & considered Fascism an “‘Antidote to Soviet Poison.’ (aka "the enemy of my enemy is my friend") & referred to Mussolini as "That admirable Italian gentleman".
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Much like de Valera and Hyde, the Taoiseach and President of Ireland during the Second World War, who trusted in Nazi victory (as the US ambassador reported at the time) and were so upset by Hitler's death that they paid condolence visits to the German ambassador, for reasons not of public protocol but of private sympathy
Sorry but this is untrue, Ireland offered condolences because we were officially neutral (despite helping the allies on numerous occasions but appearances still had to be kept up.)
https://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpo...ii-259756.html )
By the same token Hitler gave reparations for the bombing of the North strand in Dublin which included a Synagogue. Despite his hatred of Jews, as Ireland was officially (ahem) neutral.
Robert Briscoe an IRA member & former lord Mayor of Dublin was Jewish & provided training to the Irgun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert...oe_(politician)
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Jabotinsky while head of Irgun visited Dublin to receive training in guerrilla warfare tactics against the British under the instruction of Briscoe
The IRA weren't Nazi allies because they were also Nazi anti Semites themselves but again were simply operating under a philosophy that many adopted before them.
I don't know about any other posters as I don't know people well enough itt but as an Irish person I'm not an Irish Republican or sympathizer. But it's not valid to quantify a conflict that dragged along for centuries in one form or another in such simplistic terms. No learning of history will ensue with such a stance. I have a lot of respect for you & your opinion & would actually consider you an online mate due to our previous history together. But I respectfully disagree with you on this. There was no "goodies & baddies" scenario at play here & respective British governments have plenty of blood on their hands regarding the north just as the IRA & UVF do.
People need to move on, let go of the bitterness & critically examine that conflict, free of emotion or rhetoric if they wish to learn anything from it. I'm just glad it's over & the next generation down south anyway has grown up out of its shadow. But nothing will be learned from such a mindset which is as is useless as "Brits Out" or "No Surrender" or any other emotive slogan. The British didn't fight the good fight any more than the IRA did, they all engaged in brutality & reprehensible acts no exceptions & did so for complex reasons which can't be brushed of so simplistically either way.
That's all I'm gonna say about this deeply depressing topic as someone who also grew up during the era. Far more at play than "because it was all the IRA/British Government's fault".
Cheers.
Last edited by corpus vile; 04-23-2019 at 07:49 AM.