Chapter 2086： Ireland

Said that Northern Ireland is not as important as Scotland, but only in consideration of its strategic significance.

But it is absolutely impossible to say that the British do not take it seriously.

After all, if the British want to truly Brexit, they must also look at the face of Ireland.

Ireland is a very interesting country, do you want to say that they like to fight? However, in the two world wars, at best, they engaged in small tricks behind the British, and they did not participate in the real war at all.

Can you say that they love peace? But when it comes to national unification, they are all quick-tempered.

To put it simply, they never mind seeking violence in the face of problems in Britain, but it doesn't matter if they treat other nations and countries. Anyway, Lao Tzu is so far away that the emperor is far away, so don't even mention fighting.

As mentioned earlier, the origin of Northern Ireland is actually a British vassal in the entire Irish region in history, and the time when the Irish region was conquered by the British can be traced back to 1172 AD, more than 200 years earlier than Wales and 500 years earlier than Scotland.

However, because of religious beliefs, Ireland, which has been ruled by the British for the longest time, has produced the most serious separatism.

The so-called religious belief problem mainly originated from the British religious reform in the 16th century. At that time, the main reason for the reform of religion in Britain was because the romantic King Henry VIII took the initiative to cut off the religious relationship with the Pope in order to marry another queen. To establish a separate Church of England.

As a result, Henry VIII’s move to establish another Protestant religion directly led to hostility between Irish Catholics and Protestants.

Therefore, in order to suppress the Catholics in Ireland, while the United Kingdom emigrated to Ireland on a large scale, it also mobilized troops to suppress the Catholics in Ireland.

In the 17th century AD, Cromwell led an army into Ireland, confiscated Catholic property, and through executions and exiles, the Irish population dropped by nearly 50%, while the immigrants from England who entered Ireland directly occupied the original Catholicism. The property of the disciples.

Since then, uprisings and repression have become the main theme of England and Ireland, and with the support of the British ZF, although the Irish resisted bravely, in the northern part of Ireland, Protestant immigrants still occupy an absolute advantage.

Therefore, after centuries of courageous resistance, although the Irish succeeded in gaining independence in the 20th century, they also lost their northern territory forever.

The problems caused by Northern Ireland After understanding the origin of Northern Ireland, the problems that may arise from the British Brexit are actually more clear.

Because of their weak strength, the country was divided between the North and the South. The Irish were obviously not convinced, so the Irish never gave up their efforts to unify the North and South.

However, if Britain insists on Brexit, the Irish may lose Northern Ireland forever.

Because Ireland belongs to the European Union, if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, it will leave the European Union with Northern Ireland.

Since the original United Kingdom and Ireland belong to the European Union, the goods and personnel of the two countries can circulate freely on the border.

However, if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, the border between the United Kingdom and Ireland will become the border line between the "EU area" and the "non-EU area", because the United Kingdom no longer belongs to the EU area, so the goods and personnel of the two countries are not allowed Move freely on the border, and even set up border checkpoints on the border between the two countries.

This resulted in the complete separation of Northern Ireland and Ireland, which Ireland could not agree to, and if Northern Ireland was left in the European Union alone, the British would obviously not agree, because this would completely separate Britain.

As a result, the border between Britain and Ireland has become a headache that cannot be bypassed or resolved in the Brexit negotiations.

But you can't ignore it. Maybe Ireland will stab you in the back of England, just like they did in the early twentieth century, to remain "neutral" at critical moments.

At that time, on the Atlantic battlefield of World War II, Britain and Germany continued to stage hunting and anti-hunting, and they beat each other to bloodshed.

However, Ireland, which is closer to the front line than England and Germany, has maintained its neutrality at ease. If Sweden and Switzerland depended on their strength for their neutrality during World War II, and Portugal and Spain depended on diplomacy for their neutrality, then Ireland relied on "hostility"!

During World War II, the struggle between German submarines and British anti-submarine warfare was extremely fierce. Although it may seem far-fetched, "hostility to Britain" is indeed an important factor in Ireland's neutrality.

After the First World War, Ireland became independent amidst the division. In the eyes of the Irish, the division was caused by the British alone, and they had a grudge about it. "Hostility" to Britain became the subject of the question.

With this level of experience, most Irish people are naturally unwilling to participate in a new world war and contribute to the British war.

In other words, "As long as Britain does not return Northern Ireland, Ireland will never stand on the same line with the British."

Therefore, although Ireland was still a subsidiary of the United Kingdom in the legal sense and a member of the Commonwealth in 1939, it was the only Commonwealth member that did not participate in the war, and whenever the United Kingdom made a request to Ireland, Ireland would take "Northern Ireland Questions" say something.

However, Ireland has never turned against Britain. Because the "Irish Free State" is legally attached to the United Kingdom, and the United Kingdom retains a naval base and considerable military power in Ireland.

So Although Ireland has a history of buying weapons from Germany, it is backed by Britain’s position and too weak military strength-there were only 6,000 troops before the war, very few fighter planes, and almost zero navy. Insufficient, let alone "turning over", and they know to some extent that "seeking" in Germany is not a reliable option at all.

And even if it participated in the war, Ireland did not have enough economic strength to sustain it. Before World War II, the Irish economy was mainly dependent on agriculture. During the British rule, Ireland was deliberately built into a granary, so Ireland “intentionally” developed agriculture. .

Coupled with the lack of coal and other mining resources in Ireland, there is almost no decent heavy industry, and it is simply unable to support large-scale wars.

Throughout the 1930s, some people in Ireland felt that "Ireland's neutrality is very safe and it is useless to raise soldiers." Even if the war is imminent, there is no intention to increase military spending.

So throughout the war, although the Irish realized the importance of "anti-*", they still couldn't let go of their grievances with the British. They kept their minds "neutral" and held that "even if they can't help you, you have to add obstacles." The state of mind, successfully ensured that the territory was not baptized by gunfire.

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