About twenty years ago, when I had a conversation with an older Irish woman, the cousin of one of my in-laws, I remember having to smile like an idiot when she started waxing over how great Eamon de Valera was. I thought she was a real pip - I generally find the Irish Irish to be nicer than the New England variety (Don't get me started on the NY ones) - but I really am not a fan of de Valera.
While not thinking he was nearly as bad as his biggest enemies made him out to be, a lot of the worst of what he did was forced by circumstances and the fact that Ireland was a small, weak country whose independence struggles were violent and continued to be violent and divisive right up till now. A lot of the propaganda I've read over the years has covered up things like the Irish government's unofficial and covert help to the Allies even as it was officially neutral. Among other things, the Irish government was fully aware that there were Nazi plans to invade Ireland, something they'd have been able to guess even though they seem to have known of the plans to do it. I will never forgive his betrayal to Irish women who, remarkably, lost ground after the original Constitution guaranteeing them equality was adopted.
I didn't get anyone trying to goad me over St. Patrick this year, what motivated most of my past St. Patrick Day posts. I was thinking of writing a piece about the political realism and pragmatism of Michael Collins, the great figure of the Irish independence struggle but didn't feel up to it. I never saw the Liam Neeson movie about him, I'd already developed my allergy to movies about real historical figures and events by the time it came out. I think it's a shame that most peoples' conceptions of history comes from the fiction that theatrical and movie "history" inevitably are. I understand the movie was pretty hard on de Valera but I don't know how accurate the depiction was. The fact is, none of them were saints.
It is one of the great tragedies of Ireland that Michael Collins was killed, I think Irish history would have been entirely different and far better if he and not de Valera had been the central figure of the Irish government in the decades after freedom came to the South. But that's speculation, not fact. I think he was someone who had more of the parts of greatness than many of the others, someone who knew the limits of revolution than so many of the others, especially those who remained with the IRA and more allegedly radical factions. I doubt he'd have taken the sharp-right turn that de Valera took which blighted Ireland right up to recent years. I think Collins might have had a strong romantic streak in him but he had the virtue of not being sentimental about poverty and he was a fervent believer in democracy - I think he was probably the strongest proponent of democracy among the major figures in the independence struggle. I doubt, if he'd have lived, if James Connolly would have turned out to be a champion of popular rule.
I think that's one of the reasons Collins finally and reluctantly signed the treaty that the Brits presented with an ultimatum. His first concern was always the good of the Irish people. He knew Ireland couldn't endure the onslaught of the British who were, when you get down to it, more than prepared to commit genocide against the Irish. I wouldn't be surprised if Churchill wouldn't have advocated using gas against the Irish population, he was an enthusiastic supporter of it after 1921. And, as it turned out, a majority of the Irish people voted for the treaty, something the more radical ones couldn't accept even though it was the will of the majority and it achieved as much as was possible under the conditions present.
I say that he's the greatest while not being entirely certain I'd have liked him much in person. Respecting him isn't the same thing as liking him, but maybe I would have. That's how I see politics and history.
If you're going to look into him, I'd recommend reading a couple of books and skip the movies. About him and every other real figure in history.
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