SUPERFICIAL
PARALLEL
It is
tempting to see a parallel,
In the
Irish and Spanish Civil Wars,
Between
Nationalism and Republicanism,
But such
a parallel would be, at best,
Superficial,
at worst downright misleading!
Whereas
the Irish Nationalists
Were
also republicans
And the
Republicans also nationalists,
The
Spanish Republicans weren't nationalists
Nor
the Nationalists republicans.
Unlike
the Spanish Civil War,
The
Irish Civil War didn't signify
A
fascist/communist dichotomy but, rather,
Two
shades of republican Nationalism -
Soft and
hard, gradual and immediate,
Evolutionary
and revolutionary.
The
split in Sinn Fein over the Treaty
Led to
fratricidal strife between
Pro-Treaty
Free Staters
And
Anti-Treaty Irregulars,
And
although the former eventually triumphed,
Leaving
Within
the
The
proclamation of a republic
Was
later engineered by descendants
Of the
Free Staters who,
Unlike
hard-line republicans,
Were
resigned, under Costello, to
A
twenty-six county republic.
Imagine,
if you can, Franco proclaiming a republic,
And one
sees how far apart
The
antagonists of the Spanish Civil War
Were
from those of the Irish one!
