nes. Politically, Home Rule, which meant repeal of the Act of Union and the establishment of a separate Irish parliament in Dublin, passed in 1914. It did not solve the problems with Protestant Ulster, and that topic was excluded and unsettled. The Protestant were very much against Home Rule and an Ulster Volunteer Force was formed in 1913. North Ireland Ulstermen drilled openly and were supported by the local British military officials. De Valera joined the National Volunteer movement in 1913 because he felt that it would take the efforts of everyone in Ireland in order to secure her independence. Home Rule was suspended when World War I broke out, and Britain initiated a draft. De Valera stood with the minority who refused to fight for any country but Ireland, England was outraged because enlistment in Ireland was low, and conscription was protested. This was his first of many breaks with the mainstream Irish politicians and leaders, who tried to get along with Britain and urged enlistment. While sitting out the war, he joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB, a forerunner of the IRA) a choice that would lead him to take part in the Easter Rebellion.On April 21, 1916, a vessel under the guise of a neutral merchant ship made an attempt to land arms and ammunition in Ireland. The New York Times reported that this ship, the Auld and a German submarine were found off the coast of Ireland by an English ship. The captain of the ship sank it to prevent the arms from being seized, but the damage was done. The mastermind behind this was Sir Roger Casement, a philanthropist who had exposed serious corruption in rubber plantations in Africa. The same Sir Roger was also a supporter of Home Rule and had instigated German forces to help agitate England while the war was going on. This involvement was damaging to the Irish because of German unpopularity during the war. The arms were meant to arrive before the Easter Rising and would...
