Long live Joachim

Chapter C hapter 78: Religious Murder The Shannon River 6-day tour, hosted by Xia Shu, departed from Limerick and ended in Dublin. The journey crossed the island of Ireland, and although there were no crowds or luxurious cuisine along the way, enjoying pleasant scenery and relaxing time, it was very pleasant. However, the old grudges between Ireland and Britain seemed to have faded away in the friendly interactions between royal family members and political officials. With the comprehensive development of railway and road construction and the strong rise of Limerick, the importance of the Shannon River in today's Irish economy and social landscape is no longer as significant as a century ago. However, after dredging and expanding the upstream canal section, its military significance has significantly increased. Even during dry seasons, hundreds of tons of light ships can travel between the old and new capitals through this waterway. The accompanying officers of British Crown Prince Edward paid high attention to the changes in the Shannon Canal, and their shock was even more evident after the yacht arrived in Dublin. The once bustling city was originally destroyed by war and became a coastal defense hub due to the westward relocation of its political and economic center. Although German style equipment was extensively used, its layout system was completely different from any known style. It was highly praised by German military experts and became known to the world. However, except for German personnel who participated in the construction, no military or political officials from any country were officially invited to come after the overall completion of the project, and those who were given the opportunity were mostly fleeting glances. The British Crown Prince and his delegation were not only allowed to disembark, but also inspected some defense facilities with the personal accompaniment of Natsuke. They saw the long rumored giant fortress gun group, which indeed included a 13. 5-inch main gun dismantled from the battleship cruiser "Tiger". A group of British people stood silently in front of them for a moment, sighing and feeling heartbroken. Staying in Dublin for one night and holding talks the next day, British officials once again proposed the idea of economic cooperation between the two countries. With Britain's industrial base, trade resources, and consumer market, if it were to form an economic alliance with Ireland, Spain, and Austria Hungary, it would undoubtedly have a positive impact on the economic development of these three brothers and sisters, and would inevitably become the leader of this economic alliance. Setting aside political and diplomatic factors, it is worth trying and taking risks. However, due to the opposition between the Allied powers and the United States and Britain, Ireland cannot engage in comprehensive economic cooperation with Britain. At best, it can only sign some mutually beneficial trade agreements, such as industrial product tariff reductions. In that case, the Ford Model T produced in Ireland would be able to enter the UK market on a large scale and maintain a sufficient price advantage, while Ireland could also obtain industrial products from the UK at a relatively low price to meet its economic development and social needs. With a positive yet cautious attitude, the talks between the two sides finally entered a substantive stage. However, at this time, the news of religious bloodshed in the north was like a bolt from the blue, stirring up the atmosphere of the talks in a mess. The spark of the conflict began in Craven, a small city about an hour away from Belfast, where a local law enforcement officer was shot dead in his home. The news immediately sparked a gathering and demonstration of local Catholics, and then a block inhabited by Protestants was set on fire, with multiple residential buildings destroyed and nearly a hundred Protestants displaced, causing strong dissatisfaction among Protestants. Subsequently, in another city near Cregavin, Tandraj, a Catholic church was set on fire, and hundreds of Catholics and a large number of Protestants erupted in bloody clashes on the streets. Before the military arrived to control the situation, local police killed and injured several armed thugs, as well as themselves. Afterwards, Protestants publicly claimed that the Irish army had resorted to violent suppression, resulting in over a hundred unarmed deaths and hundreds of innocent civilians being detained. Protestants in northern Ireland subsequently launched large-scale protests The appearance of this scene did not surprise Xia Shu, and he even regarded it as an unavoidable necessity. In order to fundamentally change the situation of highly concentrated land and a focus on animal husbandry over agriculture in Ireland, and to fundamentally address the problems of wealth disparity and class gap, the Royal Irish Government has enacted multiple laws, such as prohibiting illegal land grabbing and balancing agricultural and pastoral land use, to distribute land held by large landowners and farmers to ordinary people through government purchases. With the gradual implementation of these laws and policies, Irish people at the bottom of society gradually got rid of the rootless life of the past, and their food and clothing problems were solved. Their living conditions also improved day by day, but obviously not everyone was satisfied with it. Ireland is predominantly Catholic, and at the beginning of its establishment, the Kingdom of Ireland followed the will of the majority and chose Catholicism as the state religion. Protestants already felt abandoned and persecuted psychologically, and the Irish government's tolerant religious policies did not fundamentally change this situation. Social problems caused by religion were particularly prominent in the Protestant dominated northern part of Ireland. The conflict between Catholics and Protestants in northern Ireland first originated from the English colonization plan of the Ulster Plantation in 1609, which confiscated all local land and allowed Protestant "planters" from England and Scotland to immigrate to Ulster. The confrontation between local Catholics and colonizers led to two bloody ethnic and religious conflicts between 1641-1653 and 1689-1691. The political dominance of British Protestants in Ireland was guaranteed in these wars and the Irish Penal Code, which provided for the deprivation of religious, legal, and political rights of all individuals who were in conflict with the Church of England - the Anglican Church of Ireland. In the late 18th century, the collapse of the Irish criminal justice system triggered a new round of conflicts. After the lifting of restrictions on Irish Catholics engaging in land buying and business activities, competition between Catholics and Protestants intensified, with both sides attacking each other and their methods gradually becoming extreme. Many Presbyterians, Catholics, and liberal Protestants joined the United Irish Association - a nationalist movement organization inspired by the French Revolution, with the goal of ending sectarian divisions in Ireland and establishing an independent Irish Republic separate from Britain. However, their uprising in 1789 failed miserably, and the more hardline Protestants were actively armed by the British government to fight against radicals, dividing Catholics and Protestants into two persistent hostile camps. In 1801, the Irish Parliament was dissolved and Ireland was incorporated into the United Kingdom. Catholics began to seek a more enlightened reform path, committed to restoring the Irish Parliament and local autonomy. However, Protestants were afraid of becoming a minority under Catholic rule in Ireland and tended to support continued British rule. Religious conflicts were manifested between those who supported the Union Act and those who opposed it. After entering the 20th century, out of fear of living in a Catholic country dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, Protestants formed the Ulster League, vowing to resist Irish autonomy by force if necessary. During the War of Independence, the Ulster Volunteer Army, composed of Protestants, actively assisted the British army in fighting against the independence forces and German volunteers. They used the northern part of Ireland as their stronghold and expanded their activities to the southwest of Ireland. With the independence of the Kingdom of Ireland, the British army retreated to the Belfast area, and most members of the Ulster Volunteer Army accepted the British military's incorporation and changed their name to the Belfast Division. The division did not have the opportunity to officially participate in the war, but it was stained with the blood of many comrades in the friction and conflict between the two sides. After the end of the Belfast Crisis in 1916, the British army withdrew from Ireland, and the Belfast Division disintegrated. Many people fled to the Americas, while others went to England and continued to engage in anti Irish activities with the indulgence or even covert support of the British government. Due to the dominance of Protestants in the upper echelons of power during British rule, Catholics in northern Ireland often lived in hardship. The land and economic policies of the Kingdom of Ireland aimed to narrow the class gap and maintain social balance, which naturally benefited Catholics more. However, many Protestants' immediate interests were harmed, and most of them only resisted the Catholic controlled Irish government emotionally. However, extreme violent incidents were not uncommon under the instigation of the Ulster League. Prior to the murder of law enforcement officers in Cragavan, there were already over 200 cases involving personal injury and even murder caused by Protestants, as well as a considerable number of economic cases and resistance to the implementation of laws. Although the police and judicial system in Ireland is required to handle matters related to Protestants with the principles of impartial law enforcement and cautious treatment, there is no guarantee of absolute fairness in enforcement in various regions, and various conflicts, misunderstandings, and frictions are inevitable. The law enforcement officer who was shot was reportedly retaliated against for offending some influential Protestants in the area during his usual work. Politics is not as important as military. The winner is king, and the loser becomes a bandit. Although power suppression is simple and direct, in this era of civilized public opinion, especially in Europe where communication technology is most advanced, brutal and bloody political measures will put pressure on policymakers from all sides. As the Crown Prince of the United Kingdom visits Ireland with members of the royal family and government officials, and the UK is also the number one Protestant country, whether it can properly handle this religious bloodshed conflict and resolve the crisis situation in northern Ireland is another severe test for Xia Shu and the Irish government. The Irish authorities quickly halted the bilateral economic and trade negotiations that had begun due to the visit of the British Crown Prince to Ireland. Xia Shu bid farewell to Prince Edward and his delegation in Dublin, and he returned to Limerick on a special plane, while the British returned home on a ship temporarily dispatched by the navy. Faced with overwhelming criticism from the outside world, the Irish government quickly retaliated. On the one hand, they called on both Catholics and Protestants involved in the conflict to remain calm and restrained, and not to commit acts of sibling violence due to external instigation. On the other hand, they conducted a special trial of the case through judicial channels, invited people from all walks of life to attend the trial, and announced the interim results of the case investigation through radio and newspapers. At the same time, the Irish government also invited neutral and friendly diplomats and journalists from allied countries such as Germany, Austria Hungary, Italy, as well as Denmark, Sweden, Spain, etc. , to visit the northern part of Ireland to witness the nonviolent measures taken by the Irish government in mediating religious conflicts and dispelling rumors about the Irish army's massive massacre of Protestants.