How close did Britain come to civil war in 1912-1914?
“How close to civil war did Britain come between 1912 and 1914?” A civil war between Ireland and Britain seemed inevitable by the 27th of July 1914. Problems had been brewing in Ireland between Protestants and Catholics since the time of Oliver Cromwell. However, it was not until the introduction of the third home rule bill which made it seem likely that Ireland would finally be independent, that the problems between the Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionist caused major concern for Britain and the likely outbreak of a civil war. The Government of Ireland Act 1914 (or simply the third home rule bill) was introduced on the 11th of April 1912 by the Prime minister at the time Herbert Asquith. This was the Liberal party’s third home rule bill since 1886. It was rejected by the House of Lords on two occasions, but due to the Parliament Act of 1911 which made it so the House of Lords could only reject a law for a maximum of two years. The home rule bill was finally sent to the Royal assent on the 18th of September 1914. The Liberal’s third home rule bill was made possible due to the constitutional crisis of 1909. This was when the House of Lords rejected David Lloyd George’s finance bill. This caused uproar in the House of Commons as the Lords as tradition, never vetoed any financial bills. After this the House of Commons sought to establish its dominance over the House of Lords, who had broken convention in opposing the bill. So the Parliament act was created. This meant that the House of Lords could no longer veto money bills and could only delay public bills for up to two years. The House of Lords initially tried to reject this bill. The reigning monarch, George V threatened to create sufficient Liberal peers to overcome the present Conservative majority if the bill was not passed however. The House of Lords scared of losing their Conservative dominance, passed the bill on the 18th of August 1911. This finally made home rule possible, as the