Carson's Army : The Ulster Volunteer Force, 1910–22

The first academic study of the Ulster Volunteer Force, a paramilitary organisation, which was formed in 1913 by Ulster Unionists opposed to the Third Home Rule Bill. The Ulster Volunteer Force provided the basis of the 36th (Ulster) Division formed in 1914 and was reactivated in 1920 to counter the I.R.A. threat to the new Northern Ireland state. -- . The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was established in January 1913, as a militant expression of Ulster Unionist opposition to the Third Home Rule Bill. Academic historians have tended to overlook Ulster Loyalism. This book provides the first comprehensive study of the UVF in this period, considering in detail the composition of the officer corps, the marked regional recruiting differences, the ideologies involved, the arming and equipping of the UVF and the contingency plans made by UVF Headquarters in the event of Home Rule being imposed on Ulster. Using previously neglected sources, it demonstrates that the UVF was better armed and less well-trained, with the involvement of fewer British army officers than previous historians have allowed, and suggests that the UVF was quite capable of seizing control of Ulster and installing the Ulster Provisional Government in the event of Home Rule being implemented in 1914.This book will be essential reading for military and Irish historians and their students, and will interest any general reader interested in modern paramilitary forces. Front matter Contents List of tables Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Map Dedication Introduction The origins of Ulster Unionist militancy, 1885–1912 ‘An armed democracy’? The social composition and idelogical basis of the UVF Command, control and military efficiency Parades and propaganda: the public face of the UVF Arms, equipment and finance War and decline, 1914–19 The revival and demise of the UVF, 1920–22 Conclusion Select bibliography Index