|
The Black and Tans ((アイルランド語:Dúchrónaigh)),〔(Focal.ie – Dictionary of Irish Terms )〕 officially the Royal Irish Constabulary Reserve Force,〔http://www.theguardian.com/news/1921/oct/12/mainsection.fromthearchive〕 was a force of Temporary Constables recruited to assist the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence.〔(''Improving the law Enforcement-Intelligence Community Relationship'' ). National Defense Intelligence College, Washington, DC. June 2007. p.120〕 The force was the brainchild of Winston Churchill, then British Secretary of State for War,〔McCaffrey, Carmel. ''In Search of Ireland's Heroes''. 2006.p 233〕 and was recruited in Great Britain in late 1919 (although it contained Irish members also).〔Padraig Og O Ruairc, Blood on the Banner, The Republican Struggle in Clare, pp. 332–333〕 Thousands, many of them British World War I veterans, answered the British government's call for recruits. Their role was to help the RIC maintain control and fight the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the army of the Irish Republic. The nickname "Black and Tans" arose from the colours of the improvised uniforms they initially wore, composed of mixed khaki British Army and rifle green RIC uniform parts. The Black and Tans became infamous for their attacks on civilians and civilian property. The Black and Tans were sometimes confused with the Auxiliary Division, a counter-insurgency unit of the RIC made up of former British officers.〔O'Connell, T. ''Interrogation and Treatment of republican suspects by the British Auxiliary Forces, 'Black and Tans', January 1921'', Irish Historical Documents since 1800, edited by Alan O'Day. Gill and MacMillan. p.169.〕 However, sometimes the term "Black and Tans" is used to cover both of these groups.〔 ==Foundation== The late 19th and early 20th centuries in Ireland were dominated by Irish nationalists' pursuit of Home Rule from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The issue of Home Rule was shelved with the outbreak of World War I, and in 1916 Irish republicans staged the Easter Rising against British rule in an attempt to establish a republic. Growing support amongst the Irish populace for the republican Sinn Féin political party saw it win 73 out of 105 seats in the Irish general election, 1918. In January 1919, Sinn Féin established themselves as the First Dáil, which then declared an independent Irish Republic.〔http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/about/history/〕 They also declared the Irish Republican Army (IRA) the official army of the state, which in the same month began the Irish War of Independence. The main targets of the IRA offensive were the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and the British Army in Ireland. In September 1919 David Lloyd George, who was British Prime Minister at the time, outlawed the Dáil and augmented the British Army presence in Ireland,〔''In Search of Ireland's Heroes'' Carmel McCaffrey. Ivan R. Dee. p 231〕 starting work on the next Home Rule Act. In January 1920, the British government started advertising in British cities for men willing to "face a rough and dangerous task", helping to boost the ranks of the RIC in policing an increasingly anti-British Ireland. There was no shortage of recruits, many of them unemployed First World War army veterans, and by November 1921 about 9,500 men had joined. This sudden influx of men led to a shortage of RIC uniforms, and the new recruits were issued with khaki army uniforms (usually only trousers) and dark green RIC or blue British police surplus tunics, caps and belts. These uniforms differentiated them from the British Army and the regular RIC, and gave rise to the force's nickname: Christopher O'Sullivan wrote in the ''Limerick Echo'' on 25 March 1920 that, meeting a group of recruits on a train at Limerick Junction, the attire of one reminded him of the Scarteen Hunt, whose "Black and Tans" nickname derived from the colouration of its Kerry Beagles. Ennis comedian Mike Nono elaborated the joke in Limerick's Theatre Royal, and the nickname soon took hold,〔 persisting even after the men received full RIC uniforms. The popular Irish claim made at the time that most of men serving the Black and Tans had criminal records and had been recruited straight from British prisons is incorrect, as a criminal record would disqualify one from working as a policeman.〔Augusteijn, Joost Review of ''The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920–1921'' by D. M. Leeson pages 938-940 from ''The Journal of Modern History'', Volume 85, Issue # 4, December 2013 page 939.〕 The vast majority of the men serving in the Black and Tans were unemployed veterans of the First World War who were having trouble finding jobs, and for most of them it was economic reasons that drove them to join the Temporary Constables.〔Augusteijn, Joost Review of ''The Black and Tans: British Police and Auxiliaries in the Irish War of Independence, 1920–1921'' by D. M. Leeson pages 938-940 from ''The Journal of Modern History'', Volume 85, Issue # 4, December 2013 page 939.〕 The new recruits received three months' hurried training, and were rapidly posted to RIC barracks, mostly in rural County Dublin, Munster and eastern Connacht. The first men arrived on 25 March 1920. The British government also raised another unit, the Auxiliary Division of the constabulary, known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, consisting of ex-army officers. The Black and Tans aided the Auxiliaries in the British government's attempts to break both the IRA and the Dáil. The Blacks and Tans were meant to back up the RIC in the struggle against the IRA, playing a defensive-reactive role whereas the role of the "Auxies" were those of heavily armed, mobile units meant for offensive operations in the Irish countryside intended to hunt down and destroy IRA units. At least part of the infamy of the Blacks and Tans is undeserved as many of the war crimes attributed to the Blacks and Tans were actually the work of the "Auxies". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「black and tans」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|