Crowds Protest Against Compulsory Military Service

The Conscription Crisis of 1918 stemmed from a move by the British government to impose conscription (military draft) in Ireland in April 1918, during the First World War.

In this newsreel we see vigorous opposition from crowds of people. These protests were primarily led by trade unions, Irish nationalist parties and Roman Catholic bishops and priests. A conscription law was passed but was never put into effect, no one in Ireland was drafted into the British Army. The proposal and backlash galvanised support for political parties which advocated Irish separatism and influenced events in the lead-up to the Irish War of Independence.