|
Liam
Mellows (1892 - 1922) is remembered not just as a
great Republican, but also as a major figure of the
Republican Socialist tradition. But who was he exactly,
and what were his ideas? Mellows was one of those
who set up the Fianna Eireann organisation, and was
later involved in the Irish Volunteers and the IRB.
In 1916, he made an unsuccessful attempt to develop
the Rising in Galway. He was then forced to escape
to the USA, where he carried on propaganda and organisational
work. While in America, he was elected TD for Galway
in 1918, and re-elected later in 1921. In 1919 - 1920,
he organised De Valera's tour of the USA. He then
returned to Ireland, and became a member of the GHQ
Staff of the IRA, where he was Director of Purchases.
When the Treaty was signed, he took a clear stand
for the Republic and against the Free State. In March
1922, he was among the leaders of the section of the
IRA which occupied the Four Courts. He was captured
by the Free State on the fall of the Four Courts in
July 1922 and was imprisoned in Mountjoy. It was there
that he wrote a series of three letters (which were
later called "Notes from Mountjoy" -the
first letter is dated 25 August, the second 29 August
and the third 9 September 1922) about the current
crisis of Republicanism. During the Treaty debate
in the Dail, Mellows had declared that "the reason
for many young soldiers going wrong is that they never
had a proper grasp of the fundamentals." Mellows
engaged in a process of reflection about those fundamentals.
From these letters, he emerges as the most progressive
and far-sighted Republican Socialist thinker of that
period.
First,
Mellows had come to a clear understanding of the nature
of social forces involved in the war, and the concrete
practical consequences this entailed. Mellows, searching
for a way of developing the struggle and increase
popular support, realised that it could not be done
on the basis of bourgeois class interest. There was
nothing that could be expected from sections of the
population that had the least to gain from a break
with imperialism -like the merchants, cattle dealers
and large farmers. The commercial and ranching interests
were on the side of the Treaty. "In our efforts
now to win back public support to the Republic we
are forced to recognise -whether we like it or not-
that the commercial interest so-called money and gombeen
men are on the side of the Treaty, because that Treaty
means Imperialism and England. We are back to Tone
-and it is just as well- relying on that great body,
'the men of now property'. The 'stake in the
country' people were never with the Republic. (.)
We should recognise that definitely now and base our
appeals upon the understanding and needs of
those who have always borne Ireland's fight."
(25 August 1922) He came to the same conclusion that
Connolly had developed: only the working class can
complete the national struggle. The fundamental division
in the conflict was of a class nature: "The position
must be defined: FREE STATE - Capitalism and Industrialism
- EMPIRE. REPUBLIC - Workers - Labour." (9 September
1922) Without the support of the working class, the
Republic was lost. Further progress could be made
only by a Republican movement which made itself the
conscious political representative of the class interests
of the workers and the small farmers. Political struggle
against the treaty must be based firmly and guided
by the class interests of the worker and the small
farmers. But the anti-Treaty forces were then incapable
of providing political leadership to the struggle.
They were either dominated by militarism and mistrust
of "politicians" (viewing the situation
solely "in terms of guns and men" as Mellows
puts it -25 August 1922), or by opportunism.
Secondly,
Mellows advanced in the direction of understanding
the necessity of fighting the national struggle on
a radical social basis. Mellows thought as the way
forward that a Provisional Republican Government be
set up (in order to provide a political rallying centre
for opposition forces), and that the 1919 Democratic
Programme "should be translated into something
definite" . "This is essential if the great
body of the workers are to be kept on the side of
independence." (25 August 1922) The class content
of the Republic had to be determined. Even if he had
some illusions about the progressiveness of the 1919
Democratic Programme, Mellows was clearly in favour
of a Republic of the men and women of no property.
He worked out the rudiments of a social policy which
would rally the mass of workers and small farmers
to the defence of the Republic. In his notes, he points
out that such a policy had already been developed
by the Communist Party, and says that the Communist
Party programme is the truest interpretation of the
Democratic Programme which was accepted by the Dail
in January 1919. There is some confusion concerning
the nature programme developed by Mellows in Mountjoy.
The programme was in the tradition of "social
republicanism" and populism. Its main points
were the nationalisation of the main industries by
the Republican state, the confiscation and distribution
of estates, a moratorium on rents and land annuities,
and a social welfare programme for the workers. It
also argued for a better understanding of the nature
of imperialism and of the identity of interests between
the Irish and other colonial people; as well as for
ideological struggle against the Catholic hierarchy.
Mellows may have not developed a clear Marxist position,
but indications are that he was clearly moving in
that direction. (see for example the reprint of his
article "Labour and the Irish Republic"
in "The Voice of Labour", 23 December 1922)
Unfortunately, Mellows' life was cut short before
he could complete the full formulation of his ideas.
Mellows, along with Rory O Connor, Joseph McKelvey,
and Richard Barrett, was shot without trial on 8 December
1922 as a reprisal for the killing of a Free State
Deputy.
Mellows
was the most clear thinking and far sighted Republican
leader of the Civil War period. Mellows had a proper
grasp of "the fundamentals" his contemporaries
did not understand. But it was an intuitive grasp
rather than the full conceptual elaboration of those
fundamentals. His murder did not allow him to develop
his ideas further. One can ask the question of whether
the outcome of the Civil War would have been different
had Mellows not been shot. It is unlikely that it
would have, because Mellows remained a voice in the
wilderness. Peadar O Donnell has suggested that given
the circumstances of the time, his proposals were
doomed. Had they been raised at the March-April IRA
general convention, the subsequent discussion would
have given reality to the proposals expressed by Mellows
in his prison letters. But in September 1922, it was
too late. Another problem is that Mellows never fully
challenged the Eamon De Valera - Liam Lynch leadership
of the anti-treaty forces. The consequence was that
the petite bourgeoisie politically led Republicans
during the Civil War -towards defeat. It was only
later that Liam Mellows' ideas were examined seriously.
The task facing Republican Socialists today is to
carry on Liam Mellows' vision into the 21st Century.
Index: Current Articles + Latest News and Views + Book Reviews +
Letters + Archives
|
