Who Were the 'Black and Tans'? | 5 Minute History: Episode 5 

Interesting interpretation sadly very few understood why Collins signed the treaty

Aw that’s sad, I completely understand why they signed the treaty

@@brandonk.4864 It might have had to do with occurring losses

If we had micheal collins past the civil war.......imagine how much better our country would have been

@@retrocd7991 It's definitely an interesting what-if scenario, and one that would see radically different Ireland.

Fun fact indeed

Go give her a kiss

@@ShubhamMishrabro A tulip*

@@emperorhadrian6011 😳😎

@@emperorhadrian6011 A kiss on the cheek*

>come out you black and tans >lose every open battle and have to resort to hidden ambushes

@@incursus1401.... Of course. They didn't have weapons capable of going against the mightiest empire the world had ever seen so they had to resort to hit and run tactics.

@@incursus1401 Don't get salty cause they kicked your arses

@@GrainneMhaol im not english i just found that part of the song ironic

@@incursus1401 it’s more in reference to their inability to find any ira and as a result cowardly taking it out on innocent civilians

Ah yes, I too love making fun of war veterans.

@@placeholdernameisplacehold7671 Well when you're fighting against them, you don't really care about them having already fought for your enemy

BRING BACK BRING BACK, BRING BACK THE BLACK AND TANS, is a hilarious one from the other side, with an absolutely Balkan vibe

Don't forget the *GO ON HOME BRITISH SOLDIER GO ON HOME* *HAVE YOU NOT FVCKING HOMES OF YOUR OWN* *FOR 800 YEARS WE FOUGHT YOU WITHOUT FEARS* *AND WE'LL FIGHT YOU FOR 800 MORE*

@@rexblade504 They fought for Ireland and then they tried to fight for the existence of Protestantism in Ireland. There's a reason why you'll find both Catholics and protestants in the north, but bare to none protestants in the republic.

Mosley didn’t care about the Irish question. He only used it to attack the tories and make a name for himself. In his book “my life” he actually admits to agreeing with Henry Wilson’s parliamentary speech justifying the Black and Tans. His official policy towards Ireland when leading the BUF was that it must remain in the British empire or be crushed with economic sanctions.

Is it more about the perpetual victimhood of weak Irish men? Because its been what a 1000 years and the Irish stayed victims, as a people I'd be embarrassed

@@toker6664 What nationality are you?

@@obi-wankenobi5926 English and what

@@toker6664 figures as much. I’m sure you’d say that for every country you’re murderous government has colonized.

Thank you, I was saying that for years.

That's cause it's meant to be implemented differently. They didn't mean real black and tans, it meant black and tans as in Irishmen who favoured the treaty and were seen as traitors hiding amongst the Irish. Come out ye black and tans! (Come out you Irish traitors) Whilst on the other hand, it makes perfect sense for them to not come out because you'd get ostracized and beaten by a mob for merely a political opinion.

@@Stormcloakvictory I get that. I've also only ever seen the song used in reference to the real black and tans personally.

Here there's nothing wrong with ambushes.

@@thomasmcguinness365 the irony seems lost on you.

Sounds like Martin McGuiness lived locally.

@@jimdonovan243 I’m sure this makes sense in your head

They did their worst in Clare, especially in the small town that I live in. Google about the burning of ennistymon

Some thing like that would definitely turn you against the British 😊

​@@michaelshanahan4042And similar acts by the IRA turned many against the republican cause. The Troubles were a shit show all around

good spot

In some cases they had got in some sort of trouble in the army and were moved to the RIC to avoid dishonorable discharge which further increased their perception as thugs

You have been damaged by your ‘education’system , many modern Irish authors are uncovering the truth vs propaganda.

release your heart from hatred

Don't you mean the volunteers?

@@MJ-cv5ye the IRA volunteers then if we're being literal

@@The_Republic_of_Ireland am....what?, that literally makes no sense. The Irish Volunteers. They were a seperate organisation to the IRA. Most people mistake the IRA for the volunteers. The IRA were a covert group. The Irish Volunteers were the official army of the Dail which conducted the majority of revolutionary activities. The IRA however had been infiltrating the volunteers since before 1916 so there was overlap, about 1/2 the leadership of the Volunteers & SF were also IRA members but they were not the same organisation. If your relation was carrying out assasinations or engaging in spy operations against British forces, they were probably in the IRA or acting on its behalf. If they joined the rank & file flyiny columns & carried out ambushes or raids, then they were almost certainly in the volunteers. The Irish Volunteers were the official army of the 1st Dail & known as (Oghlaigh na hEireann), the IRA were a seperate partially overlapping paramilitary force with converging goals with the 1st democratically elected Dail but where not strictly the same thing. Thats why when nationalism split over the treaty, the anti treaty IRA rebels got their arses kicked in the civil war. It was because Oghlaigh na hEireann stayed loyal to the Irish national government. It was 69,000 vs 15,000 with 2/3 of the IRA being anti treaty. The IRA got a lot of their members into the upper echelons of the Irish Volunteers like Collins, Mulchey & O Duffy & that is why Oghlaigh na hEireann often gets confused or muddled with the IRA but of the 1/3 of IRA members who sided with the pro treaty side & thus with the elected Dail, it included basically all the upper command staff of the IRA which overlapped 1/2 the IVs command staff. Tom Barry was the most senior IRA commander to side with the anti treaty IRA & he was basically a regional battalion commander. But i digress, your relation was probably just a Volunteer. Not to be confused with the modern Provisional IRA who also call their recruits "volunteers" in a deliberate attempt to obsure history as part of their long running campaign to retrospectively manufacture historical legitimacy.

@Martin Cregan while most of that is correct. Your assertion the "IRA was in vogue" seems like a non sequitor. First off, so what, it did not change the fact it was a covert org. & not the official or open army of the Irish Republic. It had overlap & members in high positions in the volunteers but that didnt make it the same organisation. It was as you admit. An infiltration. Also Eoin McNeill was hardly a figurehead when almost none of the Irish volunteers turned out. They followed his & Bulmer Hobsons legitimate orders not the rogue fringe orders of Pearse. Additionally while its called a countermanding, thats a misleading term as Pearse never had the authority to call out the volunteers. Additionally its also misleading to think Pearse had all of the IRA on board. Many in dublin went out because they thought the orders were legitimate & didnt find out till after the fighting was done. 1916 was a rag tag operation of hardnuts & extremists in the IRA, some groomed child soldiers Pearse failed in his duty of care of, the ICA(Irish Citizen Army) lead by Connolly & Pat Lahey(the disillusioned co founder of Sinn Fein, before Griffith merged it with his Irish council & turned it into a royalist party). Add to that some duped Irish volunteers from Dublin. 3-4,250 IRA, Irish volunteers & ICA etc. took part in the fighting. The fighting went on for 6 days. The rest could have joined in if it was popular or McNeill was just a figure head. They didnt. For context, the rising happened post National volunteers split & so while the Irish volunteers were much reduced by the fact most of the 200,000 Irish volunteers felt that fighting for Britain 1 last time in the fashion promised to India for WW2 was the best route. 13,500 IV were still in Ireland in 1916. A max of 3000 supported the rebellion. Thus even at its most reduced, the number supporting Pearse at that point in time was only 1 in 5 active members. I can do little for your misaprehension of historical fact. The IRA was not the majority of Irish rebels. Its a label which has been retrospectively & retroactively conflated & inflated to serve certain modern political agendas. The IRA did not rule the IV, the overwhelming majority of serving Irish rebels & nationalists were in the Irish volunteers. Post 1916, the national volunteers didnt flood back into the IRA, they flooded back into the IV. while leading IRA members were in powerful positions within the IV & Sinn Fein, they were not the majority of the rank & file & while influincing policy, actions & later ideology of the Irish state. They were not overtly, directly or solely in charge of the Irish cause. That could not have been pointed out more clearly by the civil war were the IRA rebelled & did so without basically any of their senior leadership. They didn't have the majority of the Dail or even Sinn Fein with them. In fact, they got no Labour or Farmer party votes & 7 more SF deputies sided with the treaty. It wasnt even a close vote. The Irish volunteers basically to a man sided with the Dail. Thus when the civil war broke out the rebels could muster 15,000 vs 70,000 on the pro treaty side. If the IV was some how the IRA by 1921 as your muddled response about things being in vogue seems to imply. The rank & file IRA siding with the anti treaty side should have meant it was easily lost by the pro treaty side.

@@toker6664 im not pro Irish lol

No they didn’t. They would crushed the terrorists and saved the British cause if parliament hadn’t backstabbed them.

@@raymondhaskin9449 Cry more, United Irish Republic in our life time, the union is dying.

@@raymondhaskin9449 suuuurrrre

@@NEWBkiller646 it isn't though. See you in 10 years

lol

Interesting. Do you know of any other stories about your great great uncle?

@@alfiejob6546 yeah he was actually picked to help assassinate a member of the Cairo gang on bloody sunday and unfortunately he then went on to be a main instugator I the ballyseedy massacre and is known as the "butcher of ballyseedy". His name is Captain Edmund Breslin if youre interested

@@padraigpearse1551 Just looked him up, he definitely did have an interesting career. Surprised there's only a few things written about him. It must feel you with a sense of pride knowing one of your relatives was involved in an important part of Irish history. As for the Ballyseedy massacre, I had heard of it, but I didn't know what happened in it. So when I looked it up, and found out those 9 prisoners and the mine, I couldn't help but think ""good grief." It also amazes me to know that one person managed to survive the whole thing (reminds me of similar story with Frederick Forde at Kilmichael).

@@alfiejob6546 I know a lot of stuff has been passed down through the family but thankfully the stories haven't been meddled with yet. It definitely is incredible to have someone in your family who has led such a life. My family have always been involved with ireland militarily from around the late 1890s to early 1900s right up until the end of the troubles

So that's why Ireland is still occupied by the British army then? Oh wait... All the black and tans could do was burn down civilian property when some of them got what was coming to them.

@Blueeagle1314 now here's a little history we are trying to repeat

Only things tans could beat were women and old priests

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BjFXpnymhTg.html&pp=ygUqdGhlIGtpbG1pY2hhZWwgYW1idXNoIGEgc29sZGllcidzIHRob3VnaHRz

Is that why micks are spiteful

Priests teaching biased hatred…

Same mine faught in ww1 then came back and faught for the ira his son my grandfather was enlisted before Dunkirk and even after ww2 went marching for the ira. Its like a retirement hobby

Yes they did. Read on the reprisal raids of the IRA. The struggle for independance continued into a civil war with the IRA attacking women and children, forcing them from their homes in the middle of the night and burning down any building they thought fit. Read more and your eyes will see.

Unlike Churchill's Black & Tan terrorist scum, who liked burning the homes of defenceless civilians.

In his book Ira ‘commandant ‘ Tom Barry , ( a former soldier) gloats about burning all the British loyalists homes..

We'll he wouldn't have gone around bragging about burning down people's houses, would he?.. nah I'm sure he was a very honourable and gentle guerilla fighter. Lmao.

I don’t but Denmark and Sweden were changing

Good question. Never studied areas like that up until after the Vikings.

The Geats sued them

The geats aren't really a thing anymore

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_XVI_Gustaf He ushered in an era of modernization and reform of the Swedish Monarchy.

When Irish eyes are smiling a wise man will run for his life or grab the nearest bottle by the neck. Gerald Kersh - Jewish writer and novelist

The American government encouraged dictatorship and forced disappearance well into the 70's and 80's. Just saying.

It’s propaganda…. Britain was trying to stop a murder campaign .

Was that in Tipperary as a matter of interest?

My great grandfather fought for the IRA as a agent we have his dairy still with us. His name was Roger McShane

@Rusty Shackleford You should find out more info if any of these people still around. I'm laughing to myself at the child dressed in re d called a "hun".🤣☘

Here's another part they usually miss out ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BjFXpnymhTg.html&pp=ygUqdGhlIGtpbG1pY2hhZWwgYW1idXNoIGEgc29sZGllcidzIHRob3VnaHRz

No one cares, yankee

Yes and no. The Black and Tans were introduced in 1919 by Henry Hugh Tudor. The group that was created by Churchill was the Auxiliary Division, a paramilitary force that was formed in early 1920 to counter the IRA.

@@alfiejob6546 Damn, Henry Tudor lived a long time

@@aaronmarks9366 It's meant to be Henry Hugh Tudor, I just shortened it to Henry Tudor for brevity. I'll change it now.

@@alfiejob6546 Lol, I was just joking

@@aaronmarks9366 I know. I just thought I might elaborate on who it was, because there are quite a few people who have the name.

A half and half

Yes it is. He puts a correction to his mistake at at 0:48.

Founded by Churchill

Ordinary Men is a hell of a book. It’s on a different subject - namely the German police in Poland - but it definitely gives an insight on just how close to being a part of that ‘shower of rotten bastards’ you and I both are. It goes without saying ofcourse but here I am saying it: The atrocities committed by the British in Ireland should be wholly condemned as should those committed by the IRA and associated factions. I don’t see either side as sunshine and rainbows.

@@therantingenglishman9284 I'm well aware of the psychology of time/situation/era. It lessens their atrocities not one bit. But for a gust of wind, the hand of God, or a shaky handed soldier, i wouldn't be here to be close to anything - one nearly took the head off my great grandmother whilst shooting indiscriminately and without reason down a residential street - so I'll stay on my high horse if it's all the same. 😂

Long winded way to say you supported Hitler

@@toker6664 🤣🤣 explain

Now you've heard about great armies who conquered far and near, You've heard about the 36th, the glorious volunteers. Here's a little history we're trying to repeat, It's sung in every loyalist town and every loyalist street! Bring back, bring back, bring back the Black and Tans! Bring back, bring back, bring back the Black and Tans! We'll get the IRA on the run from Belfast to Strabane, With the UDA and UVF and the boys of the Black and Tans! From the famous walls of Derry to Belfast City Hall, From Antrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone and County Down, And even in Armagh, boys, where the rebels might be strong, If there's only one big loyalist there you'll hear him sing this song! Bring back, bring back, bring back the Black and Tans! Bring back, bring back, bring back the Black and Tans! We'll get the IRA on the run from Belfast to Strabane, With the UDA and UVF and the boys of the Black and Tans!

Lmaoo

Getting the wrong end of the stick

Years ago when I first heard of the song and didn’t actually know about the origin of the term, I thought it referred to black and brown people.

​@@capncake8837I mean white people are more tan than brown people.

One thing for sure is you should never order a black and tan drink in Ireland, though not sure how it ended up being called that

True... a lot like the British and Vikings in the past when in Ireland, right?

"It's the damn Anglos running everything! "

@@mattressstore4694 us are anglos too.

​​@@user-ze8yy8jg1fthe Irish and Anglos are natural enemies, like the French and Anglos, and the Germans and the Anglos, and the Scots and the Anglos, and the Anglos and the other Anglos. Damn Anglos, they ruined England.

Good description detail there Ciaràn. That makes sense about the shorter height.

@@finolaomurchu8217 thank finola, both the RIC and the DMP had height requirements (minimum 5 foot 9 during this period, or 5 foot 8 if your father had served in the force for the RIC and the DMP, though I'm not sure of an exact measurement, had to be around 6 foot + , tall even for today's standards !)

@@ciaranmacdiarmada9370 No my father's father died in World War 1, his brother was sniper at 25 Northumberland Road, shooting at the Sherwood Forresters. A lot of them were killed, they thought they were being sent to France, but no to the civil war in Dublin. Poor Michael was shot eventually. The same Sherwood Forresters stationed in Richmond Barracks, were called into Kilmainham Jail to execute the leaders, a few days later. Richmond Barracks is in Inchicore right beside Kilmainham jail. I do enjoy history.

@@finolaomurchu8217 I think you got the wrong reply on this one finola ! 😂 Interesting to hear about your families involvement in the history of Ireland !

@@ciaranmacdiarmada9370 ye are correct about the height , but many of the recruits were in fact Irish .

People always find a way to insert Americans into a topic

Your country probably relies heavily on US tourism. What a joke.

@@jarrettlowery2802 it's relevant when the opening clip is of the American president.

How is America relevant to this topic?

Biden is a dotterung old fool who just wants ice cream. So he's Irish? He has also claimed to be black and many other halucinations...

Actually, the term was originally used by the Spanish, so it would be pronounced how he pronounced it because that's how it's said in Spanish.

Only the English pronunciation “gorilla” makes sense for the word “guerilla” for me lol

Thank you very much!

@Doxx Box Returns not true. The only bad part is that they’re Protestant.

Yup

Which is ironic as the Ira were begging for aid from nazi Germany.

@@liamneil8918 sounds good to me

Yeah but it's overused

Indeed my dear leader

He's the former us president coffee boy isn't he?

Come out you can tans and fight me like a man

Come out you can tans and fight me like a man

dude da cat down da Rd Knows dat

Gamespy

@Joe McIlroy i support a united ireland. I am guessing thats what you are referring to

@Joe McIlroy do enlighten me.

@Joe McIlroy i am not a catholic if thats one of them. Although my family background is catholic

@Joe McIlroy ireland, Co. Waterford

@Joe McIlroy means someone who is/was a republican. I.e. the fenian brotherhood. Can also be user by some as an insult By implying that there are multiple meanings kinda indicates to me that you don't know what it means.

I don´t understand why you would be angry with the kids anyway?

@@dereinepeterpan5637 Well playing what can be seen as pro-sectarian terrorist songs in a secondary school classroom can be seen as subtly supporting their methods, especially if the people involved are not educated in the history of the conflict, is not only dangerous but irresponsible

W teacher

In the year before the Tans arrived groups calling themselves the IRA had killed nearly 200 people mostly policemen and the British authorities had done practically nothing. The first two auxiliaries the IRA encountered were on bloody Sunday and they gave them the same treatment. Put them against a wall and shot them. These were not Irish policemen they were veterans of the trenches who didn't take that kind of ** from anybody. When they found their comrade's bodies they killed two IRA prisoners which is just what they would have done on the western front. Of course the auxiliaries were executed and the IRA prisoners were murdered but try explaining that to the auxiliaries.

@freebeerfordworkers OK first, the attacks on police barracks and personal were legitimate targets of a war of Independence to degrade the crowns ability to rule over a population which had, in the November 1918 elections, returned a mandate for Independence by a vast majority. Second, these auxiliary forces, better known as the Black and Tans, were first deployed to Ireland in January 1920, a full 11 months before Bloody Sunday (21st November 1920). By the events of Bloody Sunday, these forces had already committed the sacking of Balbriggan, Kilkee, Trim, Tubbercurry, Granard, Miltown Malbay, Lahinch and Ennistymon in response to ambushes by IRA forces (which is a legitimate tactic during a guerilla war utilised by British forces in multiple conflicts from the Boer War to World War 2 to the Falkland war to the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq). During Bloody Sunday itself, they were responsible for over 30 deaths, including two boys under 10 years of age, the first casualties of that atrocity. Don't try to tell me that was a fair and appropriate response. A month later they would be responsible for the burning of the city centre of Cork due to the death of a police inspector. That is not to mention the reports of destruction of property, forced evictions, torture, rape and summary executions that are too much to list here. And this by veterans of World War 1 who should have been given psychological help that they needed, not thrown into a asymmetric war zone they were ill trained, ill-equipped and totally unprepared to deal with. Sorry, I find your assertion that they "were not going to take this *** from anyone" to not only be a gross misinterpretation of history but morally repugnant and highly offensive. They should never, ever have been sent to Ireland in the first place!

Hope they rest in piss

Sure she did 😂

Should they have just walked into the machine guns and armoured cars?

Wrong, just historically wrong.

Yeah, but that's not like a man though.

"Like a man" IRA proceeds to detonate bombs in shopping center litter boxes.

A reasonable unbiased comment…

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Modern day templars

@@Guadalajara1937 Right, whoever heard of a conscripted templar but Hilbert not knowing the difference between a priest and a minister puts me right off.

Ex-officers were recruited as a separate unit and were paid a pound a day. They were known as the auxiliaries and were hated more than the Tans.

sorry what was that?

@@hamsh-il4ei To much cornbread does that to a person