It Would Be Hard to Imagine a More Miserable Day for Democrats

Democrats Have Learned Nothing, Maybe They’re Too Stupid Too

by Alex Newman, Liberty Sentinel: Non-government cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are increasingly in the Deep State’s crosshairs for hijacking or eliminating as the effort to impose a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) on humanity picks up speed, warned The New American magazine’s Alex Newman in this episode of Behind The Deep State. Some major governments are […]

  One of the greatest rivalries in history, the contest between England and France lasted for many centuries. The animosity between the two nations led them to become bitter enemies who fought against each other not just in Europe but throughout the entire world.   From these conflicts, a hatred grew that solidified the two country’s national identities. It spurred its government and people to perpetuate a conflict that would culminate in a war between two globe-spanning empires for ultimate control.   However, all of this had its beginnings in the interconnected families ruling England and France. Monarchic designs brought these nations into conflict.   Making sense of all the wars fought between England (and subsequently the United Kingdom) and France can be a tricky subject.   This is a timeline of its beginnings in the medieval era.   1076-1077: The Breton War William the Conqueror. Source: Wellcome Collection   Relations between Anglo-Saxon England and France were generally positive. Once the Normans conquered England, however, the entire dynamic shifted. Norman kings frequently saw themselves as the rightful heirs to various parts of France and even the French throne.   The first conflict was the Breton War. While England did not play a major role in the war, it was the first between an English and a French monarch. At the time, the Normans considered England to be a territory of Normandy, not the other way around.   The war was fought between the semi-independent fief of Normandy under the control of William the Conqueror and Philip I of France. William attempted to seize Brittany but was checked by the forces of Philip I, thus ending the period of Norman expansion in the region.   1087: The Vexin War   The Vexin was a small county in the middle of the Seine that acted as a buffer between French and Norman lands. When the Vexin count retired, this buffer no longer existed, and the French and Normans raided each other for control of this country. During an attack on the French town of Mantes, William the Conqueror suffered an injury from which he died.   The Rebellion of 1088 The dominions of William the Conqueror in 1087. Source: Emerson Kent, public domain   Upon William the Conqueror’s death, Normandy was given to his eldest son, Robert Curthose, while his middle son, William Rufus, inherited England. The youngest son, Henry, inherited several English estates and a considerable sum of silver. The older brothers came to blows, mainly over the fact that William was sleeping with Robert’s wife.   Nobles who owned lands in both territories grappled with the question of loyalty, and many banded together to overthrow William II. A brief civil war ensued, but William’s position as King of England proved unassailable, and a huge division was created between the Kingdom of England and the Dukedom of Normandy.   1097-1098: Vexin and Maine  The extent of the Angevin Empire. Source: Diverse-Travel.com   In 1096, Robert Curthose left to go on a crusade. Robert mortgaged Normandy to his brother, William II of England, to raise funds for the expedition, and as such, Normandy was left under his brother’s control. The brothers made a pact that if either of them were to die, the other would inherit both Normandy and England.   William wasted little time and attempted to expand Normandy by attacking the counties of Vexin and Maine. He successfully conquered Maine but had to make do with an inconclusive truce over Vexin.   While Robert was in the Holy Land, William II died during a hunt under suspicious circumstances. An arrow from Walter Tyrell pierced the king in the back, and Tyrell fled the kingdom. Within days, the youngest brother, Henry, with the support of the nobles, declared himself king. Robert, away on a crusade, could do very little about the situation.   1109-1113: Anglo-French War    Henry I was in a difficult position with the king of France. As king of England, Henry was Louis’ equal, but as Duke of Normandy, he was his vassal. This produced an awkward arrangement that would result in a series of conflicts.   The first war known as the Anglo-French War was fought over the castle of Gisors on the border between Normandy and the French crownlands. Henry seized the castle, which was supposed to be under the rule of a neutral lord. This move angered Louis VI, and hostilities opened. After a series of skirmishes that lasted four years, there was no clear victor, and a truce was called.   1116-1119: Anglo-French War The Battle of Bremule. Source: Wikimedia Commons   After many years on the throne of England, Henry I found himself having to defend his possessions in Normandy. At the Battle of Brémule in 1119, English forces successfully repulsed a French invasion. The English took many knights prisoner and made a fortune by ransoming them off.   1123-1135: Anglo-French War   The war between 1123 and 1135 was brought about by an unfortunate incident in which a ship carrying Henry’s heir struck a rock and sank, killing all but one of the crew. With his line in jeopardy, Henry found himself in a delicate position. Louis tried to capitalize on this by fomenting rebellion in Maine. Henry’s daughter, Matilde, married the heir to the County of Anjou in 1128, Geoffroi Plantagenet. Thus, an heir was secured as well as an expansion of lands under the influence of Henry I.   With order restored in Maine, by 1135, the Anglo-Normans could claim victory over the Kingdom of France.   1158-1189: Anglo-French War  Richard I the Lionheart, King of England by Merry-Joseph Blondel, 1841. Source: Wikimedia Commons   The first Plantagenet king, Henry II, was immensely powerful, holding England, parts of Wales, Ireland, and the entire western half of France. The Angevin Empire, as it was known, gave Henry much more power than that of the French king, Louis VII. As Duke of Normandy, Henry II was still technically a vassal to the French king, and Louis was not happy about the amount of power his vassal had.   The Anglo-French War of 1158 to 1189 was a period of intermittent fighting. During this time, Louis managed to convince Henry II’s wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, to persuade two of their sons, John and Richard (later known as “Lionheart”), to conspire against their father.   In 1180, Louis VII died, and Philippe II became king. Richard and John joined in the war on Philippe’s side. During the campaigning in 1889, Henry II died of dysentery and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard.   1193-1199: Anglo-French War   The alliance between Philippe II of France and Richard was one of convenience at the time. Richard felt no compunction in turning on his former ally, so the two kings went to war in 1193 after Richard returned from the Third Crusade. The Anglo-Normans and the French jostled for power, trying to expand their territory on the border between the two kingdoms.   Richard won a significant victory at Gisors in 1198, but the following year, Richard was struck by a crossbow bolt while in battle. The wound, which was considered minor, was not treated properly, and on April 6, 1199, Richard the Lionheart died from a gangrenous infection.   His death brought an end to the conflict. Despite losing their monarch, the Anglo-Normans exited the conflict in a better position than they had entered.   1202-1204: Anglo-French War King John of England, unknown artist, 1668. Source: Wikimedia Commons   After Richard’s death, there was a power struggle as Richard had left no legitimate heirs. Richard’s half-brother John, supported by the Anglo-Normans, fought for control of the Angevin Empire against Arthur of Brittany, the legitimate grandson of Henry II, who was supported by the French crown. In 1202, Philippe II took the opportunity to invade Normandy and expand the French empire into Angevin territory on the continent. By 1204, the poor leadership from King John (who earned the nickname “Lackland”) saw the French regain territory in Normandy, Anjou, and Maine.   1213-1214: Anglo-French War Bataille of Bouvines won by Philippe Auguste by Horace Vernet, 1827. Source: Wikimedia Commons   King John of England wished to regain the lost territories of the Angevin Empire and struck a deal with the Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, who had major concerns about the rising power of the Kingdom of France. John also acquired the help of the Counties of Flanders and Boulogne.   The war began well, and the English managed to destroy the French fleet, but the tide turned when Otto reneged on his promise and pulled out of the conflict. The French, still stretched thin, maneuvered back and forth, winning victories against their enemies in the process.   In the end, the French won a decisive victory at Bouvines and conquered the territory of Flanders, ending the war and John I’s ambitions.   1215-1217: Anglo-French War & First Barons’ War Effigy of Henry III on his tomb in Saint Edward’s Chapel. Source: Westminster Abbey   After the collapse of the Angevin Empire, many of the noblemen under John I’s rule rebelled against their king. Thus began a period of civil war in England in which Philippe II’s son, Louis, attempted to gain the throne by supporting the rebels.   Louis had neither the support of his father nor the support of the pope, who later excommunicated him for the venture. He managed to take Winchester and was in control of about half of England when he was proclaimed “King of England” by the rebellious barons, but Louis was never crowned.   When King John died of dysentery in 1216, many of the barons who had supported Louis switched allegiance and gave their support to Henry III, John’s nine-year-old son. The decisive moment came at the Second Battle of Lincoln on May 20, 1217, when Louis’ forces were defeated.   Later that year, an attempt to reinforce the French in England failed, and the French fleet was beaten off the coast of Sandwich.   Louis was forced to sign the Treaty of Lambeth, in which he gave up all possessions in England and agreed never to make claims on the English throne.   1242-1243: Saintonge War Louis IX, known as Saint Louis, King of France by Émile Signol, 1844. Source: Wikimedia Commons   The Saintonge War was fought between 1242 and 1243 in the region around Saintes in the center-west of France. Rebel sentiment in Poitou against Louis IX of France prompted Henry III to invade in an attempt to regain some of the lost territories of the Angevin Empire.   English and rebel forces were soundly defeated at the Battle of Taillebourg. After the Siege of Saintes, the English and rebel forces could no longer muster any strength to oppose the French and were forced to sign a treaty. Henry III was forced to renounce his claim to French lands.   1294-1303: The Guyenne War   Clashes between French and English seamen off the southwest coast of France prompted a settlement between the French king and the nobles of Gascony, which was still under the control of the English crown.   When French forces did not vacate occupied Gascon castles upon the agreed due date, Edward I used this as a pretext for war and invaded France.   The English allied themselves with Flanders, while the French managed to strike an alliance with Scotland.   With mounting pressure on the north of his kingdom and a failed campaign in France, Edward managed to secure a status quo ante bellum, which sowed the seeds for further conflict between France and England.   The troubles with Scots, however, would continue for some time.   1324: The War of Saint-Sardos King Edward II of England. Source: Public domain, Getarchive   A short war between England and France from July 1 to September 22, 1324 was fought over the dwindling power of the English king’s power over lands in France. As Duke of Aquitaine, Edward II was still technically a vassal of the French king, and the French wanted the English monarch gone and a return of all English lands on the continent to France.   Wary of the constant whittling away of English territories, the situation between France and the English king was extremely tense. A minor incident involving the town of Saint-Sardos escalated beyond control. The town had been under English control, but the abbey and church were under French control.   When French troops arrived and erected defenses around their territory, retaliation was prompted, and violence broke out, eventually leading to a French invasion. Edward II lost Aquitaine due to poor military performance.   1337-1453: The Hundred Years’ War Battle of Crécy between the English and French in the Hundred Years’ War from Chapter CXXIX of Jean Froissart’s Chronicles, 15th century. Source: Wikimedia Commons   One of the more famous conflicts between France and England, the Hundred Years’ War, was a period of sporadic fighting between the two kingdoms that lasted for 116 years.   The fighting started as a result of the death of the king of France, Charles IV, in 1328 at the age of 33. He left no direct heirs, and his closest relative was Edward III, the king of England. French nobles, however, refused to acknowledge any rights Edward had on the French throne, and crowned Philippe, Count of Valois, as the new king of France. Thus ended the Capetian dynasty, and began the reign of the Valois monarchs.   After the French demanded the return of Gascony, Edward III responded with military force. The English saw major successes in the first phases of the war, winning significant victories at Crécy in 1346 and Poitiers ten years later. English victories and the capture of the French king, Jean II, led to the Treaties of Brétigny and Calais, where vast portions of French land were ceded to England.   Jean, however, died in captivity, and his son, Charles, refused to abide by the treaties. He reignited the conflict and put France on the offensive. French pressure on the English petered out after the death of Charles V in 1380. Civil unrest in both kingdoms led to a pause in the conflict, but the unrest in England was quelled earlier than in France, and Henry V of England decided to take advantage of the situation by launching an invasion.   Joan of Arc at the Siege of Orléans by Jules Eugène Lenepveu, 1886-1890. Source: Wikimedia Commons   Henry V’s invasion went poorly and was a near-complete disaster. However, it ended with a completely unforeseen English victory at Agincourt, which decimated the French nobility and turned the tide of the war in English favor.   By the 1420s, the English and their Burgundian allies were in control of vast portions of France, including Paris. The English were on track to finally conclude the war and completely defeat their long-time rival.   It was at this time that a young peasant girl from the town of Domrémy began acting upon visions that she had received, telling her to lead France’s armies to victory. Joan of Arc became a powerful rallying point for the French, who had almost given up all hope of victory.   She inspired the French to victory, raising the siege of Orléans and proceeding to win significant victories over the English and the Burgundians.   Joan of Arc was betrayed, captured, and burned at the stake, but the motivation she inspired within the French led to their complete victory over England. By 1453, French king Charles VII captured the last of the English possessions on the continent, leaving only the port of Calais in English hands.   The Hundred Years’ War created a strong sense of nationalism in both countries, which would continue to define the many future conflicts between them.   The flag of France used from 1376 to 1589. Source: besthqwallpapers.com; English flag. Source: besthqwallpapers.com   The end of the Hundred Years’ War was by no means the end of conflicts between England and France. The two countries would continue to be at each other’s throats for centuries to come. The bitter rivalry extended beyond that of war, entering politics and sports as they would seek to best each other in every realm possible.

  The French Revolution was one of the most significant events of the 18th century. Borne out of the need to replace the oppressive feudal system put in place by French leaders, it inspired societies across the globe to become more proactive in overturning the status quo of tyrannical regimes. It also forced governments around the world to rethink their governance strategies and adopt more inclusive models that were unlikely to cause upheaval. Ultimately, the French Revolution inspired many of the democratic systems that are prevalent in modern societies today.    When and How Did the French Revolution Start? Une Exécution capitale, place de la Révolution by Pierre-Antoine Demachy, 1793. Source: Musée Carnavalet, Paris   The French Revolution took place between the years 1789 and 1799. That said, the revolution was not a single event but rather a sequence of events that took place between those years.   Many of the problems that led to the uprising began in the late 18th century, when France was reeling from economic turbulence. The economic problems were caused partly by the country’s involvement in the American Revolution, which resulted in a heavy financial cost. The economic problems were further compounded by King Louis XVI’s extravagant spending. The worsening economic conditions increased hardships among the working class and forced the Third Estate (made up of commoners) to revolt against the ruling class in order to form its own National Assembly and push for constitutional reforms. And thus, the French Revolution was born.   Eventually, the uprising led to the storming of the Bastille, which was a symbol of royal authority. Soon afterwards, Paris fell from the King’s control. The revolution led to the execution of King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie-Antoinette. Both were executed for treason in 1793.   How Did the French Revolution Affect Governance in Other Countries? Illustration depicting combat between French and Haitian troops during the Haitian Revolution. From Histoire de Napoléon, by M. De Norvins, 1839. Source: Encyclopedia Britannica.   The French Revolution had a significant global impact. This is because it was able to galvanize and, in some instances, divide societies around the world in continents such as Europe and the Americas. For example, it set off the slave revolution in Haiti which resulted in the abolition of slavery in the country in1804. This is after French revolutionaries declared that all men were free and equal. The turn of events caused African slaves in Haiti to rise up. The conflicts it triggered also disrupted existing power structures in countries such as Egypt, India, and parts of Africa.   Napoleon in Cairo by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 19th century. Source: Haaretz   Egypt, for example, was conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte after he became a military leader following the French Revolution. With a formidable fleet of more than 300 naval ships, he and his army of over 30,000 soldiers left for Egypt on May 19, 1798 under the orders of the Directory that controlled France. The primary objective was to free Egypt from the oppression of the Ottoman Empire ruling class, while the secondary objective was to block Britain’s route to India.    Despite initial victories, the French military was eventually defeated by the British army. The invasion by the French marked the beginning of increased interference in the region by major Western powers due to the strategic importance of the Suez Canal.   What Were the Effects of the French Revolution in Europe? Portrait of King Leopold I of Belgium, unknown artist, 1850. Source: Wikimedia Commons.   The French Revolution had a domino effect that led to similar uprisings in Europe. Countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands experienced similar uprisings that were partly inspired by French Revolution ideals. At some point, the situation culminated in the secession of Belgium from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands following The Belgian Revolution of 1830. In Ireland, there was the emergence of the 1798 United Irishmen Rebellion which sought to establish a republic based on the French revolutionary principles. However, it was short-lived and ultimately failed. That said, the storming of the Bastille in the French Revolution gave rise to the realization that collective action among the masses could force constitutional reforms.   For centuries, France, like many other countries, had been governed by monarchies and autocracies before 1789. The French Revolution changed all this and thus it is commemorated today as a key turning point in history.

  Over the years many films have been written, produced, and shot about (and in) Northern Ireland. This article will explore four films about the Troubles directed by four different directors, starting with ’71, Yann Demange’s feature directorial debut. It will also discuss how these filmmakers, from different countries, have dealt with the history of Northern Ireland. Through their works and unique perspectives, we will try and understand why Northern Ireland continues to inspire filmmakers from across Europe and what it is in the history of this country that continues to resonate deeply with audiences worldwide.   1. ’71: A British Soldier on the Streets of Belfast ’71, written and directed by Yann Demange. Source: IMDB   “Posh c*nts telling thick c*nts to kill poor c*nts. That’s the Army for you.” This is perhaps the most iconic and befitting line of ’71 (2014), directed by French filmmaker Yann Demange in his feature directorial debut and written by Scottish screenwriter Gregory Burke. The film centers around Gary Hook (Jack O’Connell), a new recruit in the British Army.   It is 1971, one of the worst years of the Troubles, and Hook’s unit is deployed on the streets of Belfast to provide support to the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), the (overwhelmingly Protestant) Northern Ireland police force. During a house-to-house search in the city’s Catholic neighborhood, the RUC men start beating and verbally abusing people outside (and inside) their homes. A crowd gathers. Young men and women begin hurling stones at the British soldiers present in the area, who are ill-equipped for the riot.   Jack O’Connell fighting for his life on the streets of Belfast in ’71. Source: New York Times   The soldiers had been instructed not to wear their riot gear to avoid provoking anyone. Eventually, as violence escalates, Hook is left behind by his retreating unit. While running for his life, he hides in a toilet, and behind its walls, Hook realizes he can trust no one. Why? Because he is a symbol — not for the viewers, but for all the other characters in the film.   He is a symbol for Billy (Corey McKinley), the loyalist child whose father was killed by the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and who is adamant he is going to join the Ulster Rifles to kill as many “Fenian bastards” as possible. He is a symbol for Paul Haggerty (Martin McCann), the Provisional IRA gunman who shoots Hook’s fellow soldier Thompson (Jack Lowden) at point-blank range, backed by his blank-faced friend Sean (Barry Keoghan).   Jack O’Connell plays British Army soldier Gary Hook. Source: IMDB   He is a symbol for Sergeant Lewis (Paul Anderson), a member of the Military Reaction Force (MRF), the British Army’s counter-insurgency cover unit, which Hook glimpses while building a bomb with a Loyalist group. He is also a symbol for Brigid (Charlie Murphy), the daughter of Eamon (Richard Dormer), the former army medic who rescues Hook and utters the iconic line from the beginning of the article as he tends to his wounds. For the British Army, Hook is just “a piece of meat.”   Through his ordeal, we catch a glimpse of a profoundly sectarian society. In Northern Ireland in the 1970s, those who decided not to actively take sides and fight for a cause often found themselves spending their lives dodging bullets, trying to survive, trying not to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, which is exactly where Hook ends up.   This is perhaps what ’71 captured best in its accurate depiction of the Troubles. In a sectarian society, everything is a symbol. Anyone can become a symbol. As soon as Gary Hook steps out of the army truck, he stops being a human being. He stops being a “Derbyshire lad” and is transformed into a symbol — to be valued and cherished or demonized and destroyed. Shortly after meeting him, Billy the Loyalist kid remarks, “You’re not a Catholic, not with a name like that,” and proceeds to ask him the dreaded question, “Are you a Protestant?”   Hook shrugs, he doesn’t know. Billy stops in his tracks, stunned, “You don’t know?” In war, there is no place for subtlety.   2. Belfast: Through the Eyes of a Protestant Kid Belfast, written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. Source: Home Theater Forum   A major 1960s poll found that most Northern Irish people were willing to justify armed struggle. Catholics and Protestants alike saw themselves as members of a community under attack.   If ’71 captures 1970s Belfast through the eyes of a man on the run, Belfast (2021) is above all a film about a child’s happy childhood in a city at war and about a family that wants to live in peace. Everything, from the Troubles to human relationships, comes through the scrutiny of nine-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill).   Written and directed by Kenneth Branagh and shot in black-and-white, Belfast captures the outbreak of the Troubles and the first August riots that kick-started the conflict, pitting one neighbor against another, and one family against another. The Troubles officially began with an uprising in August 1969, when the Bogside, Derry’s overwhelmingly Catholic neighborhood, witnessed the full-scale uprising of its inhabitants.   Jamie Dorman as Pa in a scene from the film. Source: The Times   To prevent the RUC from entering their district, people began erecting barriers and throwing bricks at armored police vehicles. The RUC men responded with tear gas and stones. When they finally entered the Bogside, Protestant mobs charged in after them. This event went down in history as the Battle of the Bogside.   Branagh’s admittedly autobiographical film focuses on the August 1969 riots in Belfast as seen through the eyes of Buddy and his family, his Ma (Caitríona Balfe), his Pa (Jamie Dorman), his Granny (Judi Dench) and his beloved Pop (Ciarán Hinds). They are common people stuck in an uncommon situation. As their world falls apart, they remain true to their values, refusing to give in to violence, even, and perhaps especially, when violence takes the form of a nine-year-old stealing a box of laundry detergent from a riot-hit supermarket.   Ma, Pa, Granny, and Buddy in a scene from Belfast. Source: Today   But how do you remain true to your morals when everyone around you urges you to take sides and to fight for the “cause”? How do you set an example for your children when the world around you seems to equate the desire for peace with cowardice and treachery?   Spoiler Alert. Belfast ends with Buddy’s family packing up and leaving for England, as Branagh’s own family did in early 1970. At that time, Branagh was nine, just like Buddy. In the end, violence won out. A peaceful family is forced to leave their home and everything else, with the children’s grandmother waving them goodbye from afar.   But is this the case? Or is it the other way around? After all, sectarian violence fails to infiltrate Buddy’s family. It fails to divide it, to turn one family member against the other (as often happened). Buddy’s family resists, albeit while moving away. Belfast never succumbs to the somber tones of other films centered around the Troubles. All in all, this is a sweet coming-of-age gem, is gorgeous to watch (and for that, we have Haris Zambarloukos, the cinematographer, to thank), and is filled with a kind of proactive nostalgia rarely seen nowadays.   3. The Wind That Shakes the Barley: Across the Irish Island The O’Donovan brothers, Damien (Cillian Murphy) and Teddy (Pádraic Delaney) in The Wind that Shakes the Barley. Source: MyMovies   Let’s step back in time with British filmmaker Ken Loach. Loach depicts the birth of Northern Ireland in his award-winning film The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006). Loach’s film tells the story of two brothers from County Cork, Ireland, Damien (Cillian Murphy), and Teddy O’Donovan (Pádraic Delaney) over several years, from the War of Independence (1919-1921) to the Irish Civil War (1922-1923).   In Belfast, Ma and Pa choose to leave Northern Ireland and settle in Great Britain, away from the threat of violence. In so doing, they save their family, securing a future for their children away from war and sectarianism. In The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Damien, a promising young doctor about to leave Ireland to practice medicine in London, decides to stay. He decides to side with his brother and fight for a free Ireland.   Damien and Teddy O’Donovan after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Source: Irish Film Institute   This decision will change his life forever. It will trigger a series of events that will permanently alter his relationship with his brother Teddy. In discussing the upheavals caused by the Civil War, the film investigates the impact of history on family and friends, how history and the fight for a common cause—an independent Ireland—brings two brothers together only to later separate them in the most brutal way. Just like Belfast, this is a film about human beings and about making difficult decisions in times of war.   The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, commonly known as The Treaty, ended the Irish War of Independence and led to the creation of the Irish Free State, no longer a part of the UK but still a dominion within the British Empire.   Cillian Murphy and Pádraic Delaney in a scene from The Wind that Shakes the Barley. Source: Fernsehserien   Through the lives of Damien and Teddy O’Donovan, and their friends and fellow fighters, we also get a glimpse of what was happening in Ulster after Partition, in those Six Counties that many anti-Treaty Irishmen and women felt the Treaty had betrayed and left behind. During a heated debate, Sinéad (Orla Fitzgerald), Damian’s love interest, who is staunchly anti-Treaty, reminds the group that “my cousins are on the streets of Belfast, burned from their homes by loyalist mobs,” and that there are “refugees all over Dublin.” In two years, in fact, between July 1920 and July 1922, 557 people were killed, according to figures provided by Thomas Hennessey. Most of them were Catholics, 172 were Protestants, and 82 were officers of the police and the British army.   As Belfast Catholics were being driven out of their houses en masse, and Catholic socialist workers kept losing their jobs, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) acted on behalf of the Northern Irish Catholics by raiding police barracks and ambushing police officers on patrol. Finally, in 1949, Ireland left the Commonwealth, and the independent Republic of Ireland was born.   Northern Ireland, with its Protestant majority “a Protestant state for Protestant people,” remained part of the UK. The Partition, perfectly captured by Ken Loach in The Wind that Shakes the Barley, helped set the stage for the conflict that would ravage Northern Ireland between 1969 and the late 1990s.   4. In the Name of the Father  Gerry (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Giuseppe Conlon (Pete Postlethwaite) in a scene from In the Name of the Father. Source: FilmAffinity   From the story of two brothers fighting for Ireland’s independence to the (true) story of a father and son falsely accused of terrorism during the Troubles. In Jim Sheridan’s In the Name of the Father (1993), the father, Patrick “Giuseppe” Conlon, is majestically played by the late Pete Postlethwaite. Daniel Day-Lewis stars in the role of the son, Gerry Conlon, one of the Guildford Four.   Along with Paul Hill, Patrick Armstrong, and Carole Richardson, Gerry was accused of being one of the IRA members responsible for the bombs that destroyed two pubs in Guildford Surrey on October 5, 1974. In 1975 they were all convicted and sentenced to life. Seven more people, known as the Maguire Seven, were charged with possessing the nitro-glycerine that the IRA allegedly used to make the bombs. They had all been framed.   Gerry Conlon being questioned by the British police in relation to the Guildford bombs in a scene from the film. Source: FilmAffinity   The Gerry Conlon portrayed in Sheridan’s film couldn’t be more different from his father: he is feckless, irresponsible, a naïve drifter, and a petty thief. Giuseppe, on the other hand, is a hard-working man, loyal to his principles and ethics. It doesn’t matter. He will end up in jail alongside his son. It took more than 20 years and the hard and scrupulous work of British solicitor Gareth Peirce (played by Emma Thompson) to overturn the convictions of Gerry and the other Guildford Four.   In 1989, they finally walked out of the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, in London. Unfortunately, Giuseppe Conlon had passed away by then. The world had changed, but the Troubles were still ongoing in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Even when Sheridan’s film came out, four years later, the Troubles were far from over.   Gerry Conlon shortly before being released from jail in 1989. Source: Film Affinity   In the Name of the Father was nominated for seven Oscars at the 66th Academy Awards. Ten years after the release of the film, Sheridan responded to the critics accusing his film of historical inaccuracies explaining that when the film came out “I was accused of lying in In the Name of the Father, but the real lie was saying it was a film about the Guildford Four when really it was about a non-violent parent.” It is through the example set by Giuseppe, by his life, his words, and his actions, that Gerry Conlon is able to change and evolve, to become a better man determined to prove to the world his and his father’s innocence. In the Name of the Father is essentially a film about human relations, about how they can be disrupted and altered, for better or for worse, by war.   Just like Belfast and The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Sheridan’s film shows us the long-term effects of violence, how it affects future generations, and how it inherently possesses the potential to generate further grief and death. This is something Professor Marianne Hirsch has discussed at length in her seminal book The Generation of Postmemory, albeit in the context of the Holocaust. Postmemory, Hirsch writes, “describes the relationship that the ‘generation after’ bears to the personal, collective, and cultural trauma of those who came before – to experiences they ‘remember’ only by means of the stories, images, and behaviors among which they grew up” (Hirsch, 2012). “These events,” Hirsch adds, “happened in the past, but their effects continue into the present.”   To put it with Jim Sheridan, “the more these situations are talked about, the less the rage is likely to convert to violence. Telling those stories matters.”

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