Invasion of Britain through Ireland

>>1082497

Not without naval superiority in WW1, or naval/air superiority in WW2, at which point you're probably easier off just jumping into southern England directly.

In earlier times, it was attempted. Several of the Spanish attempts to put deposed monarchs back on the throne went through Ireland.

Also if the French incursions in 1798 were successful could France have invaded the UK from Ireland

>>1082526
No, the RN was too dominant and had better officers.

It would have easily been possible since any invasion would have been welcomed. In WW2 Germany had no navy but could have landed paratroopers, in WW1 the navies were evenly balanced but it would have been very hard for the Germans to get to Ireland since they would either have to go through the English channel or around Scotland. France and Spain would have had the best chance and indeed if Napoopan had landed a large army he probably would have won or at the very least crippled England.
Though in reality every attempt from the 16th century onwards was only a halfhearted and poorly supported sideshow which was a shame in terms of the tactical possibilities. Every time it was tried it was either a tiny force or the invasion was reluctant to land and fight.

>>1082583

>It would have easily been possible since any invasion would have been welcomed. In WW2 Germany had no navy but could have landed paratroopers,

First off, while a Ju-52 could reach Ireland from the coast of france, none of the escorting planes could protect them, so uh, good luck getting those paratroopers there alive.

Secondly, how do you resupply your force, or stop the British from taking five divisions and just squishing you?

>>1082576

I'd say they were about even until the RN had a few lucky outcomes which tipped the balance of power in their favour. The battle of the Pacific in WW2 was decided by the number of carriers built and some lucky results, France could have concentrated on defeating the RN by the numbers but had more pressing concerns on land.

>>1082598

> none of the escorting planes could protect them

And no British fighters could fly off the west coast of Ireland and have enough fuel to return home, while the transports could loop out to sea and come from the west flying from Brittany. Anyway, the transport planes could have easily flown at night which would make fighters useless with no radar or any support.

>how do you resupply your force

They could just take food where they find it, but this would piss off the locals. Ammo could be dropped by air.

>or stop the British from taking five divisions and just squishing you

Lets say this is 1940 after the fall of France and before Russia joins the war. England is already getting buttblasted on every front trying to hold on to its overseas empire, has very pressing commitments in North Africa, and has a very small army since the war has just begun. They didnt believe they could hold on to their own island in the event of invasion and sending 5 divisions into a hostile and neutral country would take a lot of time and be very politically contentious since the Irish government had 300,000 men in its army and would not take kindly to an invasion from the UK, so they would be a factor.
Either they would be helping the Germans through prior arrangement in which case it would be extremely difficult for the UK, or maybe the invasion was something like the invasion of Norway in which case there would be some local resistance but unlike Norway there would likely be some help given to the Germans from some elements regardless of if they were invited. Either way it would take a while to land 5 divisions by which time the paratroopers are dug in and reinforced since they have the advantage of suprise.

>>1082598
>This
This point is only really WWII related but the fact that NI existed stopped this, there was something like 100,000 British troops stationed in there along with however many Americans. Ireland was always pro-british through out the war anyway and Germany would have had little support.

Might have worked earlier between 16th-17th, Remember a couple of attempts where foreigners tried (Spain I think it was and/or French later on ) to help liberate Ireland from the Brits.
They failed though due to the fact that the weather is a pro-british cunt and had a bad habit of delaying things. There was one attempt where an army of about 10000 soldiers was to land and join with local clans to overthrow the Brits. Landed on the other end of the country and then couldnt dock, the clans ended up having to march south the meet them and I think the port was full of British ships at the time as well

>>1082645
Forgetting about NI and although Ireland had a large military it was complete shite.

When the IRA were in secret talks with Abwher about possible invasion, Hitler made it clear Irish neutrality had to be respected. Landing in N.Ireland though would be a very difficult task not even considering the large reserves there. Churchill said if he believed there was a serious naval risk he would reinvade Ireland to commandeer the ports for National security. The plans neve made it off the drawing boards

>>1082646
>>1082656

> there was something like 100,000 British troops stationed in there along with however many Americans

Not in 1940 when the treat of invasion existed, it dissapeared after Germany started the war with Russia. In 1940 I'd say they they would be lucky to have 1000 troops in Northern Ireland, when Germany bombed the shit out of Belfast they didnt even have fire engines to put out the fires and they had to ask dublin to send some. There is absolutely no way they would have a huge number of troops defending such an isolated and unimportant place, the soldiers were in the south of England where the invasion was likely to come.

> Ireland was always pro-british through out the war anyway

Not exactly, De Valera was hoping the Germans would win. He was determined to keep Ireland out of the Allies even though Churchill privately sent numerous threats and was I think one of only a couple of world leaders who actually sent official condolences to Germany when Hitler died.

>>1082656

>although Ireland had a large military it was complete shite.

It was about comparable to Poland in terms of equipment and numbers and Poland gave the Germans their bloodiest nose of the war.

>>1082695

Correction, it was a lot smaller than Poland's army but still thats goes to show how much a supposedly shite army can do on its own turf.

>>1082695
DeVelera was determined to stay neutral, not just out of the allies, for a number of reasons. Signing the condolence book was probably just a way to push the fact that we were neutral or simply to fuck with Churchill

France tried during the United Irish rebellion but failed

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>>1082497

From the continent the brits would stand astride your lines of communication with your forces/allies in Ireland. If you had naval superiority (or in the 20th century air superiority) then why are you messing around in Ireland when you could just invade southern England.

>>1082583
>It would have easily been possible since any invasion would have been welcomed.
No, it wouldn't. If Ireland had been invaded in WW2, the Irish Army was going to commit a holding action to give the British enough time to prepare Northern Ireland's defences - the Irish would then commit to guerilla war and wait for the British to launch offensives.


World War 1 was also quite unlikely as nearly 200,000 Irishmen (and 100,000 Unionists) went to join the Union - people weren't exactly fond of the German attack on Belgium.

>>1082752
Because of poor weather that stopped the French from landing. Had the French landed, they probably could've driven the English into Ulster.

When the French landed 1000 men after the Rebellion had died out, they still managed to drive 6000 British soldiers from Connacht

>>1082712
I don't really think you can say the equipment or quality of troops was anywhere near the same. The Irish military has always been neglected by the Government, except for a brief period during the Civil War when they had 60,000 men - but the military was broken pretty quickly.

>>1082583
The only way Napoleon would have had any success against Britain on British soil would be if the Royal Navy inexplicably vanished. Even if we assume he could get to Britain, he would not be able to win. There would be no way for him to resupply across the channel.

>>1082497
Germany needed a better navy to pull it off, however if they did in WW1 they could very well have succeded, as much of the population would see them as liberators.

I recommend the alternate history timeline 'Operation Unicorn' on Yuku which has Germany gaining naval dominance in WW1 and invading Ireland. It's very well written and enjoyable.

>>1082497
The Irish invaded Britain via Ireland through immigration

>>1084751
>I recommend the alternate history timeline 'Operation Unicorn' on Yuku which has Germany gaining naval dominance in WW1 and invading Ireland. It's very well written and enjoyable.
How do they deal with the fact that the British had twice the dreadnought Germany had and literally twice the size of the navy in general? Alien space bats?

>>1082645
You are clueless.

Everywhere where the Germans would land, British would just bog them down until being able to get heavy artillery on board, meanwhile Germans wouldn't have any artillery heaavier than small mountain howitzers nor any other heavy equipment, not to mention that they wouldn't be able to supply them for too long before encountering bottleneck.

>>1082695
>It was about comparable to Poland in terms of equipment and numbers
Did Ireland really have a force of million soldiers, and close to five thousand guns and a thousand tanks in 1940? I find that difficult to believe but I will gladly be educated.

>>1082739
> nuetral
That's why Germany bombed Ireland, right? Because it was nuetral?

Ireland claimed to be nuetral but it was obvious to everybody that they sided with the allies.

>>1084876
> a million soldiers
> country only has 4 million people

Somehow, i doubt it

>>1084904
Me too but perhaps this anon is not as ful of shit as he appears, right? ... right?

>>1084891
Correction: bombed once or twice by accident.

The public opinion in Ireland at the time according to both Taoiseach Eamon de Valera and opposition leader Richard Mulcahy was pro-German.

From a History Ireland article:
>De Valera himself confided to an American journalist in July 1940 that ‘the people were pro-German’. The leader of the opposition, Richard Mulcahy, received a number of reports indicating that ‘mass opinion [is] setting pro-German’ the following year. American military intelligence was told the same thing by a ‘highly reliable’ member of the Oireachtas—most probably James Dillon—who lamented that ‘there was no anti-Nazism in Éire’. Looking north of the border, Freddie Boland of the Department of External Affairs found that ‘the vast majority of nationalists in the six-county area are absolutely pro-German’. And foreign diplomats, journalists and visitors were often startled by the evidence they found across Ireland of widespread pro-Axis sympathy, with ‘huge swastikas and anti-British symbols’ chalked or painted on walls and hoardings.

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>>1082583
>in WW1 the navies were evenly balanced

>>1085581
Don't you know? Seventeen dreadnoughts is just as much as thirty!

>>1082645
>and would not take kindly to an invasion from the UK, so they would be a factor
They'd take even less kindly to an invasion by the fucking Nazis. Do you seriously think the Irish would turn down British assistance if there were German paras landing in Cork?

>>1085578
>The public opinion in Ireland at the time according to both Taoiseach Eamon de Valera and opposition leader Richard Mulcahy was pro-German
yeah, that's why there were tens of thousands of Irish volunteers who joined the British Army. De Valera had an interest in maintaining official neutrality but generally conceded to any demands made by the Allies short of actually declaring war on Germany

>>1085578
> by accident

Lol, you actually believe that?

>>1085861
Bombing accuracy was absolute shit during WWII.

German bombing doubly so.

>>1085594

Yes because the Germans would win and kick the British out of Ireland. Ireland explicitly would not join the Allies because of Northern Ireland, same with NATO.

>>1085889
>Yes because the Germans would win and kick the British out of Ireland
you're actually delusional. The same Luftwaffe that couldn't establish air superiority 20 miles away from its bases is now going to do so 300 miles away? And supply a landing force? you're mad. And you think the Irish would welcome in fucking Nazi Germany just because CHUCKY AR LA BRITS OUT?
>Ireland explicitly would not join the Allies because of Northern Ireland
give over. The Irish Free State (and later Republic) was committed to neutrality in general, it had nothing to do with NI.

>>1085902
Besides which, the Irish already had a policy regarding NI. Believe it or not, it wasn't that big of an issue to the Free State. They assumed NI was unsustainable, and would be sorted out easily once the rest of the issues were.

The Economic War, Loyalty Oath and Naval Base issues were way bigger.

>>1085869
Doesn't prove shit.

>>1085909
it was a big deal when Mac Neill lost territory in Donegal, Armagh and Tyrone in the boundary commission but it was primarily Republicans making fuss over it.

>>1085909
>>1085902

>you're actually delusional

Irish Constitution, Article 2: "The national territory consists of the whole island of Ireland, its islands and the territorial seas."

>>1086004
Does the constitution also solve the inability of Luftwaffle or the Kriegsmarine to do anything?

>>1086009

Irish Constitution, Article 27: This guy mad as fuck

>>1085987
Yeah, but the Republicans made a much BIGGER fuss about the Loyalty Oath, as in "a bigger fuss than they made during the war of independence."

I can't see it happening, with the British in northern Ireland. It would be fairly easy to sweep down and just take the ports. Then establish a naval presence in the ports. You don't need the rest of Ireland, but it would be handy.
The Irishmen brave though they were, used guerrilla tactics. Not that usefull against strongholds, best against patrols.

>>1084891
No it was ''accidental'', at least officially. There are some claims that it was a warning as we were pro-allies. The only openly intentional German bombings were in the North which was at war

>obvious to everybody that they sided with the allies
Not really, during the war most normal people didnt hear anything about Ireland until the condolence shit with Hitler. Also the idea was that to the public we were by the book neutral but we were very pro-ally. DeValera even told the German representative that certain considerations would have to be given to the Brits and it was accepted by them.

>>1085889
>Ireland explicitly would not join the Allies because of Northern Ireland
It was one of the main reasons but definitely not the main one.

I dunno about IRL, but I do it every time I play as Germany in Axis & Allies.

>that Italian blockade of the British Isles

Fuck yea.