Michael Collins

Michael Collins (Liam Neeson in the movie) was a product of the history created by the colonizing of Ireland and molded by the incidents of his time. In 1916, the British government ruled Ireland with a firm and cruel hand. When a group of Irish rebels staged a six-day siege at Dublin's General Post Office, only one of the leaders was able to escape execution, Eamon De Valera, an American citizen of Irish/Spanish blood. De Valera takes control of Sinn Fein after being released from prison in 1917. Michael Collins averted punishment, but while in prison became convinced that a new approach was needed to free Ireland from British rule. He formed the Irish Volunteers, who used a combination of terrorist tactics and guerilla warfare against the British. By employing espionage, using an inside informant to learn what the British plans were and what they knew about Collins and his supporters, the volunteers were able to hit the British at their weak points. His skills and talent for warfare made a major impact on the British, and he became the hero of the new Republican Movement. In the movie, Collins, talks of his, "talent for mayhem" (Michael Collins, 1996, Warner Brothers), being as much a burden as a gift.

De Valera was often in conflict with Collins in terms of the methods and approach of their struggle. Traveling to the United States to gain support for the Republican cause, De Valera is away from the action for a year and a half. Upon his return, Collins and the Volunteers tactics have forced a victory, as the British government announced that they were willing to formally negotiate. The negotiations are to be held in England and De Valera insists that Collins go, once the radical now the negotiator. I believe De Valera understood that full freedom of Ireland would be impossible and he wanted the ability to remove himself from the outcome. Collins helped to negotiate the peace settlement that formed the Irish Free State but failed to win full independence for his country, agreeing to the partition between the Protestant North and the Catholic South. This agreement was flawed according to De Valera, who believed there could be no separation of Ireland as part of the agreement. Collins countered that the treaty was the best attainable at the time and believed that it was a crucial first step that could lead, in time, to true freedom for the Irish. The Irish parliament accepts treaty, De Valera is strongly opposed and advocates violence among pro- and anti-treaty factions. Michael Collins was branded a traitor by many of his countrymen and was killed in an ambush after attempting to meet with De Valera in the Cork area.

The Movie portrays the British as the antagonist and Michael Collins as the protagonist. In terms of history, the British as a colonizing power gave little consideration