Red Hand Society

Logo of the Red Hand Society

The Red Hand Society of Ulster & Scotland was formed in the February of 1926 as a reaction to the Red Summer, the Great Depression and the economically devastating General Strike of 1926, or what many Protestants living in Northern Ireland called the 'English Incompetence'. The organization was formed by former members of the Ulster Volunteers and similar organizations which sought to create an independent Ulster free from control from the United Kingdom and the Irish Free State. It is currently the ruling party of the United Confederation of Ulster.

## Formation and the Late 1920s

Charles "Edward" Maxwell, a former lieutenant of the Ulster Volunteers, along with Edward Carson on the morning of either the 4th or 5th of February of 1926 congregated in Strandtown Hall with two other parties of Ulster nationalists. After a brief committee between the group in which they collectively agreed that the only way to free Ulster was through violent insurrection, the Red Hand Society was formed with Edward Carson as its acting *Lord-General*.

Within the month, the volunteers of the newly created Red Hand Society had managed to procure a proper amount of arms and converted the town that the hall belonged to as a self-declared nationalist commune. Money was printed and armed members of the RHS acted as a volunteer police force. Strandtown Hall would quickly be renamed to "The Fort" as it became increasingly defended and militarized.

The British government quickly declared the Strandtown Commune as a no-go zone and surrounded the town in an attempt to exert pressure on the RHS. Barricades were set up on both sides, however, the soldiers were instructed not to fire upon each other. Regardless of their orders, British soldiers fired upon two volunteers escorting a group of citizens, which started the Skirmish of Wilgar Park. The British soldiers were repulsed back to their barricades on Dundela Ave outside of the park after a brief period of fighting. The event would increase civilian support for the RHS both inside Strandtown and in the surrounding areas inside of Belfast.

Despite the skirmish, the Strandtown Commune would continue to exist up until the start of the British Civil War later in 1928. After news reached Northern Ireland about the declaration of the Labour Party Territories and other similar territories and the start of the British Civil War, the Red Hand Society swiftly took over the remainder of Belfast and surrounding neighborhoods, quickly repelling the defending garrison of British soldiers which had been split to reinforce soldiers over on the English mainland. The Red Hand Society was quickly declared a terrorist organization by both the Irish Free State as well as the United Kingdom.

## The 1930s and 40s

The Red Hand Society would go on to intensify their efforts to defending the greater Belfast area for the next 10 years up until they decided to declare a new government spanning the entirety of Ulster in 1938. Within the month, the RHS would go on to seize the counties Armagh, Antrim, and Tyrone from the Conservative government with little resistance from British soldiers or constables.

In 1941, 3 years after the society had seized their territory, the United Kingdom's Conservative government would hand jurisdiction of the remaining parts of Northern Ireland over to the Free State. This action, referred to as the *'Betrayal of Ulster'* by the organization, would increase support for the Red Hand Society among protestants and unionists. Due to the newfound civilian support, the organization found it fit to declare the United Confederation of Ulster, which the Irish Free State would quickly mobilize against. This action would ignite the Ulster Conflict, which would bring the British Civil War to Ireland.

The first attack of the conflict would come in the form of the March 6th Bombing carried about by Red Hand Society partisans. The bombing would plunge both the Confederation and the Free State into a state of total war against each other, which is a war that continues to this day.