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The
Sequel Ulster Day was unquestionably a remarkable triumph as a demonstration of Unionist solidarity and determination. As the culmination of a series of impressive mass demonstrations, it marked the end of the first phase of the Unionist campaign. Since the Liberal Government had already flagrantly violated the spirit of the Constitution by introducing a Home Rule Bill, a vital issue affecting the entire British nation and its Empire, without even the pretence of an electoral mandate; Unionists could no longer rely on the parliamentary path alone. There were things greater than parliamentary majorities when the future of a people was at stake as Bonar Law asserted. This shaped the character of the next phase of the campaign. Posterity would judge the Unionists not on the basis of fine speeches but by their deeds. The time for mere words had passed. There was no longer any substitute for action. The road before them was to lead to the establishment of the Ulster Volunteer Force; the landing of rifles and ammunition at Lame, Banger and Donaghadee; and the formation of the Provisional Government. Beyond that lay the Battle of the Somme where "those splendid troops drawn from those volunteers who had banded themselves togetherfor another cause ... shed their blood like water for the liberty of the world." In recognition of their sacrifice, their native Ulster merited special treatment after the Great War: the establishment of the Ulster State. Providence provided Ulster with courageous and inspiring leadership equal to the pre-war crisis. At the outset, Carson, the hard-headed realist, gave careful consideration to the course upon which the people were about to embark: "What I am very anxious about is that the people over there (Lrlster) really mean to resist. I am not for a mere game of bluff and unless men are prepared to make great sacrifices which they clearly understand, the talk of resistance is of no use. We will be confronted by many weaklings in our own camp who talk very loud and mean nothing and will be the first to criticise us when the moment of actions comes."
A responsible leader asked the crucial question: an earnest people rallied to the cause. By late 1912 an air of unreality pervaded the Liberal benches in the House of Commons. The realists in the Liberal Party -- men such as Lloyd George -- privately conceded the force and justice of Lister's argument, but self- interest ensured that words of such fairness would never pass their lips in public. Those who shared Asquith's self-delusion smugly believed that the mere passage of the Home Rule Bill three times through the House of Commons would make Dublin rule a reality. Whereas Asquith believed his own vapid phrases, dressed up in the language of cool statesmanship; the Liberal realists uttered those same insipid phrases in the full knowledge that they were hollow and could not even bring themselves to mutter them with conviction. In November 1912, by masterly tactics, the Unionist opposition inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Liberal Government during a crucial Home Rule debate. A shudder went through the Liberal benches; even Asquith was rattled. They well knew that, with by-election after by-election promising them nothing more than crushing electoral humiliation, they must hold on at all costs. Thus constitutional convention was cast aside, and even the losing of a major Commons vote was argued away as a matter of no consequence. Amid this highly-charged atmosphere, a leading Liberal realist, Winston Churchill, taunted the Unionist benches. An enraged Ronald McNeill -- an Ulster Unionist representing Maidstone -- gave vent to the feelings of the entire Opposition benches by seizing a small bound copy of the Orders of the House and symbolically throwing it at Churchill, the force of Ulster's argument came home to the offending Liberal with a thump.
Fully aware of the Government's willingness to override the Constitution, Ulstermen were drilling and acquiring military skills even before the signing of the Covenant. County 5rone Orangemen led the way and soon Orange leaders all over Ulster were following the example. Such was the measure of their commitment that after a hard day's toil in the fields or the factories, men walked for miles to attend parades and drills. Social distinctions were forgotten. Gentry cheerfully obeyed orders from their tenants and company directors from their employees. In the accompanying photograph a solicitor, a manual worker and a small shopkeeper practise semaphore signalling. While some derided these military preparations, a senior British officer noted that there reigned in Ulster "a stern and disciplined atmosphere and a serious spirit of unity and organisation."
All over Ulster men were drilling yet there was no overall command or structure. In January 1913, the Ulster Unionist Council decided that the volunteers should be united into a single body to be known as the Ulster Volunteer Force. Recruitment was to be limited to 100,000 men who had signed the Covenant. In urging Unionists to enrol, Carson recognised the importance of organisation and unity: "Victory comes to those who are organised and united. Those who are unorganised cannot help and may hinder our efforts." An organisation similar to that of the recently reorganised Territorial Army was created. An efficient Headquarters staff was set up which benefited enormously from the expertise of Captain Wilfred Spender, the youngest staff officer in the British Army who threw up a promising career to identify himself more closely with Lister's cause. On the recommendation of Lord Roberts of Kandahar, the most distinguished soldier alive, Lieutenant-General Sir George Richardson, himself a distinguished soldier, was appointed to command the Volunteers. An impressive array of specialist units which would have been the envy of many a contemporary professional army were established: the Special Services Sections, the Medical Corps, the Nursing Corps and the Signalling and Despatch Riders Corps. It was not only the men of Ulster who responded magnificently to the call, women came forward not only as nurses but as signallers, motor-cycle despatch riders and ambulance drivers. At U.V.F. Headquarters a small group was engaged in intelligence work which included the deciphering of intercepted police messages. The mobilisation of an entire community made it evident for all to see that Ulstermen had not been bluffing when they had pledged themselves to "Using all means which may be found necessary" to defeat the imposition of Dublin rule. Like their 17th century forefathers they would not allow control of their lives and liberties to be transferred into the hands of their hereditary enemies by a corrupt Liberal Government. Ulster would fight and Ulster would be right.
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