Land War
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The Land War in Irish History was a period of agrarian agitation in rural Ireland in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. The agitation was led by the Irish Land League and was dedicated to bettering the position of tenant farmers and ultimately to a redistribution of land from landlords to tenants. While there were many violent incidents in this campaign, it was not actually a "war", but rather a prolonged period of civil unrest.
The Land League was founded in 1879 by Michael Davitt - an Irish Republican Brotherhood member and radical politician. Initially it sought reform including the "Three F's" - that is Fair rent, fixity of tenure and free sale". Davitt was rapidly joined by Charles Stewart Parnell the leader of mainstream Irish nationalism. Violence occurred when Land League members resisted the eviction of farmers by the Royal Irish Constabulary and there were also attacks on Landlords and their property. In response the British Army was deployed to restore law and order and parts of Ireland were put under coercion -a form of martial law, for a time. However the most effective method of the Land League was the Boycott, where an unpopular landlord was ostracised by the local community.
The Land question in Ireland was ultimately defused by a series of Irish Land Acts, beginning in 1870 and continuing until 1927. These acts allowed tenants first to attain extensive property rights on their leaseholdings and then to purchase their land off their landlords via government loans. The traditional view of the Land War in Ireland has been of the overthrow of a tyrannical landed class. However, recent research has suggested that many Landlords in the late 19th century in fact had a progressive attitude towards their estates and tenants. In addition, it is claimed that the bigger farmers were the main beneficiaries of the Land Acts, as the small farmers' holdings, especially in the west, were uneconomic as private farms.
For the Land Wars in New Zealand history, see New Zealand Land Wars
