A People Under Siege The Unionists of Northern Ireland, from Partition to Brexit and Beyond

The Brexit referendum of 2016 triggered one of the most profound constitutional crises in modern British history. A wave of populist nationalism gave way to political and economic instability, throwing the future of the United Kingdom into sharp relief. The Scottish National Party saw an opportunity to press for a second referendum on Scottish independence with Irish republicans lobbying the British Government for a border poll in a move to help secure their goal of a United Ireland. For Unionists in Northern Ireland, a referendum that began on the question of sovereignty quickly degenerated into cries of betrayal and a redrawn border in the Irish Sea. Extraordinary uncertainty now hangs over the future of the Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland’ s centenary year, military and political historian Aaron Edwards, a native of Belfast, explores the profound challenges facing Unionists. He reflects upon the past century of political turbulence on these islands, the effects of Republican violence on the Unionist psyche and the embattlement of a people who believe themselves to be once again under siege.

Aaron Edwards is a Senior Lecturer in Defence and International Affairs at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester. He is the author of several books, including Mad Mitch’ s Tribal Law: Aden and the End of Empire (2014), UVF: Behind the Mask (2017) and Agents of Influence (2021). His work has been featured in The Irish Times, Belfast Telegraph, Belfast News Letter and The Irish News.

Prologue: In a Little World of Their Own? 1. A State Born in Violence 2. The People of Independent Thought 3. Masters of Our Own House 4. Whipping Up the New Recruits 5. Responsible Members of the Community 6. An Ulster Divided Against Itself 7. A Regime Under Fire 8. A Very Loyalist Coup 9. Prisoners of the IRA’ s Strategy 10. The Duisburg Formula 11. An Image Problem 12. Lifting the Siege 13. Ulster’ s Answer to Leaderless Resistance 14. The Changing of the Guard 15. A People Under Siege (Again) 16. Toppling the New Tower of Babel 17. Circling the Wagons 18. Political Unionism and the Greater Good Epilogue: Homecoming