Tobias 1

Haley Tobias

Mr. O’Grady

Contemporary World Issues

6 March 2019

In the movie, Michael Collins, directed by Neil Jordan, Collins is considered a leader in

the fight for Irish independence; technically he is defined as a terrorist, as his actions and

reasoning line up with terrorism, even though it was for the good of the people. The major

argument circling this movie is whether or not Michael Collins was justified in his terrorist-like

acts, and if this should actually be considered terrorism. Collins should be considered a terrorist

because of how he chose to go about gaining freedom, although his actions might have been

somewhat justified, justification and law are not in the same realm.

Michael Collins showed the traits of a terrorist throughout his leadership through violent

occurrences. A terrorist is defined as “a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation,

especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims” (“Terrorist”), which perfectly sums

up how he went about gaining independence for the Irish. For example, the attacks on his own

people working for the British, although managing to get their message to the British, is still

considered treason. Collins was a forward thinker, shown through his tactics to get Britain’s

attention, rather than going head to head as it had been done before, failing every time. The

British Empire had control over the Irish for over 700 years, so it was not uncommon for the

Irish to work in the government as collaborators with them; this was not something new,

therefore an out of the blue death sentence is not war, it is a singular group attacking specific

individuals. Prior to the many killings that took place causing a treaty to be established, Collins
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and his men sent out the messages telling all Irish collaborators that working for the British made

them traitors, and that the sentence was death. Some might see blackmail as the only way to get

inside their heads and make the smaller group of Irish men become a threat; it could also be seen

as a rash decision when there is nothing left to do in order to change things. In both cases, there

is a valid reason, but when carried out become unlawful. When looking deeper, we see the

assassinated men were Irish who not only needed a paycheck of some sort, but were also very

religious and present in the community. If assassinating people you do not agree with were to

happen all around the world, deaths would be even more of a common occurrence; disputes

happen every day, getting to the root of a problem is key, rather than fighting off the tiny fights

and issues on the surface. This is where Collins went wrong; getting Britain’s attention, while

hard, could have been possible by becoming a nonviolent member of the community and simply

refusing to follow orders and protocols issued by anyone other than the Irish. Even after all the

deaths and violence, the treaty was mediocre, and not accepted by many, the main oppose being

Dev.

Terrorism is a strategy, his goal was for Ireland to run its own country for England to leave

them alone, terrorism was his tactic. He chose this because every single time in 700 years when

the Irish went against the English, they got destroyed. His big argument with Dev was when you

go head to head, you lose. Strategy in warfare not under the category of terrorism is guerilla

warfare. Guerilla warfare and terrorism is how the weak chose to defeat the strong, possibly

giving smaller groups a chance against big armies. The British Empire in 1916, 1918, and 1920

was considered a global power. The Irish were a little country, and not all the Irish cared to fight

back either. Collins wanted to win; he chose terrorism rather than just resistance. “One man’s

terrorist is another man freedom fighter” (Mr. O). Focusing on the leaders at the time, Yitzhak
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Shamir wanted the British out of the holy land. Collins was notoriously known for his assassins

of single men who were all Irish working for the British in collaborations. Being Catholic, a lot

of times men were assassinated walking out of mass. These men needed to get paid somehow,

and the Brits had been running Ireland for 700 years, so why not?

In the movie, Collins mentioned one of guys he assassinated for putting a gun in a little

kids hands. They did it because the Brits gave them no way out, but the Brits would say he is a

terrorist. In this world, it seems as though violence is the only way to make yourself an important

figure, and have your opinions heard. This is the sad truth, but still, hurting others should not be

recognized as okay even if it does end up working in the end. Collins used his assassination

squad to get the attention of the British, which ultimately led to a lot of deaths on both sides of

the battle. Every man part of the squad knew that they would be sacrificing their lives in order to

kill others, but overall none of this was needed if Collins had listened to Dev and refrained from

violence, which only got them a mediocre treaty that did not accomplish Irish Independence.

Often, Collins blames the British and refers to the fact that they were making him do this, which

is truly just an excuse for him to feel secure in his actions. Nobody can make someone else start

violence, the men working for the Brits in Ireland were at their place of work, doing what they

were told; the only way to end it was to discuss a treaty and get to the headquarters of where it

was all happening, America. Dev himself did not go to America because there was no possible

way of coming back with a reasonable treaty that had everything the Irish wanted, but in this

world, compromise and patience are key. It is agreed by many that the treaty was decent enough

to agree to for now, which was smart because conditions cannot get better without compromise

and agreement with those against you. A key factor in why violence was not the best method

while getting this treaty is that it did not seem as though anyone was violent without a battle
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being started by something Collins planned. The stationed Brits in Ireland fought back as they

were instructed, but without an uproar of killings from the hit squad, there might have been a

chance of calmly discussed matters.

The term “justice” is one that can be described in many ways, as people see it as either

getting revenge or upholding a right. Collins made a speech at the beginning of the movie to

rowel up the public and influence them to fight back. His reasoning was because “our only

weapon is our refusal,” but his hidden reasoning is because he wants revenge. His intentions

shine through when looking into his methods and what would have worked better if he was truly

just trying to save his Irish community. Gandhi is an example of how Collins might have gone

about the situation if he truly was not looking for revenge, only the good of his people. Gandhi

used something called passive resistance, which included nonviolence, and truly only used

refusal as his weapon. Although he was arrested many times, he was not afraid to be the voice of

the movement for independence. This relates to Collins in many ways, because we see the

complete opposite from him. It is clear who used a better system for people in general, because

we look back and see Gandhi as a hero and Collins as a diverse person that sacrificed himself,

but also was responsible for the killings of many. I do not doubt that independence was a clear

goal, but when there is more that you want than the good of other people, many things get messy

like when Harry Boland, Michael Collins best friend died; it could have been easily avoided if

there was a clear discussion rather than killing sprees and hiding in the streets.

In conclusion, I do believe that Michael Collins was a terrorist due to his acts of violence and

killings with a small group of people in order to gain control again and be heard. The situation

was not ideal, but nobody forced them to fight the British this way, even if he was fighting for

justice. If his only weapon was “refusal”, then why was he able to speak so much louder by
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killing people than he was by saying no and not conforming to the British? His values not only

had to shake in order to do this, but he also lost a close conspirator, Dev, who did believe the

best option was to work the system rationally. Nobody will ever know if this might have worked,

but the way to get places in the world today and then needs to not include hurting others, rather,

working with others to improve situations for all.

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Bibliography

"Terrorist." dictionary.com. Accessed March 5, 2019. https://www.dictionary.com/

browse/terrorist.

Michael Collins. Directed by Neil Jordan. 1996. N.p.: The Geffen Film Company

Warner Bros., n.d. DVD.

History.com Editors. "Mahatma Gandhi." In History.com. A&E Television Networks,

2010. Last modified July 30, 2010. Accessed March 5, 2019.

https://www.history.com/topics/india/mahatma-gandhi.