Editing Edward Carson (section)

== Cabinet member ==

On 25 May 1915, Asquith appointed Carson [[Attorney General for England and Wales|Attorney-General]]<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29197 |date=18 June 1915 |page=5871}}</ref> when the Coalition Government was formed after the Liberal government was brought down by the [[Shell Crisis of 1915|Shell Crisis]] and the resignation of [[Admiral Fisher]]. He resigned on 19 October, however, citing his opposition to Government policy on war in the Balkans. During Asquith's coalition government of 1915–1916, there was no formal opposition in either the Commons or the Lords. The only party not in Asquith's Liberal, Conservative, and Labour Coalition was the [[Irish Nationalist Party]] led by [[John Redmond]]. However, this party supported the government and did not function as an Opposition. After Carson, the leading figure among the Irish Unionist allies of the Conservative Party, resigned from the coalition ministry on 19 October 1915, he then became the de facto leader of those Unionists who were not members of the government, effectively [[Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom)|Leader of the Opposition]] in the Commons.

He played a major role in forcing the resignation of Asquith as Prime Minister, returning to office on 10 December 1916 as [[First Lord of the Admiralty]],<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29860 |date=12 December 1916 |page=12118 }}</ref> and elevated to the powerful British War Cabinet as a [[Minister without portfolio (United Kingdom)|Minister without Portfolio]] on 17 July 1917.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.211122/page/n165/mode/2up?q=Carson War Memoirs of David Lloyd George, Vol. III], London: Ivor Nicholson & Watson, 1934, pp. 1175–77</ref>

Carson was hostile to the foundation of the [[League of Nations]] as he believed that this institution would be ineffectual against war. In a speech on 7 December 1917, he said:

<blockquote>Talk to me of treaties! Talk to me of the League of Nations! Every Great Power in Europe was pledged by treaty to preserve Belgium. That was a League of Nations, but it failed.<ref>Henry R. Winkler, "The Development of the League of Nations Idea in Great Britain, 1914–1919", ''The Journal of Modern History'', Vol. 20, No. 2. (June 1948), p. 105.</ref></blockquote>

Early in 1918, the government decided to extend [[conscription]] to Ireland, and that Ireland would have to be given [[home rule]] in order to make it acceptable. Carson disagreed in principle and again resigned on 21 January. He gave up his seat at the University of Dublin in the [[1918 Irish general election|1918 general election]] and was instead elected for [[Belfast Duncairn (UK Parliament constituency)|Belfast Duncairn]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=917| title=ElectionsIreland.org: Rt Hon Sir Edward Carson| website=ElectionsIreland.org| access-date=21 September 2014}}</ref>

He continued to lead the Unionists, but when the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]] was introduced, advised his party to work for the exemption of six Ulster counties from Home Rule as the best compromise (a compromise he had previously rejected). This proposal passed and as a result, the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]] was established.<ref>Frank Costello, "King George V's Speech at Stormont (1921): Prelude to the Anglo-Irish Truce", ''Eire-Ireland'', (1987), pp. 43–57.</ref>

In January 1921, he met in London over three days with [[Michael O'Flanagan|Father O'Flanagan]] and [[Lord Justice of Appeal in Ireland|Lord Justice]] [[James O'Connor (Irish jurist)|Sir James O'Connor]] to try to find a mutual agreement that would end the [[Anglo-Irish war]], but without result.<ref>[http://www.difp.ie/docs/Volume1/1921/129.htm "Memorandum by James O'Connor of an interview with Edward Carson"]; RIA, Dublin, 1993. [[National Archives of Ireland]] file UCDA P150/1902</ref>

After the [[partition of Ireland]], Carson repeatedly warned Ulster Unionist leaders not to alienate northern Catholics, as he foresaw this would make [[Northern Ireland]] unstable (see [[The Troubles in Ulster (1920–1922)]]). In 1921, he stated: "We used to say that we could not trust an Irish parliament in Dublin to do justice to the Protestant minority. Let us take care that that reproach can no longer be made against your parliament, and from the outset let them see that the Catholic minority have nothing to fear from a Protestant majority."<ref>{{cite news | last = Dudley Edwards | first = Ruth | title = Biography: Carson by Geoffrey Lewis | newspaper = The Times | date = 29 May 2005 | url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article526275.ece |access-date=13 July 2009}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In old age, while at London's [[Carlton Club]], he confided to the Anglo-Irish (and Catholic) historian [[Sir Charles Petrie]] his disillusionment with Belfast politics: "I fought to keep Ulster part of the United Kingdom, but Stormont is turning her into a second-class [[Dominion]]."<ref>Sir Charles Petrie, ''A Historian Looks at His World'' (London: Sedgwick & Jackson, 1972), p. 27.</ref>

Carson did not see himself as an Ulsterman and, unlike many northern unionists, it is thought he had an emotional connection with Ireland as a single entity.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/>