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Roger Casement was the central figure in developing the rebels` relations with Germany. He had been born in Sandycove, near Dublin, in 1864, the son of a British army officer, and for 20 years had served in the British consular service. He had then gained an international reputation for exposing European colonial exploitation of native peoples in Africa and South America. He had meanwhile become increasingly absorbed in militant Irish nationalist politics and attracted by the potential of an Irish-German alliance as a means of securing full Irish independence. He was in the US when the war began and at once submitted a plan to German officials there, outlining how Britain’s power could be broken by exploiting unrest in its vulnerable possessions, especially Ireland. The Berlin government suggested that he travel to Germany for negotiations.

On first arrival, Casement met with some success. On 20th November 1914, the German government declared its support for Irish independence, and soon after agreed to him raising an Irish Brigade from among Irish prisoners captured on the western front; its members were to be transported to Ireland to help in the fight for freedom. However, despite his efforts, recruitment to it was poor. Most of the prisoners were politically moderate and regarded Casement as a traitor.

German government hesitation ended when it received confirmation in mid-February 1916 that the date for an Irish rising had been set for the coming Easter. It agreed to ship 25,000 captured Russian rifles and one million rounds, hoping thereby to divert some British troops from the western front. The consignment was despatched aboard the ‘Aud’ on 9th April. Casement considered its size to be wholly inadequate, and that any rising was therefore doomed. He persuaded the German authorities to transport him to Ireland by submarine. His purpose was ostensibly to rendezvous with the ‘Aud’ and supervise the landing of the arms. His actual intention was to prevent an insurrection.

The whole enterprise ended in fiasco. Casement was arrested on 21st April, hours after landing on the Kerry coast. The Royal Navy captured the arms ship on the same day. Owing to navigational error, it failed to appear at its agreed rendezvous point. Due to inept planning by the rebel leadership, local volunteers had not been expecting it to arrive when it did. In any case, British intelligence had intercepted messages between the insurrectionists and the German Embassy in New York and was anticipating its arrival. Fearing leaks, full knowledge of such sensitive information was not communicated to the authorities in Dublin, who remained in ignorance of the plans for a rising.

The rebels’ failure to receive the arms had a major impact on the Rising. Had they arrived safely, MacNeill would probably have supported the outbreak, and its scale, especially in the provinces, would have been infinitely greater.