Michael Collins: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction

You know when a major movie star plays the role of someone whose history is clouded between heroism and anti-social political behavior resulting in death and upheaval that the character will turn out to be far more heroic than history actually provides. It's as if Antonio Banderas portrayed Che Guevara. Collins was an important figure in the attempt to ser up an Irish Free State around 1916.

While he was actually a minor figure at that time, he became far more active beginning a couple of years later. "In January 1919, the Anglo-Irish War began with the first shots being fired at Soloheadbeg. Over the next year, the Royal Irish Constabulary became the target of a Sinn Fein terror campaign. Michael Collins orchestrated this campaign. He felt there would be much to gain by provoking England to war" (Barrett 1997 2). And, provoke it he and others like him did. It goes without saying that any uprising against the establishment can be costly. But, to many, even though Ireland felt that it was too much under British control, what Collins did was felt to be truly murderous.

"On 21 November 1920 Michael Collins' squad assassinated 14 British officers, effectively destroying the British Secret Service in Ireland. In reprisal, the Black and Tans fired on a crowd watching a football match at Croke Park. Twelve people were killed, including one of the team players" (Barrett 1997 3). The movie attempted to show that Collins was not just a thug and bully, but educated. In fact, this is true: "As a child Michael also read widely. He was familiar with Shakespeare and the great novelists of the 19th century. Every week he read the nationalist newspapers 'The Freeman's Weekly' and 'The Leader'. When only 11 years of age Michael began to subscribe to 'The United Irishman'" (Anon 1996 4).

It is interesting to note that one of the other "revolutionaries" of the 20^th Century, Che Guevara was also well educated. While Guevara and Fidel Castro began their uprising largely in rural areas to eventually overcome the Batista regime in Cuba, Carlos Marighella was far more like Collins. In fact, he defined the urban guerilla this way: "The urban guerrilla is a person who fights the military dictatorship with weapons, using unconventional methods. A revolutionary and an ardent patriot, he is a fighter for his country's liberation, a friend of the people and of freedom" (Marighella 1969 1).

While Marighella and Guevara were avowed leftists and Marxists, Collins could not be considered anything but what he proclaimed himself to be: an Irish patriot fighting to "free" his nation from the British. The movie tends to side with the heroic part of Collins' short life (he died at 32). Instead of being seen as a cold-blooded killer, Collins, like the Israelis in their fight against the British, were seen as "freedom fighters." Nevertheless, killing in the name of patriotism rankles. Collins may be a patriotic hero in the movie. In real life Collins had an evil murderous side as well.

WORKS CITED:

Barrett, S.: "Michael Collins" Feb. 13, 1997

www2.cruzio.com/~sbarrett/mcollins.htm

Marighella, C. "Minimanual of the Urban Guerilla" (1969)

www.marxists.org/archive/marighella-carlos/ 1969/06/minimanual-urban-guerrilla/index.htm

No author listed: ":Michael Collins- Biography" From the motion picture's website: michaelcollins.warnerbros.com (1996)