ABSTRACT
Swift War and Ireland War lay at the root of Swift's thought about human nature. Indeed, many readers respond primarily to his characteristic, and characteristically negative, view of war. Political philosophy based on war is driven by fear. When Swift tells Archbishop King that 'the World is divided into two Sects, those that hope the best, and those that fear the worst', he reluctantly places himself in the second sect. He feared the tyranny of the autocratic Ireland experienced a bloody and international war. Swift's role in articulating an Anglo-Irish identity is familiar but, given the recurrent experience of invasion and conquest that seemed normative to Temple, historians dispute the extent to which Irish experience actually was colonial. There were major though unsuccessful Jacobite rebellions in 1715 and 1745 in addition to 'a series of military-style conspiracies' under William and Anne, most notably in 1691-1692, 1695 to 1696, and 1708, this last a threatened invasion of Scotland.
