On September 13, 1914, Irish nationalist Sir Roger Casement meets with Franz von Papen, a German diplomat and future Chancellor of Germany, in Washington, D.C., as part of his efforts to secure foreign support for Ireland’s independence from Britain.

Casement, a founder of the Irish National Volunteers and a former British diplomat, has traveled to the United States to seek American backing for his republican cause. When that proves unsuccessful, he turns to Germany, hoping to enlist Irish soldiers in the British Army to fight alongside the Germans in World War I. His plan is to raise an “Irish Brigade” composed of Irish prisoners of war captured in Belgium and France, who are estimated to number 35,000–40,000.

The September 13 meeting in Washington is one of several contacts Casement makes with German officials, including Papen, to present his proposal. He argues that an Irish Brigade could bolster the German war effort while advancing Ireland’s independence goals. However, Papen rejects the idea, and the alliance does not materialize.

Without German support, Casement’s efforts to secure Irish military aid for the 1916 Easter Rising fails. The Rising proceeds without foreign assistance, and Casement himself is arrested by British authorities in 1916, tried for treason, and executed on August 3, 1916. Despite his execution, he remains remembered as a key figure in Irish nationalism and a symbol of resistance to British rule.

In summary, the September 13, 1914, meeting in Washington, D.C., marks a high point in Casement’s diplomatic campaign for Irish independence, but it ends in rejection, setting the stage for his later role in the Easter Rising and his martyrdom.

(Pictured: Sir Roger Casement (left) and Franz von Papen)