Dublin in Present Era. History. Dublin, in nineteen eleven, was a mass of contradictions. A second city of the British Empire, Dublin was also the first city of nationalist Ireland and, within its boundaries, the divisions of class and culture were extraordinary. This was a city of genuine diversity, its many complexities defying easy explanations. Rich and poor, immigrant and native, nationalist and unionist, Catholic, Protestant, Jew and Quaker, and so many more, were all bound together in the life of the city. In 1911 Dublin was moving into a decade of remarkable change; little would remain untouched. First, the 1913 Lockout redefined the nature of commerce and class relations in the city. The 1916 Rising, followed by the 1919-21 War of Independence and the ensuing civil war, turned politics and government on its head. Not all change was driven by local events. World War One saw many thousands of Dubliners fight in the trenches of Gallipoli, Flanders and the Somme. Many never came home. Those who did were often radically transformed, partly by the war and partly by what had happened at home while they were away.