This chapter sets the stage for partition by examining some longer-term trends within Irish nationalism, Irish unionism and the British rule. The rise and economic power of Belfast in the latter half of the nineteenth century is looked at in detail, as is the role of that city in shaping the later partition settlement. The radical shifts in Irish politics are also explored: the shift away from the previous all-Ireland unionism toward a more particular regional Ulster variety, the Gaelicisation of Irish nationalism in the context of the ‘new nationalism’ of the late nineteenth century and the often well-meaning, but ultimately counterproductive, policies of the British government.