Ireland 1918-1922
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Introduction
Irish Essay Toby Jordan During the period of time 1918 to 1922 conflict in Ireland increased due to a few main reasons. The 1918 Khaki election and Sinn Fein's boycott of Westminster, the IRA's drift into war, the arrival of the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries in Ireland, the Government of Ireland Act, and the civil war of 1922. The Irish conflict remained unresolved at the end of 1922 due to the Treaty, the partition of Ireland, and party splits. The 1918 Khaki election was in large part of the rise to power for Sinn Fein. Out of 105 Irish seats that could be won, Sinn Fein obtained 73. Sinn Fein carried out its election promise to the people of Ireland in January 1919 when they boycotted Parliament at Westminster and instead met in Dublin. It was here that they declared themselves to be the Dail Eireann and set up the Republic of Ireland. At first, British Parliament paid no attention to the Dail. ...read more.
Middle
However, Lloyd George failed to realise that Home Rule was not wanted anymore. Sinn Fein believed in nothing less than a completely independent Ireland with no links to Britain at all. To them the Government of Ireland Act was worthless and that is why Sinn Fein and the Dail both rejected it straight away. The Anglo-Irish war ceased in July 1921 when a truce was negotiated. British public opinion was disturbed by the fact that newspaper reports coming in of the horrors the British forces were committing and Lloyd George knew that he could not defeat the IRA without waging a full-scale war. The IRA also could not last very much longer. Their shortage of weapons and the continued flow of British reinforcements meant that they could never succeed in their struggle for victory. During the war there had been 751 casualties. 405 were police, 150 were military and 196 were civilians. Negotiations regarding the Truce began in December 1921. The Irish sent a delegation consisting of Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, Robert Barton and two lawyers to London. ...read more.
Conclusion
The people in favour of the Treaty became known as the Free Staters while the anti-Treaty supporters were known as the Irregulars. Within a few months there was vicious civil war between the two groups. The Free Staters set up a provisional government and the Irregulars did all that they could to stop it from operating. Two major positions were now available in the Dail. The roles of President and Chairman became available due to their previous inhabitants resigning. Griffith took on the role of President while Collins became the new Chairman. These men both died in office while the civil war was on. Griffith died from a stroke in August 1922 caused from overwork and stress. Collins was killed a few days later in an ambush. Griffith was replaced by William Cosgrove and Collins by Kevin O Higgins. Conflict increased in Ireland in the period 1918-1922 due to problems such as the Government of Ireland Act, the Anglo-Irish war, and the rise of Sinn Fein. Because of the Treaty, splits in major Irish groups, and civil war, the Irish conflict remained unresolved by the end of 1922. ...read more.
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