On the same day in 1919 that the Dail first met, the IRA killed two British policemen who were escorting a load of gelignite. This sparked the Anglo-Irish that was fought between the British forces and the IRA. The war was undeclared however, but was very still very vicious with both sides trying to hate each other more than their opponent.
In March 1920, the Black and Tans and the Auxiliaries arrived in Ireland. These were returned British servicemen who had fought in World War 1. They had found it hard getting back to regular life and so the conflict in Ireland enabled them to put their fighting skills to use. They were brought in as reinforcements for the Royal Irish Constabulary, the Irish police force. The Black and Tans had been regular troops and numbered 7000. The Auxiliaries had been Officers and were 1500 strong. Both groups were known for their savage methods such as bayoneting civilians or setting shops and houses on fire.
That same year, the British Prime Minister, David Lloyd George introduced the Government of Ireland Act. This was designed to give Ireland Home Rule, something that had been wanted a few years before. 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. After a few days of negotiations Lloyd George told the delegation to sign the immediately or war would resume. Both sides knew that this could not happen again and so the Treaty was signed on December 5, 1921, causing much dispute in Ireland once more. The Treaty played a big part in why the Irish conflict remained unresolved by the end of 1922. One of the terms of the Treaty was that the Irish Free State had to pledge an oath of allegiance to the British Monarch. This meant that there was no Republic. Instead Ireland became a self-governing dominion like Canada.
The Treaty also partitioned Ireland. North East Ulster became Northern Ireland and the remaining 22 counties became known as the Irish Free State. This was a very controversial term of the Treaty as I meant that there could not be a full Republic and it divided many families.
Another term was that the British Navy could use certain Irish ports for defence purposes. This kept a tie between England and Ireland which annoyed many people as they wanted to be fully separate from Britain.
The Dail had many debates regarding the Treaty. Finally on 7 January 1922, the Dail voted in favour of the Treaty by 64 votes to 57. There was a moment’s silence as people were very shocked at how close the vote had been. DeValera and his anti-Treaty supporters resigned from their positions and walked out of the Dail. Cries of “Traitors’ were shouted at them as they left the building. This split the Dail, the IRA, Sinn Fein and many other groups. 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.
