Difference between revisions of "Irish Civil War"
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==The Four Courts and the outbreak of war== | ==The Four Courts and the outbreak of war== | ||
| − | In April 1922 a detachment of anti-Treaty IRA had occupied the Four Courts judicial complex on the banks of the [[River Liffey]] in central [[Dublin]]. The British government, incensed by the assassination of | + | In April 1922 a detachment of anti-Treaty IRA had occupied the Four Courts judicial complex on the banks of the [[River Liffey]] in central [[Dublin]]. The British government, incensed by the assassination of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson in London, and wrongly believing it to have been committed by anti-Treaty elements (it had, in fact, been ordered by the pro-Treaty [[Michael Collins]], incensed by Wilson's role in organising oppression of Nationalists in Northern Ireland), gave the Free State Government an ultimatum to clear the Four Courts. This accorded with the wishes of the government, which wished to assert its own authority, and the courts were bombarded (with borrowed British artillery) and stormed byFree State Army troops after two days, on 30 June. Heavy fighting took place throughout Dublin until the city was secured by government forces on 5 July. |
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Revision as of 16:03, June 8, 2008
The Irish Civil War took place in the Irish Free State in 1922-23 between supporters and opponents of the treaty with Great Britain that had established the Free State.
Origins of the crisis
The treaty gave virtual independence to 26 counties of Ireland (excluding the six counties of Northern Ireland), but maintained that the new state remained within the British Empire and that members of the Dail Eireann should make an oath of allegiance to the British monarch - at the time, George V - as head of the Empire. The question of the oath, rather than that of Partition, led to a split in Sinn Fein and the IRA and triggered the conflict that followed.
The split in Sinn Fein and the IRA
The Dail ratified the Treaty on 7 January, 1922. Upon this decsion, Eamon de Valera resigned as President and withdrew from the Dail with that part of Sinn Fein which was opposed to it. A substantial proportion of IRA members also opposed the Treaty and began to organise for resistance. Throughout early 1922, a number of armed incidents took place as the IRA fragmented, and in May a truce was agreed to arrest the slide to war. A general election on 18 June 1922 saw a clear majority of votes in favour of the pro-Treaty Sinn Fein over their anti-Treaty opponents (239,193 to 133,864). The new government, led by Arthur Griffith, began to organise the pro-Treaty IRA into the National Army (or Free State Army), and formed a new police force, the Garda Siochana (Civil Guard) to replace the disbanded Royal Irish Constabulary.
The Four Courts and the outbreak of war
In April 1922 a detachment of anti-Treaty IRA had occupied the Four Courts judicial complex on the banks of the River Liffey in central Dublin. The British government, incensed by the assassination of Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson in London, and wrongly believing it to have been committed by anti-Treaty elements (it had, in fact, been ordered by the pro-Treaty Michael Collins, incensed by Wilson's role in organising oppression of Nationalists in Northern Ireland), gave the Free State Government an ultimatum to clear the Four Courts. This accorded with the wishes of the government, which wished to assert its own authority, and the courts were bombarded (with borrowed British artillery) and stormed byFree State Army troops after two days, on 30 June. Heavy fighting took place throughout Dublin until the city was secured by government forces on 5 July.
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