Chapter Four cont’d

The British were now convinced that a Home Rule settlement must be worked out, and they recommenced negotiations. But the radical separatists took no part in these negotiations, nor did the Ulster Protestants, and these now were the dominant forces in Irish politics. Two key leaders now emerged among the Catholics: Eamon de Valera, who was the only surviving leader of the Easter 1916 Rebellion (because he was born in the U.S., the British bowed to American influence and did not execute him), and Michael Collins, who had also taken part in the insurrection. By the time an armistice ending WWI was declared in late 1918, the Separatists, led by de Valera and Collins, were the clear leaders of nationalist Ireland. They met in early 1919 and formed a provisional government and re-affirmed the 1916 declaration of independence. But the established Anglo-Irish government was still officially in control, still working for a parliamentary solution to the Home Rule question. By 1920 the Irish rebels and the occupying British army were in full-blown war.

Under Collins’s leadership, the Irish Volunteers–now the Irish Republican Army–fought a brilliant campaign of guerilla warfare against the British, attacking by surprise in small units, wearing no uniforms so they could not be recognized, and enjoying full support of the Irish populace. The British responded by raising more troops in England and exporting them to Ireland. These troops–basically ex-soldiers and thugs from the English prisons, slums, and countryside–were without regular uniforms, and so they wore khaki pants and shirts with black police belts and caps, thus earning the nickname “the Black and Tans.” These “soldiers” soon became known for their brutal campaigns and reprisals against the Irish citizenry, and to this day they are reviled as the last example of inhuman British occupation in Ireland. While the IRA ensured that regular government could not go on in Ireland, the Black and Tans ensured that the continued warfare would devastate the countryside. By 1921 it was clear that a military solution was impossible, and so the British and Irish resumed negotiations.

The result was a new Home Rule bill that granted free existence to “Southern Ireland,” while establishing “Northern Ireland” as an independent state of its own; both states would still be part of the British Empire.  The Ulster Unionists, while displeased with any home rule measure, saw that this was the best they would ever get, and agreed to the bill. (Thus was created the present situation in Ireland, with Northern Ireland part of the British Empire, but containing an oppressed Catholic minority that would ultimately fight a guerrilla campaign for decades to gain its liberty.) In the south, the Catholics were again split among themselves: a majority of the Irish leaders, led by Collins and Arthur Griffith (a long-time prominent member of Sinn Fein who did not take part in the Easter Rising because of his commitment to non-violence), agreed to the bill; a minority, led by de Valera, opposed the bill. The treaty was signed on December 6, 1921. A month later, de Valera resigned the presidency to Griffith and began to form his own group of followers. Soon Civil War had begun between the “pro-treaty” and “anti-treaty” sections, whose followers soon became known as “National” or “Free State” troops and “Irregulars.”

This war was bloody, brutal, and fierce, and went on for all of 1922 and into 1923. The populace and countryside was demoralized and wanted only peace, and soon the Catholic clergy threw their considerable weight behind a peace initiative. De Valera’s cause was hopeless, and in April of 1923 he declared a cease-fire, and agreed that the Free State forces had won the day. But during the fighting Griffith had died, and Collins was tragically killed in an ambush. The Irish government then proceeded to lead the country out of civil war without its most effective leaders, who had been martyred not by the foreigners but by their own countrymen–the continuation of the tragic legacy of Irish history.

Next: Chapter Four cont’d