Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War (June 1922–April 1923) was a conflict between supporters and opponents of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 6, 1921, which had established the Irish Free State, precursor of today's Republic of Ireland.
Upon the Treaty's ratification (January 1922) by a narrow majority in the Dáil Éireann, the parliament established by the Sinn Féin MPs elected to Ireland's seats in the British parliament, Eamon de Valera resigned as President of the Republic, leading his anti-Treaty wing of Sinn Féin out of Dáil Éireann. He challenged the right of the Dáil to approve the Treaty, saying that its members were breaking their oath to the Irish Republic and attempted unsuccessfully to set up his own rival government.
The proximate cause of the civil war was the question of the Oath of Allegiance, as all sides accepted the immediate impossibility of military victory in the Six Counties of what became Northern Ireland. But as the war developed, the anti-Treaty forces, known as the irregulars, sought to identify their actions with the traditional republican cause of the "men of no property" and the result was that the war also saw large landowners, and some not very well-off Unionists, attacked and a large number of country estates occupied by small holders. Many, but not all of these, had supported the Crown forces during the War of Independence. This support was often largely moral, but sometimes it took the form of actively assisting the British in the conflict. This made their situation post-independence difficult, and in the anarchy of the Civil War they became easy targets. Sometimes these attacks had sectarian overtones, although most IRA men made no distinction between Catholic and Protestant collaborators. The Free State made efforts to protect Protestant landowners, most notably in Louth. Controversy continues to this day about the extent of intimidation of Protestants at this time.
At the same time the republican cause and its inheritors — such as in Fianna Fail — would prefer the war to have been seen to be about partition rather than the arcane question of a short oath.
The occupation (April 1922) by anti-Treaty militants of the Four Courts, the centre of judicial administration in Ireland, resulted in a tense stand-off which was only ended, under a British threat of reoccupation, by the building's bombardment and capture by Free State forces (June 28-June 30). This resulted the in the destruction of Irish Public Records Office, which was located next door — and the lose of one thousand years of Irish state and religious archives. Pitched battles continued in Dublin until July 5.
With Dublin in Free State hands, conflict spread through the country, with anti-Treaty forces briefly holding Cork, Limerick and Waterford. Cork was retaken by sea. Government victories in the major towns inaugurated a period of inconclusive guerrilla warfare marked by assassinations and executions of leaders formerly allied in the cause of Irish independence. The head of the Provisional Government of Ireland, General Michael Collins was assassinated by Anti-Treaty republicans in August, near his home in Cork. In the 1996 film Michael Collins, Eamon de Valera orders Collins' death. Although he was in the area, he is not believed to have been involved in the assasination.
As the conflict petered out into a de facto victory for the pro-Treaty side, de Valera ordered a ceasefire, followed (May 1923) by an order to Republicans to dump their arms rather than surrender them or continue a fight which they were visibly incapable of winning for the time being.
As with most civil wars, the internecine conflict left a bitter legacy, which continues to influence Irish politics to this day. The two largest political parties in the Republic are still Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the descendants respectively of the anti-Treaty and pro-Treaty forces of 1922.