The Irish Revolution
The Easter Rebellion, an uprising of Irish
nationalists in Dublin on Easter Monday,1916, was doomed to failure, in part because of limited support from Irish
people. Britain`s overreaction, however, including the execution of 15 Irish
nationalist leaders, set the stage for Sinn Fein to replace Home Rule as the dominant political party. Founded in
1902 by Athur Griffith, a Dublin journalist, Sinn Fein called for Ireland to
become a Republic independend of Britain, and for an end to the partition
movements in the Protestant north. In 1918 election Sinn Fein canditates won 73
of the 106 seats allotted to Ireland in the British parliament.
In Jannuary 1919 the Sinn Fein members of
parliament met in Dublin as the Dail Eireann or national assembly. They
proglaimed Ireland`s independance, and formed the goverenment with Eamon De
Valera as president. There followed guerilla attacks by Irish in surgents,
later called the Irish Republican Army ( IRA), on British forces, paticulary
the black and tans the much hated auxiliary force of the Royal Irish
Constabulary. these attacks and British reprisals escaleted into an ugly war in
wich hundreds of people were killed.
In december 1920 the British parliament
enacted the goverenment of Ireland bill, providing one parliament for the six
counties of Protestant "northern" Ireland and enother for the remaining twenty
six counties forming "souther"Ireland. The Protestant majority in norther
Ireland accepted this limited Home Rule, and elected a seperate parliament in
Mai 1921.The partitation was, however, not accepted by the Roman Caatholic
minority in the north, and majority in the south. Afforts to implement the new
goverenment in the other 26 counties served only to solidify Sinn Fein`s
position. The gurrila war ended with a truze on July 11th.Negations between
representatives of the Dail and the British goverenmentof prime minister David
Lloyd George produced a Treaty signed on december 19921. Under the traty the 26
counties of Saorstat Ireman would become the Irish freestate within the
Commonwealth of Nations, with a status equal to that of Canada, and a modified
oath of alligance to the British monarch. The Dail redefested the Traety on January 1922 by o vote of 64
to 25 De Valera who oposed the Treaty resigned as president of the Dail and was
replaced by Sinn Fein founder Athur Griffits.Mikel Collins another Sinn Fein
leader, became chairman of the provisional goverenment.
The Irish Freestate
Under the leadership of De Valera, the
disident Sinn Fein Group known as the Republicans, called for a resumtion of the struggle against
Britain and instituted a compain wich amounted to civil war, against the provisional
gouverenment.With the question of the Treaty the chief issued an election for a
provisional Dail was held in June 1922. Canditates supported the Treaty won a
majority of the seats. The Republicans, refusing to recognize the autority of
the new Dial, proclaimed a rival goverenment and intensivid their attacks on
the Irish freestate. In the insuin the struggle hunderts were killed on both
sides, including prominet Republican leaders such as Collins. Meanwhile the
Dail, headed now by William Cosgrave, trafted a consitution providing for a
picameral legislature: The Dail Eireann (House of Representives) and Seanat
Eireann (senate) the constitution was adopted on October 1922. Following
aproval by the British goverenment, it became operative on december 6. The official
goverenment of the Irish freestate was instituted
In 1916, about 2 tousand people (Republicans)
began an armed rebellion in Dublin. After a week the police and the army put it down. Yet the
Republicans achieved great electural sucess. In 1919 there was a renewed
rebellion (The Easter Rebellion) troughout the country.
