Introduction
The signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on December 6, 1921 brought the Irish War of Independence to conclusion, halting the guerrilla warfare between forces from the Irish Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, the explicit terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 generated a mass amount of tension within Ireland, specifically between Irish Republicans. Ultimately, I believe the Irish Civil War came about as a conflict over whether or not to accept the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The war engaged in two forms of warfare—conventional and guerrilla—the first lasting from June to August of 1922 and the latter from September 1922 to April of 1923. Routine acts of war officially began with seizure of the Four Courts in June , and for roughly 10 months, the pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty forces fought restlessly, ending in a pro-Treaty victory and the ratification of an Irish Free State . In this essay, I am going to analyze the arguments for and against the Anglo-Irish Treaty in order to ascertain whether my above hypothesis regarding the cause of the Irish Civil War is correct.
Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 While the Irish Nationalists were united during the Irish War of Independence, the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty split the party in two. Organized in Sinn Fein and the Irish Republican Army between 1918 and 1921 , the Anglo-Irish Treaty offered Ireland a great deal more of independence than Home Rule would have. The