Why Was the Irish Revolution of 1919-21 Successful in Achieving Irish Independence?
On December 6 1921 the Anglo-Irish treaty was drafted and signed by representatives of both the Irish and British Governments. After centuries of bitter feuding involving both sides the British Government was for the first time to offer the Irish independence. In this essay I seek to outline how the Irish revolution of 1919 and 1921 was successful in achieving Irish independence. Richard English says, “There had never been any chance of a formal military victory… nor in practice of the British recognising an Irish republic.”[1] If English is right to say this then how did the Irish manage to gain independence when the odds were stacked against them both militarily and politically? I believe that independence was reached for a number of reasons to be discussed in more detail later. These factors can be divided into the two crucial areas of political and military.
Politically, there was a list of British failures including the negative publicity attracted by the revolution at home, pressure from America and the Government of Ireland Act. Failures only exacerbated by political achievements on the Irish side. Such as De Valera’s trip to the U.S to canvass American support for the revolution plus the establishment of Dail Eireann and its de facto courts.
The next section of the essay will be based on the military issues. Was the revolution’s success down to Britain’s failures or Ireland’s triumph of military tactics? Military mistakes were made on the British side which nullified the fact that they had a vastly superior army. The harsh reprisals in nationalist territories for example stoked tensions unnecessarily. A large part of the revolutions success could be attributed to the military strengths of the IRA. With Michael Collins at the head the IRA was extremely strong tactically and used guerrilla warfare to great effect. The also had a mass intelligence system to rival any according to figures like Thomas Bowden for instance. Although some historians such as
Politically, there was a list of British failures including the negative publicity attracted by the revolution at home, pressure from America and the Government of Ireland Act. Failures only exacerbated by political achievements on the Irish side. Such as De Valera’s trip to the U.S to canvass American support for the revolution plus the establishment of Dail Eireann and its de facto courts.
The next section of the essay will be based on the military issues. Was the revolution’s success down to Britain’s failures or Ireland’s triumph of military tactics? Military mistakes were made on the British side which nullified the fact that they had a vastly superior army. The harsh reprisals in nationalist territories for example stoked tensions unnecessarily. A large part of the revolutions success could be attributed to the military strengths of the IRA. With Michael Collins at the head the IRA was extremely strong tactically and used guerrilla warfare to great effect. The also had a mass intelligence system to rival any according to figures like Thomas Bowden for instance. Although some historians such as