The Irish Revolution, 1911-1923

Abstract

The Irish War of Independence, also sometimes known as the Tan War or the Anglo-Irish War, was part of the Irish revolution, which consisted generally of three conflicts spanning from 1911 to 1923. The constituent struggles were the Easter Rising of 1916 and the events leading up to it, the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921) and the Irish Civil War (1922–1923). Widespread debate continues as to the exact relationship of these conflicts to each other and whether they constituted a single war or separate wars. Consensus is growing toward their distinctive, yet interconnected nature within an overarching revolution, albeit interrupted, changed, and, in many ways spurred on by World War I, spanning a period from roughly 1910 or 1911 to the end of the Irish Civil War in 1923. Further, some scholars advocate the use of the word “for” to make the title the Irish War for Independence, in place of the War of Independence. The reasoning behind this title change is that Ireland gained only limited independence from the United Kingdom in 1923 rather than complete independence or a republic separate from the British Crown. Regardless, this was a war unlike any war fought in Ireland up to that time. It was not only that it was a guerrilla war, but also that it was a conflict typified by strong political organization. This was the first time the rebels counted the fully enfranchised as the majority within their ranks. It was also the first time many of the rebel leaders were elected to Parliament. Although not universally popular, the war still enjoyed a level of legitimacy among the populace not seen previously. The rebels did not fight in a mass rising as they did in 1916 because they did not want a repetition of the rising, in which they were caught in static defense of an urban center. This was a war based on the guerrilla concepts of dispersal and temporary concentration. Finally, this was the first time the British government avowed independence, although limited, as its goal. The issues were the form and type of new government to be permitted as well as to whom to hand over power.