The Treaty of London was an Anglo-Irish agreement signed on December 6, 1921, which put an end to the Irish War of Independence. Once signed, this text authorized the South of Ireland to officially create the Irish Free State. In return, the Free State not only pledged allegiance to the British crown, but also ceded Northern Ireland to England. The treaty was both welcomed and fiercely criticized by Irish nationalists… A look back at the Treaty that shaped Ireland as we know it today.
Big Ben in England – Tim Benedict Pou – cc
After centuries of British occupation, the Irish once again attempted to rise up against the British in 1916, during the Easter Rising.
Despite the bitter failure of this revolt, the Irish decided to take action through guerrilla warfare, led by Michael Collins, an Irish nationalist and shrewd strategist who wished to intimidate the British government, and thus put an end to its supremacy over Ireland.
After several years of fighting, political tension and violence, the British government could only see that the war of independence was a financial drain, and that more and more Irish people were leaning towards nationalism.
Tired of the never-ending conflict, David Lloyd George, then British Prime Minister, asked Éamon de Valera, President of the Republic of Ireland, to declare a ceasefire. It was now time to agree on a new basis, and De Valera sent Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith to London to negotiate a Treaty, now known as the Treaty of London.
The Treaty of London legislates on the following points:
The treaty was signed on December 6, 1921, and was far from unanimously supported by Dáil Éireann, which split into 2 groups: pro-treaty and anti-treaty. The disagreement was so violent that it quickly led to the Irish Civil War (1922/1924), in which more than 4,000 Irish were killed.
It wasn’t until 1931 that the Statute of Westminster revoked certain points of the Treaty, including the Irish Free State’s dominion status. Since then, the Republic of Ireland has been an independent and autonomous republic, no longer subject to interference from the United Kingdom.
During the ’30s, most points of the Treaty were gradually revoked, with the exception of the partitioning of the island.
Today, the partition of Ireland remains a source of major political tension.
4.72/5 (254 votes)
