BCS

1. New Title: Documents Question
Keywords:
•Anglo-Irish treaty
•Dominion Status
•Boundary Commission
•Plenipotentiary
•External association
•British commonwealth
•Oath of Allegiance

3. Irish War of Independence
• Takes place between 1919 and 1921
• Rebels use guerrilla warfare to try to drive the
British out of Ireland
• Very high death toll, particular of British soldiers
• Eventually both sides agree to a truce which would
lead to negotiations about establishing an
independent Ireland
• Our case study looks at the negotiations of what
eventually becomes the Anglo-Irish treaty

4. Key people in negotiations:
• Eamon De Valera (President of the Republic)
• Michael Collins (Minister for finance)
• Arthur Griffith (Minister for Foreign Affairs)
• Robert Barton (Minister for Agriculture)
• David Lloyd George (British Prime Minister)
• Winston Churchill (Colonial Secretary)
• Austen Chamberlain (Chancellor of exchequer)

5. Negotiations Teams
The Irish:
Relatively inexperienced
negotiators
•Michael Collins
•Robert Barton
•Arthur Griffith
•Eamon Duggan & George Gavan
Duffy (chosen because of their legal
knowledge)
•Erskine Childers was the Secretary
•They were given plenipotentiary
status but the verbal instructions
were to refer home before signing
The British:
All were very
experienced politicians
and negotiators
•Lloyd George
(Prime Minster)
•Winston Churchill,
•Lord Birkenhead
•Austen Chamberlain

6. Early negotiations Aug-Sept 1921
• Letters were exchanged between August and
September
• Central problem remained: Irish wanting full
independence – British wanting Ireland to remain
within the empire.
• De Valera came up with the concept of ‘external
association’.
• Ireland would enjoy the freedom of an independent
state but have a ‘special relationship’ with Britain

7. • Lloyd George invited De Valera to send a delegation
to London to negotiate
• In agreeing to go, it can be argued that Sinn Fein
had accepted that some form of compromise was
going to be the outcome
• De Valera as ‘President of the Republic’ argued he
should not attend negotiations even though he was
a very able negotiator
• Some argue he didn’t attend as he knew a
compromise would be unpopular
Negotiations Begin

8. Plenipotentiaries
• This is the power given to Collins and the delegates
to sign any treaty on behalf of Ireland
• The written position was that they had full powers
to come to agreement with the British
• The verbal instructions suggested that they should
refer home before any decisions were made.

9. • The British team was determined to make Sinn Féin accept
Crown and Empire
• The British public would not support a return to war to support
the existing border and the Ulster unionists would not
compromise anyway
• The coercion of Ulster was not an option because the
Conservative Party would not agree
Strengths and Weaknesses

10. British terms of
negotiations
There was to be free
trade between
Britain and Ireland.
Ireland was to
grant Britain use
of its air and
naval facilities.
The Irish army was to
be limited and the
British could recruit
soldiers in Ireland.
Irish politicians would
have to swear an oath
of allegiance to the
King/Queen
A border would be
created to form
Northern Ireland.
Ireland would
remain part of the
British Empire

11. Irish terms of
negotiations
There was to be free
trade between
Britain and Ireland.
A united Ireland
with Dublin
ruling the whole
island
External association
recognising Ireland’s
special relationship
with Britain
Be completely
independent. Not even
remain in the
commonwealth
No oath of
allegiance to Britain,
it’s king or
commonwealth
All ports and
territory to be given
up

12. What the British wanted?
• The defence of British territory
• They feared that Ireland could be used by an enemy to
attack Britain in the future.
• They wanted to protect the British Empire and avoid giving
a boost to independence movements in places like India.
• Lloyd George could not give too many concessions because
of the Conservatives
• They wanted to protect the Ulster unionists
• The British were prepared to accept a wide autonomy for
the Irish as long they accepted the King

13. What the Irish wanted?
• The aim was a united Ireland and some loose
connection with the Empire
• De Valera called it ‘external association’
• The idea of an oath was unacceptable
• The Irish did not have a clear strategy of how
to compromise on their aspirations

14. The Negotiations
• Dragged on for two months
• For the Irish the question of unity was vital
• For the British it was Crown and Commonwealth
• The Irish team had been instructed to accept ‘Free State’
for ‘Republic’ and ‘to recognise the King as head of the
Commonwealth’ instead of allegiance to the Crown
• The British defence requirements were met without a
problem
• For Britain the key point was the oath and Irish allegiance
to the crown and dominion status

15. • For the British the position of external association
was unacceptable
• The oath was modified to try to meet Irish
sensitivities but, for ardent republicans, the
symbolism remained
• The British had proposed a Boundary Commission
to determine the border between Ulster and the
rest of Ireland
• This would involve the transfer of large sections of
the partitioned area to the South
The Negotiations

16. The End of Negotiations
• The Irish delegation was divided
• The British had become tired of Irish stalling
of the negotiations
• Lloyd George then threatened war if the Irish
delegates did not agree
• The delegates finally signed the Anglo-Irish
treaty on December 6th
1921

17. What was signed?
• Ireland was to be given dominion status with a
Governor-General represent the King.
• All members of the Dáil would take an oath of
allegiance to the British Crown.
• The British would hold onto the “Treaty Ports” of
Berehaven, Cobh and Lough Swilly.
• Boundary Commission was to be established to
properly determine the border between Northern
Ireland and the Free State.

18. Reaction to the treaty
• The treaty was debated in the Dail between19th
December and 7th
of January
• De Valera and the anti-treaty side saw it as a
betrayal
• Collins called it the “freedom to achieve freedom”
• Most people in the country supported its passing
and wanted to get on with their lives after years of
war

19. • When the vote was taken in the Dail, it was passed
by 64 votes to 57 votes.
• Ant-treaty members walked out of the Dail and
refused to return as long as there was a oath of
allegiance
• However, anti-treaty supporters resolved to fight
the implementation of the treaty
• What was to follow was the Irish civil war…