The Anglo Irish Treaty Flashcards
What happened in July 1921 20th when De Valera was in London?
20th July 1921 de valera went told London to meet Lloyd George
Lloyd George offers a limited dominion status(ie. Less independence than Canada) for 26 counties
De Valera demand an independent republic for the whole island - talks broke down
What happened between August and September?
The two leaders exchanged letters to work out a formula for talks
They agreed a delegation would go to London to discuss “ how the association of Ireland with the Commonwealth of nations known as the British empire may be reconciled with irelands national aspirations”
Describe the Irish delegation
The 7 man dail cabinet chose the delegates to represent ireland in the negotiations
De Valera refused to go as he said he must stay as someone to refer back to
Griffiths led the delegation
The others were Collins Robert Barton(Minister for Agriculture. ) and 2 Lawyers, Gavan Duffy and Eamon Duggan to give legal advice, Erskine childers was a non-voting secretary, Griffith distrusted him
The delegation had series weaknesses……
- It was mostly made up of moderate republican ministers - They had little experience - They were under huge pressure Carrying irelands fate on their shoulders
Describe the British delegation
Led by prime minister Lloyd George and conservative Austin chamberlain and Lord Birkenhead
They had huge advantages
- very experienced negotiators
- They were on home ground giving them the psychological advantage
- They had the back up of a large civil service
However Lloyd George was In a coalition with the pro-unionist conservative party
This limited his freedom to make concessions to the Irish
How was the treaty negotiated between the 11th October and 6th December?
Negotiations began on the 11th October and lasted until the 6th of December
Leaders of the two delegations discussed the main points and smaller issues were handled by various sub committees
The two main issues were a) The partition of Ireland and b) Irelands relationship with the empire
The British feared and independent ireland might undermine their security by joining their enemies - to prevent this they wanted to keep ireland as a dominion(willing to compromise on partition)
The Irish wanted to end partition and would compromise on independence
De Valeras proposed external association was refused almost immediately, since de valera was not there himself and was the Only one who understood it and negotiate it properly
