March 12, 2015

Irish Free State Bill becomes law

Concerned about IRA attempts to scuttle the Irish Treaty, Churchill, as Colonial Secretary, wrote to Michael Collins that “an explosion would be disastrous and even a continuance of the present tension tends to stereotype the border line and make it into a fortified military frontier, which is the last thing in the world you want.” After the horrifying murder of a Catholic family in Belfast, Churchill wrote the leaders of the waring parties that “if men carrying weight and influence with the opposing factions were to come together, a way [can] be found to end the horrors.”  He told the House of Commons that Britain’s aim was to help the Irish people “shake themselves free from the convulsion and spasm‹due, no doubt, to the tragedies of the past.”

By the end of March Churchill and the Irish leaders had negotiated an agreement designed to end “the religious and partisan warfare” between Protestants and Catholics. On 31 March the Irish Free State Bill became law, with Churchill having earned much of the credit. However, there was considerable hostility in Ireland and republican opposition to the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State continued to grow. Churchill was particularly upset that an electoral pact might be reached between Collins, representing the Provisional Government, and de Valera, representing the republican opposition. On 20 May Collins and de Valera signed a Compact, but Collins informed Churchill that this would not prevent the establishment of an Irish State with a British connection. He argued that accommodation with the republicans was essential to the electoral process itself. Consequently, in the House, Churchill subsequently supported the Collins-de Valera Compact. Ulster supporters were not convinced. They believed that it guaranteed a republican South and continued civil war in the North.

In mid-June the Irish people gave the most seats in the Dail Eireann to pro-Treaty supporters of Michael Collins and approved the new Constitution. Republican opposition was not stilled. They controlled many areas of Ireland and showed their power by murdering Sir Henry Wilson, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, on the steps of his home in London. No one felt safe, least of all the Colonial Secretary. He was known to be on the IRA list for assassination. He was guarded by armed detectives and an armchair in his room was reinforced with metal. He slept in the attic of his house behind a metal barrier, with a gun at his side. He was always prepared to “fight it out” if necessary. While this must have caused considerable stress, their daughter Mary said that her mother “never made much of it, either at the time or afterwards.”

Lloyd George was determined to grant recognition to the five-year-old Bolshevik Russia, but he had to overcome the opposition of his good friend Winston, who insisted that the Russians must promise not to export their revolutionary propaganda. With a general election looming, the Prime Minister chose not to press the issue in order to avoid a political crisis.

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