المعاهدة الإنگليزية الأيرلندية

Anglo-Irish Treaty
Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland
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Signature page
التوقيع6 December 1921
المكان10 Downing Street, London
تاريخ السريان31 March 1922,[1] fully implemented on 6 December 1922
الحالةCreation of the Irish Free State, later Ireland
الموقعونقالب:Country data Irish Republic
Flag of المملكة المتحدة لبريطانيا العظمى وأيرلندا المملكة المتحدة
اللغاتEnglish
Text of the Treaty

قالب:United Kingdom formation

The Anglo-Irish Treaty (أيرلندية: An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence.[2] It provided for the establishment of the Irish Free State within a year as a self-governing dominion within the "community of nations known as the British Empire", a status "the same as that of the Dominion of Canada". It also provided Northern Ireland, which had been created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, an option to opt out of the Irish Free State, which it exercised.

The agreement was signed in London on 6 December 1921, by representatives of the British government (which included Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who was head of the British delegates) and by representatives of the Irish Republic including Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith. The Irish representatives had plenipotentiary status (negotiators empowered to sign a treaty without reference back to their superiors) acting on behalf of the Irish Republic, though the British government declined to recognise that status. As required by its terms, the agreement was ratified by "a meeting" of the members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and [separately] by the British Parliament. In reality, Dáil Éireann (the legislative assembly for the de facto Irish Republic) first debated then ratified the treaty; members then went ahead with the "meeting". Though the treaty was narrowly ratified, the split led to the Irish Civil War, which was won by the pro-treaty side.

The Irish Free State as contemplated by the treaty came into existence when its constitution became law on 6 December 1922 by a royal proclamation giving the force of law to the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922.

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Content

Page from a draft of the Treaty, as annotated by Arthur Griffith

Among the treaty's main clauses were that:[3]

  • Crown forces would withdraw from most of Ireland.
  • Ireland was to become a self-governing dominion of the British Empire, a status shared by Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand and the Union of South Africa.
  • As with the other dominions, the King would be the Head of State of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) and would be represented by a Governor General (See Representative of the Crown).
  • Members of the new free state's parliament would be required to take an Oath of Allegiance to the Irish Free State. A secondary part of the oath was to "be faithful to His Majesty King George V, His heirs and successors by law, in virtue of the common citizenship".
  • Northern Ireland (which had been created earlier by the Government of Ireland Act) would have the option of withdrawing from the Irish Free State within one month of the Treaty coming into effect.
  • If Northern Ireland chose to withdraw, a Boundary Commission would be constituted to draw the boundary between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.
  • Britain, for its own security, would continue to control a limited number of ports, known as the Treaty Ports, for the Royal Navy.
  • The Irish Free State would assume responsibility for a proportionate part of the United Kingdom's debt, as it stood on the date of signature.
  • The treaty would have superior status in Irish law, i.e., in the event of a conflict between it and the new 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State, the treaty would take precedence.


Negotiators

The negotiators included:

British side
Portrait Name Portfolio
David Lloyd George.jpg David Lloyd George (delegation chairman)
MP for Caernarvon Boroughs
Prime Minister
1stEarlOfBirkenhead.jpg Lord Birkenhead Lord Chancellor
Austen Chamberlain nobel.jpg Austen Chamberlain
MP for Birmingham West
Lord Privy Seal
Leader of the House of Commons
Churchill HU 90973.jpg Winston Churchill
MP for Dundee
Secretary of State for the Colonies
Laming Worthington Evans.jpg Sir Laming Worthington-Evans, Bt
MP for Colchester
Secretary of State for War
Gordon Hewart, 1st Viscount Hewart (full version).jpg Sir Gordon Hewart
MP for Leicester East
Attorney General
Hamar Greenwood.jpg Sir Hamar Greenwood
MP for Sunderland
Chief Secretary for Ireland
Irish side
Portrait Name Portfolio
Arthur Griffith.jpg Arthur Griffith (delegation chairman)
TD for Cavan and Fermanagh and Tyrone
(MP for East Cavan and North West Tyrone)
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Michael Collins himself Michael Collins
TD for Armagh and Cork Mid, North, South, South East and West
(MP for South Cork)
Secretary of State for Finance
RobertChildersBarton.jpg Robert Barton
TD for Kildare–Wicklow
(MP for West Wicklow)
Secretary of State for Economic Affairs
Eamonn duggan.jpg Eamonn Duggan
TD for Louth–Meath
(MP for South Meath)
George Gavan Duffy (cropped).jpg George Gavan Duffy
TD for Dublin County
(MP for South County Dublin)
David Lloyd George, British Prime Minister and head of the British delegation
Arthur Griffith, Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and leader of the Irish delegation
Providing Secretarial Assistance
British side
Name
Thomas Jones
Lionel George Curtis
Irish side
Name
Robert Erskine Childers
Fionán Lynch
Diarmuid O'Hegarty
John Smith Chartres

Robert Barton was the last surviving signatory. He died on 10 August 1975 at the age of 94.

Notably, the Irish President Éamon de Valera did not attend.

Winston Churchill had a dual role in the British cabinet concerning the treaty: firstly as secretary of state for war hoping to end the Irish War of Independence in 1921; then in 1922, as secretary of state for the colonies (which included dominion affairs), he was charged with implementing it.

Robert Erskine Childers, the author of the Riddle of the Sands and former Clerk of the British House of Commons, served as one of the secretaries of the Irish delegation. Tom Jones was one of Lloyd George's principal assistants, and described the negotiations in his book Whitehall Diary.

Status of the Irish plenipotentiaries

Éamon de Valera, who, as President of the Irish Republic, opposed the Treaty


Results

British cavalry soldiers leaving Ireland, 1922


انظر أيضاً

قالب:Campaignbox Irish independence

Notes and references

Sources

Primary
  • Text of treaty:
    • Final text of the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland as signed. from British & Irish Delegations. Documents on Irish Foreign Policy. Vol. Vol.1. p. No.214. Retrieved 21 ديسمبر 2015. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help); Invalid |nopp=Y (help); Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)
    • "Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland, signed at London, 6 December 1921" (PDF). League of Nations Treaty Series. 26 (626): 9–19.
  • Alternative Proposal from de Valera
  • Documents on Irish Foreign Policy: Royal Irish Academy:
  • Parliamentary debates:
Secondary


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Citations

  1. ^ Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 whose full title is "An Act to give the force of Law to certain Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland, and to enable effect to be given thereto, and for other purposes incidental thereto or consequential thereon." – and which was given Royal Assent on 31 March 1922
  2. ^ "Official Correspondence relating to the Peace Negotiations, part 1: Preliminary Correspondence". CELT. University College, Cork. Retrieved 22 فبراير 2016.
  3. ^ "Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) Act, 1922, Schedule 2". Retrieved 15 مايو 2016.

External links