[NJ Neocon #544] You recall incorrectly. de Valera was, like Confederates, a splitter. He left and took his ball when things did not go his way. He was the cause of the Irish Civil War (which is what it is called - even though there were arguably THREE governments involved). He was elected later.
Ireland is still NOT whole. The provisional government is an example of what the South tried to do. It did not succeed in its goal. There are also numerous other examples from WWII & the Cold war if you prefer.
WHAT do you allege that I recalled incorrectly?
I recalled that Ireland won independence from Britain. Do you deny it?
I recalled that the Irish formed the Irish Free State, later the Republic of Ireland (Eire). Do you deny it?
I recalled that Eamonn de Valera was the President back when. Do you deny that Eamonn de Valera was the President back when? American-born de Valera was also the Prime Minister back when.
The direct cause of the Irish Civil War was the agreement to partition Ireland, leaving part of Ulster under the British. "[Michael Collins] and Griffith were the leaders of the team that negotiated the treaty that gave near independence to the 26 counties, while partitioning off 6 counties." "[T]he opposition, led by De Valera, objected strenuously to a provision that virtually guaranteed a separate government in Northern Ireland and to an article that required members of the Dáil to swear allegiance to the British sovereign...."
The war against Britain was the Irish Rebellion (or Irish Revolution). The war between various factions of Ireland after the partitioning which left part of Ulster under British control was called the Irish Civil War.
LINK [Excerpts]
In January 1919 the Sinn Féin members of Parliament assembled in Dublin as the Dáil Éireann, or national assembly. Proclaiming the independence of Ireland, the Dáil forthwith formed a government, with Eamon De Valera as president.Partly as a result of the failure of the government to cope with domestic difficulties brought on by the world economic crisis of the early 1930s, Cosgrave's party lost several seats to the Republicans in the elections of February 1932. De Valera thereupon became head of the government. Legislation that he sponsored in the following April included provisions for the abrogation of the oath of allegiance to the British crown.
The 5-year term of office of the Dáil expired in June 1937. In the subsequent election the Republican party won a plurality of the seats in the Dáil. The new constitution, which abolished the Irish Free State and established Éire as a 'Sovereign independent democratic state,' was approved by the voters in a plebiscite conducted simultaneously with the election. This document provided for a new senate of 60 members. Although the constitution specifically applied to all Ireland, it provided that the laws of Éire should be executed, pending unification with Northern Ireland, only within the territory of the republic. The constitution contained no references to the British sovereign or to the Commonwealth of Nations. A subsequent statement by De Valera indicated, however, that Éire's relations with Great Britain would be governed by the External Relations Act of 1936. In 1938 the Irish writer and patriot Douglas Hyde became the first president of Éire, and De Valera became prime minister.
Éire maintained neutrality in World War II, although many thousands of Irish citizens joined the Allied forces or worked in British war industry. In the immediate post-war era, the economic dislocations in Great Britain and Europe subjected the economy of Éire to severe strains, resulting in a period of rapid inflation and, indirectly, in the defeat of Fianna Fáil in the elections of February 1948. De Valera was defeated in the Dáil for the prime ministry by John Aloysius Costello, candidate of a six-party coalition opposed to Fianna Fáil. Costello, a former attorney general, called for lower prices and taxes, the expansion of industrial production, and closer commercial relations with Great Britain.
The warfare against the British continued until July 10, 1921, when a truce was arranged. Subsequent negotiations led to the signing, in December 1921, of a peace treaty by representatives of the second Dáil Éireann and the British government. By the terms of the treaty, all of Ireland except the six counties constituting Northern Ireland was to receive dominion status identical with that of Canada. After considerable debate, in which the opposition, led by De Valera, objected strenuously to a provision that virtually guaranteed a separate government in Northern Ireland and to an article that required members of the Dáil to swear allegiance to the British sovereign, the Dáil ratified the treaty on January 15, 1922, by a vote of 64 to 57. Ratification brought into being the Irish Free State, with Arthur Griffith as president and Michael Collins, who was another prominent member of Sinn Féin, as chairman of the provisional government.
After de Valera left for America (June 1919) on an 18 month fund raising tour, Collins became the dominant figure in the revolution (although Cathal Brugha, the IRA's Commander-in-Chief, disliked him intensely). At various times, Collins held positions as (1) President of the Supreme Council of the IRB, (2) A leader, but not Commander-in-Chief of the IRA, (3) Sinn Féin member of the Dail, (4) Commander-in-Chief of the Free State Army, (5) Minister of Finance in the 1919 Provisional Government of the RoI, and (6) Cabinet member in the first post-treaty government. He is best know for his brilliant work during the Anglo-Irish war in setting up the IRA's extremely effective intelligence and counter-intelligence unit that time and time again saved the IRA forces to fight another day. He and Griffith were the leaders of the team that negotiated the treaty that gave near independence to the 26 counties, while partitioning off 6 counties. During the post-treaty war, he was ambushed and killed by anti-treaty guerillas. Had he lived, he certainly would have competed with de Valera for political dominance in the Irish state.
We are talking past each other and splitting hairs on this. I see us essentially saying the same thing but declaring it means different things.