Alternative Government: ‘Exit Britannia’ — the Formation of the Irish National State, 1918–21

Abstract

The ending of the European war of 1914–18 set the stage for the assertion of self-government by a wide range of national groups. Taking advantage of the political and military disruption of the time, they moved rapidly to make good their claims to political authority before the beginning of the conference of Allied nations, scheduled to meet in Paris in January 1919. Among the petitioners were Finland, the Baltic States, Poland and Czechoslovakia, all of which were formerly controlled by one of the defeated belligerents. An exception was Ireland’s claim for separation from the United Kingdom, one of the victorious Powers. The Allied leaders at the Versailles Conference had little difficulty and took obvious pleasure in carving up the territory of their defeated foes in Eastern Europe, but obviously Ireland was a very different matter.