Editing Southern Ireland (1921–1922) (section)

==Home Rule and Partition==
{{main|Irish Home Rule movement}}
The Government of Ireland Act 1920, also known as the Fourth Home Rule Act, was intended to provide a solution to the problem that had bedevilled [[Politics of Ireland|Irish politics]] since the 1880s, namely the conflicting demands of [[Unionism in Ireland|Irish unionists]] and [[Irish nationalism|nationalists]]. Nationalists wanted a form of [[Devolution|home rule]], believing that Ireland was poorly served by [[Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Parliament]] at [[Westminster]], the [[Her Majesty's Government|British Government]] at [[Whitehall]] and the [[Dublin Castle administration|Irish government]] at [[Dublin Castle]]. Many unionists feared that a nationalist government in Dublin would impose tariffs that would unduly burden the north-eastern counties of the province of [[Ulster]], which were not only predominantly [[Ulster Protestants|Protestant]] but also the only industrial area of a largely agricultural island. They also feared a nationalist government [[Rome Rule|would discriminate]] against Protestants after gaining political power. Unionists bought and imported arms and assorted weapons from German arms dealer Bruno Spiro<ref>Geoffrey Lewis, [https://books.google.com/books?id=XW0yjRDrLHQC Carson: The Man Who Divided Ireland] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034945/https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Carson.html?id=XW0yjRDrLHQC |date=1 December 2017 }}, p. 148</ref> and established the [[Ulster Volunteer Force (1912)|Ulster Volunteer Force]] (UVF) to prevent Home Rule in Ulster.<ref>Joseph McKenna, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BxLb0aZOFOMC&pg=PA3 Guerrilla Warfare in the Irish War of Independence, 1919–1921] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210211238/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BxLb0aZOFOMC&pg=PA3 |date=10 December 2015 }}, p. 3</ref> In response to this, nationalists also imported arms and established the [[Irish Volunteers]]. [[Partition of Ireland|Partition]], which was introduced by the Government of Ireland Act, was intended as a temporary solution, allowing Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland to be governed separately as regions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. One of those most opposed to this partition settlement was the leader of Irish unionism, Dublin-born [[Edward Carson|Sir Edward Carson]], who felt that it was wrong to divide Ireland in two, and felt this would badly affect the position of southern and western unionists.