Editing Irish War of Independence (section)

===Initial hostilities===
[[File:Daniel Breen police notice.jpg|right|upright|thumb|Police wanted poster for [[Dan Breen]], one of those involved in the [[Soloheadbeg Ambush]] in 1919.]]
While it was not clear in the beginning of 1919 that the Dáil ever intended to gain independence by military means, and war was not explicitly threatened in Sinn Féin's [[Sinn Féin Manifesto 1918|1918 manifesto]],<ref>''Ireland, 1798–1998: Politics and War (A History of the Modern British Isles)'' by [[Alvin Jackson (historian)|Alvin Jackson]] ({{ISBN|978-0631195429}}), p. 244.; ''The Irish War'' by Tony Geraghty ({{ISBN|978-0-00-638674-2}}), p. 330.</ref> an incident occurred on 21 January 1919, the same day as the First Dáil convened. The [[Soloheadbeg Ambush]], in County Tipperary, was led by [[Seán Treacy]], [[Séumas Robinson (Irish republican)|Séumas Robinson]], [[Seán Hogan]] and [[Dan Breen]] acting on their own initiative. The IRA attacked and shot two RIC officers, Constables James McDonnell and Patrick O'Connell,<ref>{{Citation |last=Breen |first=Dan |title=My fight for Irish freedom |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dZgNAAAAIAAJ&q=%22the+dead+men,+Constables+James+McDonnell+and+Patrick+O%27Connell.%22 |page=50 |year=1981 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923124938/https://books.google.com/books?id=dZgNAAAAIAAJ&q=%22the+dead+men%2C+Constables+James+McDonnell+and+Patrick+O%27Connell.%22 |publisher=Anvil |isbn=978-0-900068-58-4 |access-date=26 October 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2021 |author-link=Dan Breen |url-status=live}}</ref> who were escorting explosives. Breen later recalled:

{{Blockquote|...we took the action deliberately, having thought over the matter and talked it over between us. Treacy had stated to me that the only way of starting a war was to kill someone, and we wanted to start a war, so we intended to kill some of the police whom we looked upon as the foremost and most important branch of the enemy forces. The only regret that we had following the ambush was that there were only two policemen in it, instead of the six we had expected.<ref>[[History Ireland]], May 2007, p. 56.</ref>}}

This is widely regarded as the beginning of the War of Independence.<ref>''Irish Freedom'' by Richard English ({{ISBN|978-0-330-42759-3}}), p. 287.; ''The Irish War of Independence'' by Michael Hopkinson ({{ISBN|978-0773528406}}), p. 115.; ''A Military History of Ireland'' by Thomas Bartlett and Keith Jeffery ({{ISBN|978-0521629898}}), p. 407.; ''Michael Collins: A Life'' by James Mackay ({{ISBN|1-85158-857-4}}), p. 106.</ref> The British government declared South Tipperary a Special Military Area under the [[Defence of the Realm Act]] two days later.<ref>''Sean Treacy and the 3rd. Tipperary Brigade'' by Desmond Ryan (1945), p. 74.; ''Police Casualties in Ireland, 1919–1922'' by Richard Abbott ({{ISBN|978-1856353144}}), p. 49.</ref> The war was not formally declared by the Dáil, and it ran its course parallel to the Dáil's political life. On 10 April 1919 the Dáil was told:

{{Blockquote|As regards the Republican prisoners, we must always remember that this country is at war with England and so we must in a sense regard them as necessary casualties in the great fight.<ref>[http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.O.191904100004.html Dáil Éireann – Volume 1 – 10 April 1919] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607105722/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.O.191904100004.html |date=7 June 2011 }}.</ref>}}

In January 1921, two years after the war had started, the Dáil debated "whether it was feasible to accept formally a state of war that was being thrust on them, or not", and decided not to declare war.<ref>[http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.C.192101250030.html Dáil Éireann – Volume 1 – 25 January 1921] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607123530/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.C.192101250030.html |date=7 June 2011 }}.</ref> Then on 11 March, [[Dáil Éireann]] President [[Éamon de Valera]] called for acceptance of a "state of war with England". The Dail voted unanimously to empower him to declare war whenever he saw fit, but he did not formally do so.<ref>[http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.C.192103110061.html Dáil Éireann – Volume 1 – 11 March 1921] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607123609/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.C.192103110061.html |date=7 June 2011 }}.; ''The IRA'' by Tim Pat Coogan ({{ISBN|0-00-653155-5}}), p. 25.</ref>