Editing Irish War of Independence (section)

===Summer 1920===
[[File:Ulster Pogrom Lisburn 1921.jpg|thumb|Catholic-owned businesses [[Lisburn#The Burnings and Partition|destroyed by loyalists in Lisburn]], August 1920.]]
While the IRA was less active in the north-east than in the south, Ulster unionists saw themselves as besieged by Irish republicans. The January and June 1920 local elections saw Irish nationalists and republicans win control of many northern urban councils, as well as [[Tyrone County Council|Tyrone]] and [[Fermanagh County Council|Fermanagh]] county councils. Derry City had its first Irish nationalist and Catholic mayor.<ref>Lynch, Robert. ''Revolutionary Ireland: 1912–25''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. pp. 97–98; [https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/10/19/news/1920-local-government-elections-recalled-in-new-publication-2102413/ "1920 local government elections recalled in new publication"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131060819/https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2020/10/19/news/1920-local-government-elections-recalled-in-new-publication-2102413 |date=31 January 2021 }}. ''Irish News'', 19 October 2020.</ref>

Fighting broke out in Derry on 18 June 1920 and lasted a week. Catholic homes were attacked in the mainly Protestant [[Waterside, Derry|Waterside]], and Catholics fled by boat across the [[River Foyle|Foyle]] while coming under fire. In the Cityside, Loyalists fired from the Fountain neighbourhood into Catholic streets, while the IRA occupied [[Lumen Christi College, Derry|St Columb's College]] and returned fire. At least fourteen Catholics and five Protestants were killed in the violence.<ref>Eunan O'Halpin & Daithí Ó Corráin. ''The Dead of the Irish Revolution''. Yale University Press, 2020. pp. 141–145</ref> Eventually, 1,500 British troops were deployed in Derry and imposed a curfew.<ref>Lawlor, Pearse. ''The Outrages'', pp. 16–18</ref>

On 17 July, British Colonel [[Gerald Smyth]] was assassinated by the IRA in Cork. He had allegedly told police officers to shoot civilians who did not immediately obey orders.<ref>''Michael Collins's Intelligence War'' by Michael T. Foy ({{ISBN|0-7509-4267-3}}), p. 91.; Constable [[Jeremiah Mee]], leader of the mutiny among the police officers, suggested in a publication of the Sinn Féin newspaper ''Irish Bulletin'', that Smyth had said that the officers should shoot IRA suspects on sight. In reality, Order No. 5, which Smyth had already said to colleagues that he was going to read out to the officers, said that IRA suspects should be shot as a last resort if the IRA men didn't surrender when challenged. This episode, along with the mutiny, has come down to be known as the [[Listowel mutiny]].</ref> Smyth came from [[Banbridge]], [[County Down]]. Loyalists retaliated by attacking many Catholic homes and businesses in Banbridge and expelling Catholics from their jobs, forcing many to flee the town.<ref>Lawlor, Pearse. ''The Burnings, 1920''. Mercier Press, 2009. pp. 67–77</ref> There were similar attacks in nearby [[Dromore, County Down|Dromore]].<ref>Lawlor, ''The Burnings, 1920'', pp. 82–83</ref>

On 21 July, loyalists drove 8,000 "disloyal" co-workers from their jobs in the Belfast shipyards, all of them either Catholics or Protestant [[Labour movement|labour activists]]. Some were viciously attacked.<ref name="Lynch shipyard riots">Lynch (2019), pp. 92–93</ref> This was partly in response to recent IRA actions and partly because of competition over jobs due to high unemployment. It was fuelled by rhetoric from Unionist politicians. In his [[The Twelfth|Twelfth of July]] speech, [[Edward Carson]] had called for loyalists to take matters into their own hands, and had linked republicanism with socialism and the Catholic Church.<ref>Lawlor, ''The Burnings, 1920'', pp. 90–92</ref> The expulsions sparked fierce sectarian rioting in Belfast, and British troops used machine-guns to disperse rioters. By the end of the day, eleven Catholics and eight Protestants were killed and hundreds wounded.<ref name="Lynch shipyard riots"/> Catholic workers were soon driven out of all major Belfast factories. In response, the Dáil approved the 'Belfast [[Boycott]]' of Unionist-owned businesses and banks in the city. It was enforced by the IRA, who halted trains and lorries and destroyed goods.<ref>Lawlor, ''The Burnings, 1920'', p. 184</ref>

On 22 August, the IRA assassinated RIC Inspector Oswald Swanzy as he left church in Lisburn. Swanzy had been implicated in the killing of Cork Mayor Tomás Mac Curtain. In revenge, loyalists burned and looted hundreds of Catholic businesses and homes in Lisburn, forcing many Catholics to flee (see [[Lisburn#The Burnings and Partition|the Burnings in Lisburn]]). As a result, Lisburn was the first town to recruit [[special constable]]s. After some of them were charged with rioting, their colleagues threatened to resign, and they were not prosecuted.<ref>Lawlor, ''The Burnings, 1920'', pp. 171–176</ref>

[[File:Sir James Craig 1924 (crop).jpg|upright|thumb|Unionist leader [[James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon|James Craig]].]]
In September, Unionist leader [[James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon|James Craig]] wrote to the British government demanding that a [[special constabulary]] be recruited from the ranks of the Ulster Volunteers. He warned, "Loyalist leaders now feel the situation is so desperate that unless the Government will take immediate action, it may be advisable for them to see what steps can be taken towards a system of organised reprisals against the rebels".{{sfn|Hopkinson|2002|p=158}} The USC was formed in October and, in the words of historian Michael Hopkinson, "amounted to an officially approved UVF".{{sfn|Hopkinson|2002|p=158}}