Editing Northern Ireland (section)

===Partition of Ireland===
{{Main|Partition of Ireland}}
[[File:1918 United Kingdom general election (Ireland) map - winning party vote share by constituency.svg|thumb|right|Result of the [[1918 Irish general election|1918 general election in Ireland]]]]
By the end of the war (during which the 1916 [[Easter Rising]] had taken place), most Irish nationalists now wanted full independence rather than home rule. In September 1919, British Prime Minister [[David Lloyd George]] tasked a committee with planning another home rule bill. Headed by [[Unionism in Ireland|English unionist]] politician [[Walter Long, 1st Viscount Long|Walter Long]], it was known as the 'Long Committee'. It decided that two devolved governments should be established—one for the nine counties of Ulster and one for the rest of Ireland—together with a [[Council of Ireland]] for the "encouragement of Irish unity".<ref>Jackson, pp. 227–229</ref> Most Ulster unionists wanted the territory of the Ulster government to be reduced to six counties so that it would have a larger Protestant unionist majority, which they believed would guarantee its longevity. The six counties of [[County Antrim|Antrim]], [[County Down|Down]], [[County Armagh|Armagh]], [[County Londonderry|Londonderry]], [[County Tyrone|Tyrone]] and [[County Fermanagh|Fermanagh]] comprised the maximum area unionists believed they could dominate.<ref>Morland, Paul. ''Demographic Engineering: Population Strategies in Ethnic Conflict''. Routledge, 2016. pp.96–98</ref> The area that was to become Northern Ireland included counties Fermanagh and Tyrone, even though they had nationalist majorities in the [[1918 Irish general election]].<ref>{{cite report |title=The Irish Election of 1918 |url=https://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/h1918.htm |publisher=Northern Ireland Elections |docket= |access-date=31 August 2022 |archive-date=17 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817120216/http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections/h1918.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Events overtook the government. In the 1918 Irish general election, the pro-independence [[Sinn Féin]] party won the overwhelming majority of Irish seats. Sinn Féin's elected members boycotted the British parliament and founded a separate Irish parliament ([[First Dáil|Dáil Éireann]]), [[Irish Declaration of Independence|declaring an independent Irish Republic]] covering the whole island. Many [[Irish republicans]] blamed the British establishment for the sectarian divisions in Ireland, and believed that Ulster unionism would fade once British rule was ended.{{Sfnp|Lynch|2019|pages=51–52}} The British authorities outlawed the Dáil in September 1919,<ref>Mitchell, Arthur. ''Revolutionary Government in Ireland''. Gill & MacMillan, 1995. p. 245</ref> and a guerrilla conflict developed as the [[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) began attacking British forces. This became known as the [[Irish War of Independence]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coleman |first1=Marie |title=The Irish Revolution, 1916–1923 |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1317801474 |page=67}}; Gibney, John (editor). ''The Irish War of Independence and Civil War''. Pen and Sword History, 2020. pp.xii–xiii</ref>

[[File:Ulster Welcomes Her King & Queen (10990906846).jpg|thumb|Crowds in Belfast for the state opening of the Northern Ireland Parliament on 22 June 1921]]

Meanwhile, the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]] passed through the British parliament in 1920. It would divide Ireland into two self-governing UK territories: the six northeastern counties (Northern Ireland) being ruled from [[Belfast]], and the other twenty-six counties ([[Southern Ireland (1921–1922)|Southern Ireland]]) being ruled from [[Dublin]]. Both would have a shared [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]], who would appoint both governments and a [[Council of Ireland]], which the UK government intended to evolve into an all-Ireland parliament.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pilkington |first=Colin |author-link= |title=Devolution in Britain Today |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2002 |page=75 |isbn=978-0-7190-6076-2}}</ref> The Act received [[royal assent]] that December, becoming the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It came into force on 3 May 1921,<ref name="O'Day 299">O'Day, Alan. ''Irish Home Rule, 1867–1921''. Manchester University Press, 1998. p. 299</ref><ref>Jackson, Alvin. ''Home Rule – An Irish History''. Oxford University Press, 2004, pp. 368–370</ref> [[Partition of Ireland|partitioning Ireland]] and creating Northern Ireland. the [[1921 Irish elections]] were held on 24 May, in which unionists won most seats in the Northern Ireland parliament. It first met on 7 June and formed its [[Craigavon ministry|first devolved government]], headed by Ulster Unionist Party leader [[James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon|James Craig]]. Irish nationalist members refused to attend. King George V addressed the ceremonial opening of the Northern parliament on 22 June.<ref name="O'Day 299"/>

During 1920–22, in what became Northern Ireland, partition was accompanied by violence "in defence or opposition to the new settlement"{{Sfnp|Lynch|2019|pages=11, 100–101}} during [[The Troubles (1920–1922)]]. The IRA carried out attacks on British forces in the north-east but was less active than in the rest of Ireland. Protestant loyalists attacked Catholics in reprisal for IRA actions. In the summer of 1920, sectarian violence erupted in Belfast and Derry, and there were mass burnings of Catholic property in [[Lisburn]] and [[Banbridge]].{{Sfnp|Lynch|2019|pages=90–92}} Conflict continued intermittently for two years, mostly in [[Belfast]], which saw "savage and unprecedented" [[communal violence]] between Protestants and Catholics, including rioting, gun battles, and bombings. Homes, businesses, and churches were attacked and people were expelled from workplaces and mixed neighbourhoods.{{Sfnp|Lynch|2019|pages=11, 100–101}} More than 500 were killed{{Sfnp|Lynch|2019|page=99}} and more than 10,000 became refugees, most of them Catholics.{{Sfnp|Lynch|2019|pages=71–76}} The [[British Army]] was deployed and the [[Ulster Special Constabulary]] (USC) was formed to help the regular police. The USC was almost wholly Protestant. Members of the USC and regular police were involved in reprisal attacks on Catholic civilians.<ref>Farrell, Michael. ''Arming the Protestants: The Formation of the Ulster Special Constabulary and the Royal Ulster Constabulary''. Pluto Press, 1983. p.166</ref> A truce between British forces and the IRA was established on 11 July 1921, ending the fighting in most of Ireland. However, communal violence continued in Belfast, and in 1922 the IRA launched a guerrilla offensive along the new [[Irish border]].<ref>Lawlor, Pearse. ''The Outrages: The IRA and the Ulster Special Constabulary in the Border Campaign''. Mercier Press, 2011. pp.265–266</ref>

The [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] was signed between representatives of the governments of the UK and the [[Irish Republic]] on 6 December 1921, laying out the process for the creation of the [[Irish Free State]]. Under the terms of the treaty, Northern Ireland would become part of the Free State unless its government opted out by presenting an address to the king, although in practice partition remained in place.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Ged |editor1-last=Anderson |editor1-first=Malcolm |editor2-last=Bort |editor2-first=Eberhard |title=The Irish Border: History, Politics, Culture |date=1999 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=978-0853239512 |page=68 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=59OPsS6a4j4C&pg=PA68 |access-date=19 October 2015 |chapter=The Origins of Partition |archive-date=29 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129062001/https://books.google.com/books?id=59OPsS6a4j4C&pg=PA68 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Coat of Arms of Northern Ireland.svg|thumb|The [[Coat of arms of Northern Ireland]] used between 1924 and 1973]]

The Irish Free State came into existence on 6 December 1922, and on the following day, the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]] resolved to exercise its right to opt out of the Free State by making an address to King [[George V]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gibbons |first1=Ivan |title=The British Labour Party and the Establishment of the Irish Free State, 1918–1924 |date=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1137444080 |page=107 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pO6_CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 |access-date=19 October 2015 |archive-date=29 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129061632/https://books.google.com/books?id=pO6_CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 |url-status=live}}</ref> The text of the address was: {{Blockquote|Most Gracious Sovereign, We, your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Senators and Commons of Northern Ireland in Parliament assembled, having learnt of the passing of the [[Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922]], being the Act of Parliament for the ratification of the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland, do, by this humble Address, pray your Majesty that the powers of the Parliament and Government of the Irish Free State shall no longer extend to Northern Ireland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stormontpapers.ahds.ac.uk/stormontpapers/pageview.html?volumeno=2&pageno=1145#bak-2-1149 |title=The Stormont Papers – View Volumes |access-date=28 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415143605/http://stormontpapers.ahds.ac.uk/stormontpapers/pageview.html?volumeno=2&pageno=1145#bak-2-1149 |archive-date=15 April 2016}}; {{cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/anglo_irish/dfaexhib2.html |title=Anglo-Irish Treaty, sections 11, 12 |publisher=Nationalarchives.ie |date=6 December 1921 |access-date=7 August 2013 |archive-date=8 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108213900/http://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/anglo_irish/dfaexhib2.html |url-status=live}}</ref>}} Shortly afterwards, the [[Irish Boundary Commission]] was established to decide on the border between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. Owing to the outbreak of the [[Irish Civil War]], the work of the commission was delayed until 1925. The Free State government and Irish nationalists hoped for a large transfer of territory to the Free State, as many border areas had nationalist majorities. Many believed this would leave the remaining Northern Ireland territory too small to be viable.<ref>Knirck, Jason. ''Imagining Ireland's Independence: The Debates Over the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. p.104</ref> However, the commission's final report recommended only small transfers of territory, and in both directions. The Free State, Northern Ireland, and UK governments agreed to suppress the report and accept the ''status quo'', while the UK government agreed that the Free State would no longer have to pay a share of the UK national debt.<ref>Lee, Joseph. ''Ireland, 1912–1985: Politics and Society''. Cambridge University Press, 1989. p.145</ref>