THE BIG PICTURE

Soldiers confront a crowd of men, women and children during a crisis in Dublin, February 1921

Soldiers confront a crowd of men, women and children during a crisis in Dublin, Ireland, February 1921

On 21 January 1919 Ireland’s governing republican party Sinn Féin formed a breakaway government and declared independence from British rule. The resulting Irish War of Independence saw the Irish Republican Army wage a hard-fought guerrilla campaign against the British forces, including soldiers in the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and increasing tension between British troops and the local residents. The following year the Government of Ireland Act was passed, which saw Partition and the creation of Northern Ireland on 3 May 1921. The war ended in a ceasefire two months later, after the loss of an estimated 2,000 lives.