page_title: Irish War of Independence
section_title: North-east
hierarchical_section_title: Irish War of Independence / North-east
caption_attribution_description: English: Conflict deaths of the Troubles 1920-1922 in Belfast, areas with more than 50/100/150 deaths per km² Deutsch: Tote der Unruhen in Belfast zwischen 1920 und 1922, Gebiete mit mehr als 50/100/150 Toten pro km²
context_page_description: The Irish War of Independence or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-military Royal Irish Constabulary and its paramilitary forces the Auxiliaries and Ulster Special Constabulary. It was an escalation of the Irish revolutionary period into warfare.
  In April 1916, Irish republicans launched the Easter Rising against British rule and proclaimed an Irish Republic. Although it was crushed after a week of fighting, the Easter Rising and the British response led to greater popular support for Irish independence. In the December 1918 election, the republican party Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland. On 21 January 1919 they formed a breakaway government and declared Irish independence. That day, two RIC officers were shot dead in the Soloheadbeg ambush by IRA volunteers acting on their own initiative. The conflict developed gradually. For much of 1919, IRA activity involved capturing weaponry and freeing republican prisoners, while the Dáil set about building a state.
context_section_description: In the Government of Ireland Act 1920 (enacted in December 1920), the British government attempted to solve the conflict by creating two Home Rule parliaments in Ireland: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. While Dáil Éireann ignored this, deeming the Irish Republic to be already in existence, Unionists in the north-east accepted it and prepared to form their own government. In this part of Ireland, which was predominantly Protestant and Unionist, there was, as a result, a very different pattern of violence from the rest of the country. Whereas in the south and west, the conflict was between the IRA and British forces, in the north-east and particularly in Belfast, it often developed into a cycle of sectarian killings between Catholics, who were largely Nationalist, and Protestants, who were mostly Unionist.
caption: Conflict deaths in Belfast 1920–1922.   50–100 deaths per km²   100–150 deaths per km²   over 150 deaths per km²
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