December 2012 Auction Ends Tuesday, December 18th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/18/2012
Broadside from early in the Irish Civil War published by the Free State side. After the protracted Irish War for Independence, England granted Ireland nationhood as the ''Irish Free State'' according to the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed in 1921. The people of Ireland were divided over the Treaty; the war-weary Free State side led by Michael Collins was satisfied with the ceasefire terms and eager to cooperate with England via the Provisional Government, but the Republican opposition led by Eamon de Valera was bitterly distrustful of the British and rejected the Treaty, demanding the fighting continue until its renegotiation. Dated 11 July 1922, just two weeks into the war, the Free State attempts to curb public support of the Republican resistance, asserting: ''...Ireland does not believe that the subversion of all ordered government based on the people's will makes for the freedom of the Irish nation...These men are fighting now against the forces of anarchy and disorder...Fighting the Irish nation is not fighting the British Empire...'' Civil war had broken out on 28 June 1922 with the Battle of Dublin. Free State forces reclaimed the city after a week, but guerrilla warfare raged on throughout the country for almost a year until the Free State forces, armed by England, defeated the ill-equipped IRA. A decade later, however, de Valera's political party, Fianna Fail, rose to power. The Irish Free State ceded from the British Commonwealth and was renamed the Republic of Ireland in 1948. Card-style broadside measures 11.25'' x 17.5''. Creasing and some stress to fold intersections, else near fine.
Irish Civil War Broadside Issued by Michael Collins' Free State Side -- ''...Fighting the Irish nation is not fighting the British Empire...'' -- July 1922
Click above for larger image.