What were the consequences of the role of Collins on Anglo-Irish relations 1916-1922?
Michael Collins played a key role within the IRA in the Irish war of independence as well as an elected member of Sinn Fein. Many people believe Collins was the best man available for the task in hand of leading Ireland in the quest for independence, ‘One day he'll be a great man. He'll do great work for Ireland’ was a quote from Michael Collins’ father on his deathbed.
Collins was first active during the Easter rising of 1916 fighting alongside Patrick Pearse as part of the Irish Republican Brotherhood occupying the General Post Office for several days before surrendering. The rising was a military failure but left a legacy and sense of national pride which Collins was willing to utilise. ‘The greatest result of the rising is the complete and revival of Irish nationality. WE have been...now we have awakened to the knowledge that we really are a separate nation. ‘ That quote is an extract from Moira Reagan’s story in the New York Times, September 1916. I believe the source to be reliable as the story was published in a trustworthy newspaper at the time and the women who told the story lived in the period and understood the mood and patriotism of the Irish population.
The majority of the leaders of the rising were executed, many members of the rising joined the nationalist party Sinn Fein and Collins quickly rose through the ranks of the organisation thanks to his intellect and self-confidence. A Dublin surgeon summed Collins up by saying Michael possessed ‘the quickest intellect and nerve that Ireland bred’ which allowed him to rise to the positions that he held and lead his troops so well however, it is unknown how well the surgeon knows Collins and other primary sources can’t be found to support the quote. By October 1917, Collins had become a member of the executive of Sinn Fein and be place in charge as Director of Operations of the Irish Volunteers with Eamon de Valera becoming president of both organisations and Collins serving loyally under him. Collins managed to gain soldiers by exploiting the rising and the nationalism and patriotism that spurred from it. ‘The reaction in popular feeling upon the repression of the rebellion has altered the relations of the extremists to the general population’ This is the view of the H.E Duke, chief secretary for Ireland in September 1916 although the reliability of this source is weak as the Duke lived in England and did not live nor communicate with the Irish people leaving the source to lack strong evidence in supporting the claim.
By 1918 Michael Collins had created a spy network consisting of police and military defectors who placed their faith in Collins. This was the first step in the creation of Collins guerrilla warfare campaign as intelligence could be acquired without the British knowing the information was in the IRB’s possession. With the intelligence received he was able to warn leading members of the organisation that they were at risk of arrest yet leading members including de Valera and other significant members ignored the warning and were duly arrested later on. The information received had been proven to be reliable and so confidence was placed into Collins which helped him in later acts and decision making ‘The characteristics which mark Collins out as a remarkably successful Director of Intelligence during the War of Independence include his evident appreciation of the importance of the collection and assessment of information as primary elements of intelligence operations which should precede action; his partial penetration of his adversary’s own intelligence system; the efficiency and ruthlessness with which action based on good intelligence was taken; and his success in preserving the security and efficiency of his own organization both in Dublin and in Britain despite the pressures it operated under because of the constant threat of raids, arrests and the capture of documents." Eunan O'Halpin, "Collins and Intelligence: 1919-1923 From Brotherhood to Bureaucracy" . In the 1918 General election Collins became the MP for south Cork after a successful campaign which stated that they would not take their seats in Westminster and instead create a parliament in Dublin. ’Every vote you give now is as good as the crack of a rifle in proclaiming your desire for freedom’ Eamon de Valera in 1917 in the pursuit for votes in the general election. This allowed the Sinn Fein leaders to defeat their rivals the Irish Parliamentary Party as they would of continued to sit in Westminster. The parliament in Dublin was known as the Dail Eireann and met at the Mansion house, Dublin.
In 1919 Collins role further increased and influence widened as he was elected president of the IRB and in September that year was appointed director of intelligence of the Irish Republican Army plus becoming Minister Of Finance. This occupancy was pivotal in kick starting the guerrilla campaign as Collins was able to finance purchases for military arms via creating large bonds and national loans. ‘’When the First Dáil appointed Collins to Finance, in succession to Eoin MacNeill, a more appropriate appointee could hardly have been visualized. For despite his relative anonymity and comparatively young age—at twenty-nine he was the youngest in a cabinet whose average age was forty-four years—he discharged his duties with considerable ease, incomparable efficiency and definitive purpose during the Anglo-Irish and Civil Wars." Michael Collins: Minister for finance 1919-1922. "His greatest achievement in finance was undoubtedly the successful organization of the first National Loan. Yet, amongst his cabinet colleagues, Collins was facile princeps, demonstrating an administrative flair that was both meticulous and perspicacious." Michael Collins: Minister for finance 1919-1922. It is widely viewed that Collins talents were finally being exploited and he was able to fulfil leadership capabilities that enabled the war of independence to take place.
With the roles occupied by Collins he was able to fight the war of independence exactly as he wanted and created guerrilla units, such as the squad, an assassination unit to kill British agents operating in Ireland. This was highlighted mostly when Collins plotted the assassination of the Cairo gang, a group of British Intelligence officers. Collins foresight was vital as he knew the IRA would be incapable of fighting a large scale conventional war against the British army as Britain was superior in terms of numbers and weaponry whereas a guerrilla warfare campaign could inflict heavy losses to the British whilst minimising casualties of their own side. Guerrilla tactics were a new form of warfare that the British refused to recognise. "Later Mao Tse Tung, Tito, General Giap, Che Guevara and Nelson Mandela were to make it respectable" - Ulick O'Connor as well as many other people regard Collins as the founder of guerrilla warfare. The benefits of the clandestine operations were that the army operated without uniform and could therefore live amongst the population and move freely around in order to carry out their duties.
In July 1921 the British offered a truce with the IRA days away from running out of ammunition according to Collins. De Valera sent Collins to England to take part in negotiations plus other officials although Collins was appointed as envoy plenipotentionary which he protested due to him not being a statesman. On the 6th December 1921 the Anglo-Irish treaty was signed which created a new Irish state to be known as the Irish free state but without Northern Ireland although the treaty did provide for a possible all Irish state. Collins regarded the treaty as a step forward and progress and was quoted as saying ‘the freedom to achieve freedom’ although he knew that republicans would refuse to accept the partition and was also quoted ‘I have signed my own death warrant’. ‘Michael Collins rose looking as though he were going to shoot someone, preferably himself. In all my life I have never seen so much pain and suffering in restraint." Churchill on Michael Collins after the signing of the Treaty. The quote is believable but is the opinion of one person leaves the validity of the statement weak. De Valera was unhappy with the signing of the treaty as it had not given authorisation. The majority of the IRA opposed the treaty and in 1919 De Valera resigned his presidency and sought re-election so that the treaty could be destroyed. This forced Collins to create a provisional government where he became the President of the Provisional Government whilst remaining as minister of finance, Collins held these posts and managed the complexities of the two showing his determination for creating a better Ireland.
Collins wanted to avoid civil war at all costs on the 22nd April 1922 200 anti-treaty IRA men occupied the Four courts in Dublin in defiance of the provisional government. Collins did not retaliate till June 1922 under pressure from the British government. Civil war broke out with Collins becoming commander in chief of a formal, structured, uniformed army, funded by the British army. Collins decided on a series of seaborne landings to retake republican held areas and succeeded by retaking the west and Munster in July-August 1922 and taking control of the capital. Collins returned to native Cork in August 1922 despite dangers of the county as many anti-treaty IRA members occupied the county. Although warned by companions Collins repeatedly stated that ‘they wouldn’t shoot me in my own county’ . Collins put himself in extreme danger but the risk was valid as its alleged that Collins wanted to meet up with Republican leaders in order to propose a truce. "We want to avoid any possible unnecessary destruction and loss of life. We do not want to mitigate their weakness by resolute action beyond what is required" The quote is taken from Collins personal diary which backs up the idea that Collins wanted peace and that he would do what is necessary to get it. Collins was ambushed and killed on the 22nd August with 500,000 people attending the funeral, nearly one fifth of the population which I believe shows the respect of a nation to a man who brought a country forward and released Ireland from British colonialism and allowed independence and unity eventually in Ireland. "'We bend today over the grave of a man not more than thirty years of age, who took to himself the gospel of toil for Ireland, and of sacrifice for their good, and who has made himself a hero and a legend that will stand in the pages of our history with any bright page that was ever written there. Pages have been written by him in the hearts of our people that will never find a place in print. But we lived, some of us with these intimate pages; and those pages that will reach history, meagre though they be, will do good to our country and will inspire us through many a dark hour. Our weaknesses cry out to us, "Michael Collins was too brave." Michael Collins was not too brave. Every day and every hour he lived he lived it to the full extent of that bravery which God gave to him, and it is for us to be brave as he was—brave before danger, brave before those who lie, brave even to that very great bravery that our weaknesses complained of in him' Richard Mulcahy in his oration at Collins' funeral. This sums up the view of the people on Collins, a man who gave his life for the freedom of the Irish state.