UDC

94.417

Authors

Irina N. Dzhafarova
P.G. Demidov Yaroslavl State University
14 Sovetskaya St., Yaroslavl, 150000, Russian Federation;
e-mail: djafarova.irina@gmail.com

Abstract

The Irish War of Independence ended with the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The agreement itself, however, marked the beginning of a division not only inside the Irish revolutionary elite, but also among the rest of the Irish population. Therefore, a research into the Irish Civil War that followed in 1922– 1923 should not be limited to the study of the key opposing forces and their fighting. An analysis of the role of indirect participants of this conflict is becoming more important due to the insufficient study of this aspect of the Irish Civil War. Irish historiography includes a large number of works on the Irish Civil War; however, they do not pay due attention to the experience of intermediary activity to solve the conflict. Attempts of reconciliation throughout the Irish Civil War were made by many organizations, but ending this uncompromising struggle for political and state power in the country was an extremely difficult task. The main barrier in this case was the distrust of the two parties to the conflict towards each other and towards intermediaries, which in its turn affected the public opinion. Therefore, in such circumstances, mediative activity of the Association of Neutral Members of the Irish Republican Army, or Neutral IRA, which had real potential to succeed in its mission due to the statements about their neutrality and impartiality, was doomed to failure. However, in spite of this, initiatives of such organizations and individual activists aiming to end the conflict contributed to changes in the atmosphere within the country and formed civic mindedness in the young Irish Free State. These conclusions are based on the materials of Irish and British periodicals.

Keywords

Irish Civil War, Irish Free State, Neutral IRA, F. O’Donoghue, S. O’Hegarty, peace initiatives, mediation

References

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