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The Battle of Dublin was a week of street battles in Dublin from 28 June to 5 July 1922 that marked the beginning of the Irish Civil War. Six months after the Anglo-Irish Treaty ended the recent Irish War of Independence, it was fought between the forces of the new Provisional Government, and a section of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who opposed the Treaty. The fighting began with an assault by Provisional Government forces on the Four Courts building, which had been occupied by the Anti-Treaty IRA, and ended in a decisive victory for the Provisional Government. ==Background== On 14 April 1922, about 200 Anti-Treaty IRA militants led by Rory O'Connor occupied the Four Courts in Dublin, resulting in a tense stand-off.〔Calton Younger, "''Ireland's Civil War''", Muller, London 1968; pp.258–259.〕 They wanted to spark a new armed confrontation with the British, which they hoped would bring down the Anglo-Irish Treaty, unite the two factions of the IRA against their former common enemy and thereby restart the fight to create an all-Ireland Irish Republic. At the time the British Army still had thousands of soldiers concentrated in Dublin, awaiting evacuation. Winston Churchill and the Cabinet of the United Kingdom ("British Cabinet") had been applying pressure on the Provisional Government to dislodge the rebels in Four Courts; considering their presence there as a violation of the Treaty. Such pressure fell heaviest on Michael Collins (Irish leader) , arguably the IRA's chief strategist during the War of Independence from Britain. Now President of the Provisional Government Cabinet, and effective head of the regular National Army Collins had resisted giving open battle to his erstwhile brothers-in-arms, since they first occupied Four Courts, the preceding April. Collins' colleagues in the Provisional Government Cabinet, including Arthur Griffith, continually joined their voices to demands that Collins mount decisive military action against the anti-Treaty garrison at Four Courts.〔Tim Pat Coogan "Michael Collins" 1990〕〔John M Feehan "The Shooting of Michael Collins: Murder or Accident?" 1981 Mercier, Cork〕〔S M Sigerson "The Assassination of Michael Collins: What Happened at Béal na mBláth? 2013"〕 In the month of June 1922, the Provisional Government engaged in intense negotiations with the British Cabinet, over a draft Constitution, which sought to diffuse the threat of civil war imminently impending. They particularly sought to remove the requirement of an oath to the British Crown by all members of the Dublin government: a key point of contention with anti-Treaty partisans. However, the conservative British Cabinet refused to cooperate.〔〔Public Records Office, British Cabinet proceedings 1922〕〔Winston Churchill correspondence〕 Following the assassination of Sir Henry Wilson in London on 22 June 1922, and the arrest by Four Courts troops of Free State Army General / Deputy Chief of Staff J.J. O'Connell , British pressure on the Provisional Government magnified to military ultimatum. The risk of re-invasion by the British now entered the question. Those determined to make the Free State into a viable, self-governing Irish state now had few alternatives. On 27 June, the Provisional Government Cabinet agreed an ultimatum to the Four Courts garrison, to evacuate or face immediate military action.〔Eoin Neeson, ''The Civil War'', pp. 109–110〕〔Provisional Government Cabinet proceedings 1922, Dail na hEireann〕 Churchill offered a loan of British artillery for use by the National Army along with 200 from their store of 10,000 shells at Kilmainham, three miles away. It is possible that some British specialist troops were also covertly loaned. Two 18 pounder field guns were placed on Parliament Street and Winetavern Street, across the River Liffey from the Four Courts complex. After an ultimatum was delivered to the anti-Treaty garrison on the night of 27 June / early hours of 28 June, the National Army commenced the bombardment of Four Courts.〔An Léigear 1922 (The Siege of 1922) documentary by TG4 Téiliflis na Gaeltachta〕〔Michael Collins personal correspondence〕 However, no authoritative record exists as to the order to commence bombardment: when it was issued, by whom, where, etc. Historians have tended to attribute the order to Collins; but biographers dispute this. Anti-Treaty survivors alleged that they were preparing for an 8AM evacuation, when the bombardment began at 4AM.〔〔S M Sigerson "The Assassination of Michael Collins: What Happened at Béal na mBláth? 2013"〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Dublin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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