The Truce and the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations
After 18 months of guerrilla war, both the British government and the leaders of the IRA sought to bring the conflict to an end. A Truce was agreed in July 1921, followed by negotiations towards an Anglo-Irish Treaty. When Michael Collins signed the Treaty in December 1921, accepting something less than complete independence for all of Ireland (26 instead of 32 counties), he prophesied that he was probably signing his own death warrant. The signing of this Treaty triggered a short but bitter Civil War, during which more than a thousand Irish people died, including many of the leaders on both sides.
