Green Against Green - The Irish Civil War

Michael Hopkinson's Green Against Green is the definitive study of the Irish civil war, putting in perspective a bitter and passionate conflict, the legacy of which still divides Irish society today. Widely praised and frequently cited as the most authoritative work on the subject, it continues to hold its place as one of the finest works on modern Irish history.Unlike the Easter Rising and the War of Independence, the Irish Civil War has been largely overlooked by historians, put off by the messy divisions between former War of Independence allies and its continued importance in modern Irish society: even now, the rival parties in the conflict form the basis for two of the largest political parties in Ireland. In Green Against Green, Michael Hopkinson addresses this gap in Irish historical writing, looking closely at the reasons for the outbreak of civil war, the major figures who directed it, how it was fought and its impact across Ireland. This major achievement of historical scholarship traces the history and course of the war from 1912 to its conclusion, starting with a sketch of the background to the divisions which surfaced during the war and continuing through to the functioning of the post-civil war Irish State.This groundbreaking work, 'a dispassionate account of the most passionate times' (Irish Times), captures the confused loyalties and localised, often personal, violence that characterised one of the most critical, and least studied, formative events in modern Irish history.Green Against Green: Table of ContentsPrefacePART I. 1912-1921The Background to the Treaty Divisions, 1912-1918The Anglo-Irish War, January 1919-July 1921, and the Truce PeriodThe Treaty NegotiationsThe Treaty SplitThe Irish Question in the United StatesPART II. FROM THE TREATY TO THE ATTACK ON THE FOUR COURTSThe Political and Constitutional Background in Early 1922The Military SplitDe Valera and the Military and Political DevelopmentsMilitary Developments after the Army ConventionThe North, from Treaty to Attack on the Four CourtsSocial and Governmental ProblemsThe Search for UnityThe ConstitutionThe June Election and the Assassination of Sir Henry WilsonPART III. THE OPENING OF THE WARThe Attack on the Four CourtsDublin FightingPART IV. THE EARLY CIVIL WARThe Military and Political Background to the FightingThe War in the Localities: July-August 1922The Opening of the Guerrilla Phase of the WarThe Death of CollinsThe Establishment of the Third DilPeace InitiativesThe Formation of the Republican GovernmentThe First ExecutionsThe British Government and the Early Civil WarThe Southern Unionists and the Civil WarThe Civil War and the RailwaysThe War in the Localities: September 1922-January 1923PART V. THE WAR'S ENDThe Free StateGovernment and Army: January-April 1923The Republicans and the Civil War: January-April 1923The War in the Localities: January-April 1923The North and the Civil WarExile Nationalism: The United States and Britain in the Civil WarThe CeasefirePART VI. THE POST-WAR PERIODThe RepublicansThe Post-War Free State Government and ArmyThe Republican Hunger-Strike, October-November 1923Conclusion