Compare and contrast the beliefs separating the two sides in the Irish Essay

Compare and contrast the beliefs separating the two sides in the Irish Civil War (1922-23) - Essay Example As a matter of fact, even the new parliamentarians of the Free State were entailed to swear their loyalty to the British King/Queen. (1) The Country was divided into two halves owing to the issues resulting from the Treaty – one side arguing that this Pact conforms to the long-term interests of Ireland and the other strongly disagreeing with it. Despite best efforts of both the sides, mainly from the Pro-Pact one, to bring about an amicable solution to the issue, the Civil War could not be avoided. The War was eventually won by the group favoring the Treaty. It (War) led to severe bloodshed and devastation, the likes of which were without a precedent at that point of time of Ireland’s history. Additionally, the strong repercussions of the Civil War can be seen exercising their impact on the political scenario of even the present-day Ireland. (1) It needs to be noted that the root cause for the origin of any conflict leading to a large scale war is the varying ideology and diverse beliefs of various groups, with the Irish Civil War being no exception to this thumb rule. The respective beliefs of both the sides involved in this battle were diametrically opposite to each other. At this juncture, it would be worthwhile to be briefly analyzing these ideologies, so as to develop an apt understanding about the reasons triggering such a big war. For the group abiding by the Treaty, it (Treaty) was considered to be supporting the form of democracy where citizens have the right to vote, while the opposing side viewed the pact as a collective conspiracy designed to further strengthen the British presence in Ireland. From the viewpoint of the anti-Treaty faction, the democracy that the supporters claimed to be resulting (from the Treaty), was a weak system relying heavily on the protection offered by the UK. (2) The opponents were primarily driven by their firm conviction that it is solely their political ideology, which would pave the way for