<P> In April 1916, Irish republicans launched the Easter Rising against British rule and proclaimed an Irish Republic . Although it was crushed after a week of fighting, the rising and the British response led to greater popular support for Irish independence . In the December 1918 election, the republican party Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland . On 21 January 1919 they formed a breakaway government (Dáil Éireann) and declared independence from Britain . Later that day, two members of the police force, the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), were shot dead in the Soloheadbeg ambush in County Tipperary by IRA members acting on their own initiative . For much of 1919, IRA activity involved capturing weapons and freeing republican prisoners . In September, the British government outlawed the Dáil and Sinn Féin and the conflict intensified . The IRA began ambushing RIC and British Army patrols, attacking their barracks and forcing isolated barracks to be abandoned . The British government bolstered the RIC with recruits from Britain--the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries--who became notorious for ill - discipline and reprisal attacks on civilians . The conflict as a result is often referred to as the "Black and Tan War" or simply the "Tan War". </P> <P> While around 300 people had been killed in the conflict up to late 1920, there was an escalation of violence in November . On Bloody Sunday, 21 November 1920, fourteen British intelligence operatives were assassinated in Dublin in the morning; then in the afternoon the RIC opened fire on a crowd at a Gaelic football match in the city, killing fourteen civilians and wounding 65 . A week later, seventeen Auxiliaries were killed by the IRA in the Kilmichael Ambush in County Cork . The British government declared martial law in much of southern Ireland . The centre of Cork city was burnt out by British forces in December 1920 . Violence continued to escalate over the next seven months, when 1,000 people were killed and 4,500 republicans were interned . Much of the fighting took place in Munster (particularly County Cork), Dublin and Belfast, which together saw over 75 percent of the conflict deaths . Violence in Ulster, especially Belfast, was notable for its sectarian character and its high number of Catholic civilian victims . </P> <P> Both sides agreed to a ceasefire (or' truce') on 11 July 1921 . In May, Ireland was partitioned under British law by the Government of Ireland Act, which created Northern Ireland . The post-ceasefire talks led to the signing of the Anglo - Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921 . This ended British rule in most of Ireland and, after a ten - month transitional period overseen by a provisional government, the Irish Free State was created as a self - governing dominion on 6 December 1922 . Northern Ireland remained within the United Kingdom . After the ceasefire, political and sectarian violence between republicans (usually Catholics) and loyalists (usually Protestants) continued in Northern Ireland for many months . In June 1922, disagreement among republicans over the Anglo - Irish Treaty led to the Irish Civil War which lasted for eleven months . The Irish Free State awarded 62,868 medals for service during the War of Independence, of which 15,224 were issued to IRA fighters of the flying columns . </P> <P> Since the 1880s, Irish nationalists in the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) had been demanding Home Rule, or self - government, from Britain . Fringe organisations, such as Arthur Griffith's Sinn Féin, instead argued for some form of Irish independence, but they were in a small minority . </P>

Who won the war between ireland and britain
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