The Irish War of Independence was the pride of all people in the Republic of Ireland. This represents hard-earned and well-deserved freedom. This war took place from 1919 to 1921 and is a much overlooked event in history. The dominant United Kingdom had already annexed many countries to build its empire, including Ireland. Ireland, fed up with Britain's terrible leadership, called for the division of the United Kingdom. A clear disagreement stoked tensions that led to multiple rebellions like Easter Rising. The continuing struggles for freedom sparked the passion and nationalism of the Irish people. With all the past troubles piling up, Ireland began a war for its freedom. Although an often forgotten war, the Irish War of Independence resulted in rebellions, bloodshed, and a major split within a nation. The first event that led to war was the Home Rule crisis. Since the 1880s, the Irish people had wanted their own government. Finally, in 1912, after continued efforts, the Irish finally got what they wanted when the British passed the Third Home Rule Act. This act simply gave Ireland political control of its own country. However, this did not last long as a group called the Ulster Unionists did not agree with the principle of Irish self-government. The Ulster Unionists were a political party in Northern Ireland who wanted Ireland to remain under the control of Great Britain. They formed a group called the Ulster Volunteers who used physical force to show their opposition to the third Home Rule Act. In response, Irish nationalists created a group called the Irish Volunteers to “secure the rights and freedoms common to all Irish people.” As tensions increased, both groups began collecting weapons...paper, dollars and cash, and also killing important British leaders. As the war slowly progressed, the Irish Republican Army made it a priority to target the Royal Irish Constabulary. The Royal Irish Constabulary, or RIC, was the British police force in Ireland. It wasn't a very strong group because they lacked weapons, but they numbered around 10,000 people. The RIC was a much hated group in Irish society, which played an advantage to the Irish Republican Army. They even had difficulty buying food in stores because shopkeepers refused to deal with them. This forced many RIC members to resign. They probably had difficulty obtaining weapons because no one wanted to help them. The British eventually resorted to threats against the Irish people. However, this only led to more attacks on the RIC from the Irish. After numerous attacks, most of the police force had