This poster, by an unknown artist, was published in 1922 by Irish republicans opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

The Treaty, signed in London on 6 December 1921, brought the War of Independence to an end and established the Irish Free State as a Commonwealth dominion in which Irish Members of Parliament were required to swear allegiance to the British monarch. The Irish Assembly approved it in January 1922, with 64 votes in favour and 57 against. The result was a rift between the two sides and the outbreak of civil war a few months later.

The poster contains two maps. On the left-hand side, under the heading Before the Treaty (before the Treaty), there is a map of Ireland showing the Irish tricolour and a small Union Jack in Northern Ireland, in the north-east. On the right-hand side, under the heading After the Treaty (following the Treaty), the Union Jack flies over the entire island.

The artists display a clear propagandistic intent, as on the left-hand side they depict an independent Ireland which, although it had declared its independence in 1919, had not been recognised by any state. And on the right-hand side, they portray total submission to the United Kingdom, when in reality the Treaty removed British administration and the British army from the Irish Free State (not from Northern Ireland).

Sources

• 1922 Anti-Treaty poster