ABSTRACT
Asquith made one more attempt to get reason to prevail and, adopting his favourite expedient in time of trouble, authorized Lloyd George to work for a settlement. When war began in 1914 Asquith's Government had sought to put the problem of Ireland into cold storage. The third Home Rule Bill had been put on the statute book, but its operation postponed for the duration of the war. Unionist extremism did much to obstruct a renewed attempt at compromise with the Irish Nationalists, and was in part responsible for the belated attempt to impose conscription on Ireland in 1918. While the fighting continued, however, the Coalition took the first steps in the direction of reason. The Government of Ireland Act, 1920, provided for Irish Home Rule, with two Irish Parliaments, one for the South at Dublin and the other, at Belfast, for the six most Protestant counties of the historic province of Ulster.
