Neutral diplomacy: an Irish perspective, 1939 - 1945

Murphy, Steven

Neutral diplomacy: an Irish perspective, 1939 - 1945

dc.check.date	2022-05-18T11:17:36Z
dc.check.embargoformat	Both hard copy thesis and e-thesis	en
dc.check.entireThesis	Entire Thesis Restricted
dc.check.info	Restricted to everyone for five years	en
dc.check.opt-out	Not applicable	en
dc.check.reason	This thesis is due for publication or the author is actively seeking to publish this material	en
dc.contributor.advisor	O'Driscoll, Mervyn	en
dc.contributor.author	Murphy, Steven
dc.contributor.funder	University College Cork	en
dc.date.accessioned	2017-05-19T11:17:36Z
dc.date.issued	2016
dc.date.submitted	2016
dc.description.abstract	This thesis is an investigation into the influence of the other European neutrals on the forming and framing of Irish neutrality during the Second World War. Heretofore, the overwhelming majority of historical treatments of Ireland’s wartime experience have focused on the country’s relations with the belligerent nations. Research on Ireland’s relations with other neutral states during this period is sparse and this thesis seeks to bridge the gap in the discourse. The thesis focuses on other European neutral states with which Ireland had some meaningful interaction; Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, and the Holy See. What is revealed is that the Irish government engaged in a process of experiential learning vis-à-vis neutrality informed by information exchanges with their neutral counterparts. Ireland was a novice neutral and the Second World War was the first international conflagration to test the fledgling state. Consequently, the Department of External Affairs instructed its diplomats en poste in other neutral states to provide Dublin with useful information on the responses of their host countries to common issues. As the eyes and ears of the Department on the continent, Ireland’s neutral outposts relayed the actions of the other neutrals to Dublin whilst also providing a vital communications link to Irish diplomats in Axis territory. Along this network, which has has been mapped out here for the first time, the Irish government learned of the censorship policies of other neutral states, their reactions to belligerent overflights, their measures to protect shipping, their internment policies, and their reactions to diplomatic pressure. Following assessments of their fellow neutrals’ actions, some key Irish practices and diplomatic responses were brought broadly into line with them. Challenging the myopia of Irish wartime historiography, this thesis calls for historians to examine Irish neutrality within a wider context.	en
dc.description.sponsorship	University College Cork (Diarmuid Whelan Memorial PhD Scholarship)	en
dc.description.status	Not peer reviewed	en
dc.description.version	Accepted Version
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf	en
dc.identifier.citation	Murphy, S. 2016. Neutral diplomacy: an Irish perspective, 1939 - 1945. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.	en
dc.identifier.endpage	312	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10468/4002
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	University College Cork	en
dc.rights	© 2016, Steven Murphy.	en
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/	en
dc.subject	Neutrality	en
dc.subject	World War II	en
dc.subject	The Emergency	en
dc.subject	Irish history	en
dc.subject	Comparative history	en
dc.subject	Foreign policy	en
dc.subject	Transnational history	en
dc.subject	Irish neutrality	en
dc.thesis.opt-out	false
dc.title	Neutral diplomacy: an Irish perspective, 1939 - 1945	en
dc.type	Doctoral thesis	en
dc.type.qualificationlevel	Doctoral	en
dc.type.qualificationname	PhD (Arts)	en
ucc.workflow.supervisor	mervod@ucc.ie