2 The outbreak of war, 1939–40
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Christopher Norton
Abstract
This chapter examines the ways in which the War and the re-emergence of IRA violence impacted on the strategic calculations of constitutional nationalists. With a faltering political strategy in the North an array of constitutional nationalist political groups increasingly came to prioritise the Dublin government’s role in resolving the partition question. This chapter shows how increased frustrations with Dublin’s perceived failure in this matter led some Nationalist representatives to contemplate reunification in a Nazi-occupied Ireland. The chapter also assesses the involvement of nationalist representatives, and the Catholic Church, in a campaign to support the families of IRA internees and prisoners. It argues that while the purpose of the campaign was entirely humanitarian its effect was to arouse Unionist suspicions and to align the nationalist representatives with some of de Valera’s most bitter critics in the South.
Abstract
This chapter examines the ways in which the War and the re-emergence of IRA violence impacted on the strategic calculations of constitutional nationalists. With a faltering political strategy in the North an array of constitutional nationalist political groups increasingly came to prioritise the Dublin government’s role in resolving the partition question. This chapter shows how increased frustrations with Dublin’s perceived failure in this matter led some Nationalist representatives to contemplate reunification in a Nazi-occupied Ireland. The chapter also assesses the involvement of nationalist representatives, and the Catholic Church, in a campaign to support the families of IRA internees and prisoners. It argues that while the purpose of the campaign was entirely humanitarian its effect was to arouse Unionist suspicions and to align the nationalist representatives with some of de Valera’s most bitter critics in the South.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of abbreviations ix
- Introduction 1
- 1 The politics of abstentionism, 1932–39 8
- 2 The outbreak of war, 1939–40 31
- 3 The war years, 1940–45 49
- 4 The Irish Anti-Partition League 75
- 5 Deteriorating relations with Dublin, 1950–55 96
- 6 The Sinn Féin challenge and the birth of the Nationalist Party, 1955–59 121
- 7 National Unity 140
- 8 Nationalist Party 153
- Conclusion 177
- Bibliography 181
- Index 188
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of abbreviations ix
- Introduction 1
- 1 The politics of abstentionism, 1932–39 8
- 2 The outbreak of war, 1939–40 31
- 3 The war years, 1940–45 49
- 4 The Irish Anti-Partition League 75
- 5 Deteriorating relations with Dublin, 1950–55 96
- 6 The Sinn Féin challenge and the birth of the Nationalist Party, 1955–59 121
- 7 National Unity 140
- 8 Nationalist Party 153
- Conclusion 177
- Bibliography 181
- Index 188
