Perceptions and Realities of the Irish Republican Army During the Second World War

<p>This thesis investigates the British and German perception of the IRA and claims that the organization represented an insurmountable obstacle to the progress of both German intelligence and British counter-intelligence. The IRA was also the primary contributor to the political troubles oflrish neutrality during World War II. It examines the perceived threat of the IRA in the minds of the Irish Prime Minister Eamon de Valera and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and those ministers' respective governments. The thesis looks at official debates in the British Parliament and the Irish Dail as well as interwar newspapers and official records. Additionally, the thesis consults the Abwehr II War Diary to compare the Axis interest in the IRA as a means by which to prepare an amphibious'assault on Britain through Ireland. By analyzing intelligence records, arrest records, and correspondences to and from Eire during the war, this research lends insight into the real military potential of the IRA and compares that potential to the perceived threat of international terrorism in the 1940s.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Wilson, L.B., III

Contributors dc:contributor

• Andrew Wiest
• Heather Stur
• Ruth Percy

• Arts and Humanities
• European History
• History

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/577

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1652