Ireland, West Germany and the New Europe, 1949– 73

West Germany played a pivotal role in encouraging the Republic of Ireland's adaptation to a 'European' path. This book contends that Ireland recognised that the post- war German economic miracle offered trade openings. It analyses approximately 25 years of Irish-West German affairs, allowing a measured examination of the fluctuating relationship, and terminates in 1973, when Ireland joined the European Communities (EC). The general historical literature on Ireland's post- war foreign relations is developing but it tends to be heavily European Economic Community (EEC), United Nations (UN) or Northern Ireland centred. The Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) is a worthy candidate for such a study as it was Ireland's key trading partner in continental Western Europe. Germany acted as a dynamic force in Ireland's modernisation from the mid- 1950s. Ireland wanted 'to ride the wave of the future', and the challenge was to adapt. This study of Irish- West German relations offers up a prism through which to reinterpret the shifts in Ireland's international reorientation and adaptation between 1949 and 1973. Like any relationship, even a relatively amicable one, the Irish- West German one was prone to strains. Bitter trade disputes beset Irish- German relations throughout the 1950s. The book sheds new light on post- war Ireland's shift from an Anglo- Irish focus to a wider European one. It also discusses land wars, Nazism, the Anglo- Irish Trade Agreement of 1938, the establishment of a 'new Europe' and Lemass's refurbishment of the Irish development model.

Archaeology · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Geography · German · Irish · Nazi Germany · Political science · European history and politics · History · Irish and British Studies