Keeping One Eye Abroad: Belligerent Internment and Diplomacy

Abstract

This chapter explores the difficulty that the Irish government had in combining two increasingly divergent objectives: fulfilling its international obligations as a neutral, and maintaining its crucial relationships with the Allies. From the very beginning of the war, Irish neutrality and the internment regime was orientated towards Britain, a trend which became much more pronounced once America entered the conflict. Dublin consistently prioritised the maintenance of good relations with the Allies, and demonstrated this by releasing Allied aircraft and crew which crashed on Irish territory, while simultaneously interning all Germans who landed in Ireland. It further shows that Ireland was not alone in tailoring its internment regimes towards the Allies, and that all European neutrals compromised in their internment policies.