Dev and Anglo-Irish Relations (32-45) PDF

economy FF had a different view of Agriculture then CNG did full stop FF had many aims for the agricultural sector in Ireland. FF sought to make farms bigger and more economical. They also wanted to move away from cattle farming as there was an overproduction of cattle and an underproduction of crop...

economy FF had a different view of Agriculture then CNG did full stop FF had many aims for the agricultural sector in Ireland. FF sought to make farms bigger and more economical. They also wanted to move away from cattle farming as there was an overproduction of cattle and an underproduction of crops. They hope to increase production of wheat so they wouldn't have to depend on other countries and maintain self-sufficiency. To try and achieve this FF introduced agricultural policies. farms were given guaranteed prices for wheat to try and encourage them to move away from cattle production. farmers were required to use Irish grain that's cattle feed. In 1933 the Irish sugar company was a semi-state body setup to process sugar. FF had a very strong view on censorship for Ireland. Ireland had the strictest censorship of all neutral countries. The government used their power to strictly control information; newspapers were not allowed to publish comments on the progress of the war.death notices of Irish people killed in the war were censored. films dealing with the war were cut or banned. Death notices of Irish people killed in the war were censored. and finally all public weather forecasts were stopped. This degree of censorship had a large impact on people's knowledge of the war, and after the war many people were shocked when they learned what had happened during the war. Dev caused a lot of controversy when he came to power in 1932. twice a year the free state had to pay back the money that was used for tenants to buy land to the British. When Dev came into power he decided he didn't want to make the payment as in a time of depression it was unfair for the free state to be expected to pay back the large sums of money. Britain's response to this was putting a tariff on Irish cattle and agricultural exports to regain the money that was being withheld. They also hoped that imposing tariffs would lead to the downfall of FF and a return of CNG as they thought they were more reliable.in July 1932 Dev convinced the dail to pass the emergency imposition of duties act which allowed duties to be imposed on Coke,coal, cement, electrical goods, iron and steel. In 1934 in response to the duties set by Ireland, England restricted imports of Irish beef and cattle. In 1935 the free state and GB decided to put a stop to the economic war. The war was costing both economies a lot of money.between 1932 and 1934 the free state trade deficit doubled and Britain couldn't risk losing Ireland as it was her third largest customer. In 1935 the cold cattle pact was put in place. The terms meant the free state had to buy 1.2 million tons of coal from Britain and Britain had to increase the amount of cattle allowed in from Ireland. Three years later in 1938 three anglo irish agreements were signed.the financial agreement brought an end to this economic War.Ireland only made one payment of ten million to Britain for land annuities. The trade agreement reduced the tariffs and quotas. The defence agreement gave back the three ports that had been given to Britain during the Treaty. This agreement was a major achievement for the free state. The return of ports allowed Ireland to have neutrality during any wars and the end of payments to Britain helped Ireland gain more independence. Anglo irish relations The oath had been a huge source of tension during treaty debates,therefore it's not surprising that almost immediately after Dev coming to power he set about getting rid of the Oath of Allegiance. He argued that it stood in the way of improving Anglo Irish Relations. By April 1932 Dev introduced a bill to get rid of the oath. Britain protested strongly however dev responded That it was ‘a burden to the people’. In May 1932 the bill was voted upon. But with CNG still in control of the senate they were able to delay the bill until may 1933. The Privy Council declared that the Free State had acted in accordance with the statute of Westminster and therefore the government could legitimately get rid of the oath. When Dev came to power the position Of governor General was held by James MacNeill. Having removed the oath,Ff had removed A significant reference to the king from Irish politics. They now turned their attention to the king's representative in Ireland,the governor general, as in devs eyes it symbolised British rule in Ireland. Initially the government ordered MacNeill to absent himself from all public occasions. When he refused to do so the govt began to boycott functions attended by the governor general and not invite him to official functions. DeV then gave notice to the king that according to the Free State constitution the king must act on the advice of his cabinet ministers; in this case the Cabinet advised him to dismiss MacNeill. By 1937 the Constitution abolished the position entirely. The British government did not react to this final step because it was felt that doing so would only embarrass the king who was the one responsible for the post. After winning the 1933 snap election, DeV assumed that the Irish people wanted him to continue dismantling the Treaty.According to the Treaty and the Constitution Irish people had the right to appeal the rulings of Irish courts to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. DeV felt that this diminished the independence of the Free State legal system. The FF govt tried to block people making such appeals and it also refused to enforce the judgements of the Judicial Council when such appeals were successful. Free State delegates denounced the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee at successive Imperial Conferences. It was generally agreed that the Statute of Westminster did give dominions the power to abolish the right of appeal. However, there was strong protest from Britain and they brought a case against DeV's action to the Privy Council in 1935 but, the Privy Council itself confirmed that dominions had the right and the power to abolish the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council - the highest court in the Commonwealth.DeV then set about doing exactly that. In 1936 Edward VIII,King of England, stepped down from the throne to marry an American woman. Dev decided to use the controversy in his favor and decided to pass the constitutions act and the external relations act. The constitutions act removed all mentions of the King and the governor general from the constitution. The external relations act ment the free state was in charge of their own external relations and the free state was associated with the Commonwealth. In 1937 Dev decided to draft a new constitution for the free state when it was voted upon it won by just over half of the votes. Some of the major articles were the free state would be known as Eire.Eire would have a president and the country would consist of all 32 counties, but the laws would only apply to 26 counties. Dev made sure to not call the country a republic as he didn't want to enrage Britain by saying they left the Commonwealth