Irish-Soviet Diplomatic and Friendship Relations, 1919-80
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Irish-Soviet diplomatic and friendship relations, 1919-80 by Michael Joseph Quinn THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF PhD DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH Head of Department: Professor Marian Lyons SUPERVISOR OF RESEARCH: Professor Jacqueline Hill January 2014 i Table of contents Abstract iii Declaration iv Acknowledgments v List of abbreviations vi Introduction 1 Chapter one: Irish-Soviet diplomatic affairs, 1919-72 15 Chapter two: The establishment and practice of Irish-Soviet diplomatic relations, 1971-80 60 Chapter three: An account of Irish-Soviet friendship organisations, with a principal focus on the Ireland-U.S.S.R. Society, founded in 1966 122 Chapter four: Ambassador Brennan’s island of Ireland political reports 177 from Moscow to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin, 1974-80 Chapter five: Irish-Soviet relations in the context of European Political Cooperation, 1974-80 226 Conclusion 270 Appendix 1: A register of Ambassador Brennan’s political reports 282 (P.R.s) from Moscow to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Dublin, 1974-80 Appendix 2: A register of the records of Irish involvement in the Eastern Europe Working Group (E.E.W.G.), 1974-80. 312 Bibliography 326 ii Abstract This thesis offers a contribution to Irish historiography with a study of Ireland’s diplomatic and friendship relations with the Soviet Union in the ‘short Soviet twentieth- century’. To date no such study has been produced. The study has as its central focus developments surrounding the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two states in 1973, and considers aspects of how those relations evolved down to 1980. To provide an understanding of the legacy of relations prior to formalisation of relations, the study commences with a survey of the principal diplomatic contacts from 1919 to 1972, including those that took place in America between representatives of the nascent Irish republic and Soviet Russia during the revolutionary period of 1919-21, contacts between the Irish Free State and the Soviet Union at the League of Nations in the mid- 1930s, and between the Republic of Ireland and the Soviet Union at the United Nations from 1955 to 1972. It proceeds to examine in more detail events surrounding the establishment of formal diplomatic relations in 1973, and experiences during the first six years at the Irish embassy to Moscow, and at the Soviet embassy to Dublin. To gain insights from a wider societal perspective with oral and private archival evidence, an account of the Ireland-U.S.S.R. Society – a unique friendship organisation located at a conjunction of informational, cultural, academic, trade union and tourist affairs in Irish- Soviet relations – is next presented. The final two areas of study draw upon archival records of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs for the years 1974-80, which have only recently been made available at the National Archives of Ireland. Drawing in the main on the central registry series of files containing political reports sent to Dublin by Ireland’s first ambassador to Moscow, Dr Edward Brennan, the penultimate focus is upon the ‘island of Ireland’ elements of those reports. Lastly, the thesis discusses Ireland’s second relationship with the Soviet Union, as mediated through European Political Cooperation (E.P.C.), a parallel framework of the European Economic Community. This discussion is principally facilitated by the records of Ireland’s involvement in a confidential subgroup of E.P.C. – the Eastern Europe Working Group – which was dedicated to an ongoing compilation of studies of the Soviet Union and its fellow member states of COMECON. iii Declaration I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of Doctor of Philosophy, is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my own work. Signed: ____________________ (Candidate) Date: ____________________ iv Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the support and encouragement extended to me by my wife, Dolores, and our sons, Graham and Shane, throughout the compilation of this thesis. In particular I wish to thank Shane for his assistance with proof-reading. I also wish to acknowledge the provision of a workstation in the PhD research laboratory and other support facilities in the Iontas building at N.U.I.M. by the directors, Professor Margaret Kelleher and Dr John G. Keating, and the staff of An Foras Feasa. The experience of working alongside fellow PhD candidates from across the humanities at NUIM was both of a practical and inspirational benefit to this thesis. Equally, I wish to acknowledge the support of the academic and administration staff at the Department of History, past and present, especially the Head of Department, Professor Marian Lyons; Dr Christian Noack; Professor Raymond Gillespie; Ann Donoghue and Catherine Heslin. Also, I wish to acknowledge the support of my Russian language tutor, Doris Jung. A special note of thanks is due to my examiners for the viva voce, External Examiner, Professor Stephen White (University of Glasgow); Internal Examiner, Dr Denise Dunne (Department of History, N.U.I.M.) and chairperson, Professor Seán Ó Riain (Department of Sociology, N.U.I.M.) Finally, I wish to record my warmest appreciation for the professionalism and courtesy afforded to me by my supervisor, Professor Jacqueline Hill, throughout this project. v Abbreviations, acronyms, and Russianisms Abbreviation C.I.É. Córas Iompar Éireann, the Irish national transport network C.N.D. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Comintern The third international congress of communist parties founded by the Bolsheviks in March, 1919. C.P.G.B. Communist Party of Great Britain C.P.I. Communist Party of Ireland C.P.N.I. Communist Party of Northern Ireland C.P.S.U. Communist Party of the Soviet Union C.S.C.E. Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe COMECON Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, the organisation for the promotion of cooperation between the socialist economies of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Mongolia, Poland, Romania and Vietnam COREU CORrespondence EUropéenne, communication system between foreign ministries of E.E.C. member states D.D.A. Dublin Diocesan Archives (Roman Catholic archdiocese of Dublin) D.E.A. Department for External Affairs, Dublin (changed to Department for Foreign Affairs, 3 March 1971) D.F.A. Department of Foreign Affairs (Dublin) D.T. Department of the Taoiseach (Dublin) E.E.C. European Economic Community E.E.W.G. Eastern Europe Working Group E.P.C. European Political Cooperation F.C.O. (British) Foreign and Commonwealth Office F.R.G. Federal Republic of Germany, or West Germany vi G.D.R. German Democratic Republic I.F.S.R. Irish Friends of Soviet Russia I.O.C. International Olympic Committee I.R.A. Irish Republican Army I.R.B. Irish Republican Brotherhood I.R.D. Information Research Department of the British Foreign Office I.S.M. Irish Sovereignty Movement I.T.G.W.U. Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union I.W.L. Irish Workers’ League I.W.P. Irish Workers’ Party Krasnaya Zvezda Red Star, the Soviet armed forces’ newspaper N.K.V.D. Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennykh Del – People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs Narkomindel Narodny Komissariat Inostrannykh Del – People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs N.A.I. National Archives of Ireland NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NICRA Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association Novoe Vremya New Times N.U.I.M. National University of Ireland, Maynooth O.C.I. Olympic Council of Ireland Oblast An administrative region of the Soviet Union OPEC Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries P.C.E. Partido Comunista de España, Communist Party of Spain vii P.C.F. Parti communiste français, French Communist Party P.C.I. Partito Comunista Italiano, Italian Communist Party Provisional I.R.A. Provisional Irish Republican Army Processus européen The process of the development of the E.E.C. towards a European union Q.U.B. Queen’s University, Belfast R.I.A. Royal Irish Academy R.S.F.S.R. Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic R.T.É. Radió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland’s national television and radio public broadcaster R.U.C. Royal Ulster Constabulary SALT Strategic Arms Limitations Talks S.A.S. Special Air Services S.E.A. Single European Act/Single Act T.C.D. Trinity College Dublin T.D. Teachta Dála, an elected member of Dáil Éireann T.N.A. The National Archives, Kew TASS Telegrafnoye Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soyuza – the central Soviet state news agency U.N. United Nations U.P.D.K. Office of Services to the Diplomatic Corps at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R. U.S.A. United States of America U.S.S.R. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and as more commonly used, the Soviet Union viii Introduction This study investigates aspects of Irish-Soviet diplomatic and friendship relations after 1919, with a particular focus upon developments surrounding the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the Republic of Ireland and the Soviet Union in the 1970s. Chapter one is a survey of the principal diplomatic interconnections from 1919 to 1972, including those that took place in America between representatives of the nascent Irish republic (as proclaimed by the first dáil in 1918) and Soviet Russia during the years of 1919-21. It examines diplomatic contacts, including the involvement of President Eamon de Valera of the Irish Free State and the foreign minister of the U.S.S.R., Maxim Litvinov, at the League of Nations in 1934; and a series of interactions at the United Nations – after the Republic of Ireland finally gained membership in 1955 – up until 1972, including those initiated by external affairs ministers Frank Aiken and Dr Patrick Hillery.