Irish Responses to Fascist Italy, 1919–1932 by Mark Phelan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Provided by the author(s) and NUI Galway in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite the published version when available. Title Irish responses to Fascist Italy, 1919-1932 Author(s) Phelan, Mark Publication Date 2013-01-07 Item record http://hdl.handle.net/10379/3401 Downloaded 2021-09-27T09:47:44Z Some rights reserved. For more information, please see the item record link above. Irish responses to Fascist Italy, 1919–1932 by Mark Phelan A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisor: Prof. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh Department of History School of Humanities National University of Ireland, Galway December 2012 ABSTRACT This project assesses the impact of the first fascist power, its ethos and propaganda, on key constituencies of opinion in the Irish Free State. Accordingly, it explores the attitudes, views and concerns expressed by members of religious organisations; prominent journalists and academics; government officials/supporters and other members of the political class in Ireland, including republican and labour activists. By contextualising the Irish response to Fascist Italy within the wider patterns of cultural, political and ecclesiastical life in the Free State, the project provides original insights into the configuration of ideology and social forces in post-independence Ireland. Structurally, the thesis begins with a two-chapter account of conflicting confessional responses to Italian Fascism, followed by an analysis of diplomatic intercourse between Ireland and Italy. Next, the thesis examines some controversial policies pursued by Cumann na nGaedheal, and assesses their links to similar Fascist initiatives. The penultimate chapter focuses upon the remarkably ambiguous attitude to Mussolini’s Italy demonstrated by early Fianna Fáil, whilst the final section recounts the intensely hostile response of the Irish labour movement, both to the Italian regime, and indeed to Mussolini’s Irish apologists. The thesis itself revolves around a number of central themes. These include the validity of the ‘Fascist Revolution’ and the subsequent dictatorship; the ethos of ‘totalitarianism’; the irredentist aims and ambitions of Italian foreign policy, and the relationship between Catholicism and Fascism. In focusing upon these issues, this thesis illustrates Irish attitudes to such matters as legitimacy and structures of governance; international affairs and order; social harmony and cohesion; and freedom as the concept applies to the individual and state. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i List of abbreviations ii Introduction 1 1. The Catholic apologia for Fascist Italy 11 1.1. Explaining political violence 11 1.2. Explaining dictatorship 15 1.3. Witnessing Fascist piety 17 1.4. Fascist Italy and moral values 29 1.5. Freemasonry 45 1.6. Chapter summary 62 2. The Catholic indictment of Fascist Italy 65 2.1. Ethnic and religious minorities under Fascism: background 65 2.2 Irish criticism of Fascist actions in the South Tyrol 70 2.3. Fascism and Protestantism 77 2.4. Fascism V Catholic Action: background 80 2.5. Irish response to the Lateran Agreements 81 2.6. Rupture between church and state in Italy 83 2.7. Irish response to papal appeals 87 2.8. Resolution 93 2.9. Chapter summary 95 3. Fascist Italy and Irish foreign policy—two studies 98 3.1. Gabriele D’Annunzio & Fiume: background 98 3.2. D’Annunzio & the Irish Republic 102 3.3. The role played by Mussolini 106 3.4. D’Annunzio for Ireland? 110 3.5. The Corfu Crisis of 1923: background 115 3.6. Mixed Irish attitudes toward the League of Nations 117 3.7. Irish republicans support Mussolini 120 3.8. The Free State delegation at Geneva 123 3.9. Italians in Ireland make an appeal to public opinion 127 3.10 Eoin MacNeill at Geneva 129 3.11 Chapter summary 132 4. The spectre of Fascism? Elements of Cumann na 135 nGaedheal policy 4.1. Establishment of the Fascist Militia 135 4.2. Prospective Irish Militias in the Civil War era 137 4.3. The Volunteer Reserve 147 4.4. Local Government reform 161 4.5. Conflicting responses to the reforms 164 4.6. Opposition to the Cork and Dublin Municipality Acts 168 4.7. Proportional Representation: Ireland 177 4.8. Proportional Representation: Italy 178 4.9. Conflicting responses to the Acerbo Law 180 4.10. The labour movement defends P.R. 190 4.11. Chapter summary 196 5. Fascist Italy and Fianna Fáil 199 5.1. Security legislation 199 5.2. The British Fascisti 202 5.3. Fascist frugality 205 5.4. Agronomics & demographics 209 5.5. Self-identification with Fascist Italy 217 5.6. Chapter summary 226 6. The labour critique of Fascist Italy 228 6.1. Documenting the Fascist assault upon Italian labour 228 6.2. Co-operativism 233 6.3. The Fascists Abroad Organisation 235 6.4. Fascist corporatism 238 6.5. Fascist-inspired vigilantism 243 6.6. Censoring the heirs to Sinn Féin 247 6.7. Chapter summary 255 Conclusions 257 Bibliography 264 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Particular thanks are due to Prof. Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, without whose guidance, inspiration and patience this project would not have come to fulfilment. Thanks also to the staff of the School of History at N.U.I. Galway, who have likewise offered much help and encouragement throughout. In addition, I wish to express my gratitude to the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (I.R.C.H.S.S.) for kindly funding this study. Further credit is due to the many academics, archivists and librarians who have helped to uncover relevant material. In this regard, I would especially like to thank Dr Vera Orschel and Dr Geraldine Curtain (N.U.I. Galway); Dr Anne Dolan (Trinity College); Damien Burke (Irish Jesuit Archives); Martin Fagan (Pontifical Irish College Rome Archives) and Noelle Dowling (Dublin Diocesan Archives). Over the course of the project, I have made new friends across many disciplines. In particular, I am sincerely grateful for the friendship of Dr Maura Stewart, Séan O’Duibhir, Dr Siobhán O’Gorman, Dr Andrew Sargent, Dr Eoin O’Donoghue, Dr Liam Burke, Dr Leo Keohane and Dr Tomás Finn, all of whom bring added meaning to the term academic collegiality. I also wish to thank the many old friends who encouraged me to pursue this path. In this regard, a special thanks to Oliver Corrigan, David Delaney, Daniel Coss, James Copley, Michael Kellett, Noel Gilmore, Martin Nally, Eoghan Hynes, Joseph Quinn, Dr Wesley Flanagan, Sarah Higgins and Susan Loughlin. Finally, this project is dedicated to Anna Duval de Dampierre; my siblings Donncha, Sinéad, Deirdre, Brian, Pádraig and Colm; and most especially my parents, P.J. and Mary, for their patience, love and support. i LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS A.C.A. Army Comrades’ Association C.C.C.A. Cork City and County Archives C.D.F. Citizens’ Defence Force C.I.D. Criminal Investigation Department C.I.N.E.F. Centre International d’Etudes sur la Fascisme (International Centre of Fascist Studies) C.T.S.I. Catholic Truth Society of Ireland C.Y.M.S. Catholic Young Men’s Society D.D.A. Dublin Diocesan Archives DFA Department of Foreign Affairs D.I.D.A. Dublin Industrial Development Association DT Department of the Taoiseach G.A.A. Gaelic Athletic Association I.F.T.U. International Federation of Trade Unions I.F.U. Irish Farmers’ Union I.J.A. Irish Jesuit Archives I.L.P. & T.U.C. Irish Labour Party and Trade Union Congress I.N.T.O. Irish National Teachers’ Organisation I.R.A. Irish Republican Army I.R.B. Irish Republican Brotherhood I.T. & G.W.U. Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union I.T.U.C. Irish Trade Union Congress I.T.W. International Transport Workers’ Federation I.W.L. Irish Worker League K.G.C.B. Knight’s Grand Cross, Order of the Bath M.V.S.N. Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (Voluntary Militia for National Security) M.D.D.C. Moral Dress and Deportment Crusade N.A.I. National Archives of Ireland N.L.I. National Library of Ireland ii O.P. Order of Preachers (Dominicans) O.T.C. Officer Training Corps P.I.C.R.A. Pontifical Irish College Rome Archives P.N.F. Partito Nazionale Fascista (National Fascist Party) P.P.I. Partito Popolare Italiano (Italian Popular Party) P.R. Proportional Representation P.S.A. Public Safety Act P.R.S.G.B.&I. Proportional Representation Society of Great Britain and Ireland P.S.I. Partito Socialista Italiano (Italian Socialist Party) R.D.S. Royal Dublin Society R.T.É. Raidió Teilifís Éireann (Irish broadcasting service) S.I.C. Special Infantry Corps S.J. Society of Jesus (Jesuits) T.D. Teachta Dála (member of the Irish Parliament) U.C.C. University College Cork U.C.D. University College Dublin U.C.G. University College Galway U.C.D.A. University College Dublin Archives U.V.F. Ulster Volunteer Force W.P.I. Workers’ Party of Ireland W.U.I. Workers’ Union of Ireland iii INTRODUCTION Why Fascist Italy? This project has its origins in Fearghal McGarry’s Irish Politics and the Spanish Civil War.1 Therein, because of the central role played by Mussolini during the Spanish imbroglio, McGarry included a brief synopsis of conflicting Irish responses to Italian foreign policy in the mid-1930s. In 1935, Mussolini made a bid for empire by invading Abyssinia. A year later, he followed Hitler’s lead by dispatching military aid to Franco’s army. Both acts dealt fatal blows to the League of Nations, in the process disrupting what one historian has coined “De Valera’s Heyday at Geneva”.2 Equally, Italian aggression caused some discomfort to the Fianna Fáil government at home. By choosing to support the principle of collective security, a choice that meant backing London’s proposals for League sanctions against Italy in 1935 and the Non- Intervention Agreement intended to limit the fallout from Spain, De Valera exposed himself to intense criticism from the main opposition party.