Edward de Valera was born in NYC in 1882 to an Irish domestic and a Spanish father. Within three years, his father was dead and his mother shipped him to Bruree, Ireland to be raised in rural poverty by her brother. He earned a scholarship to Blackrock College in Dublin and became a teacher of mathematics. In 1910, he married Jane (Sinead) Flanagan, a teacher of Irish, and he adopted the name Eamon. He joined the Gaelic League and was soon running guns in anticipation of an armed revolt. He was an officer in the Easter Rising and one of seventy-five condemned men whose sentences were reduced. During a 13-month confinement at Dartmoor Prison in England, he adopted the position that he was the 'senior' survivor and entitled to leadership because of his age and education. Upon his release he won a by-election in East Clare and became the leader of Sinn Fein. His goal was an independent republic. In the spring of 1918, he led the fight against English conscription in Ireland. Sprung from a second English imprisonment by Michael Collins, he left for America, hoping to raise funds and support for Ireland's 'self-determination'. In late 1920, the UK Parliament divided Ireland and gave the south home-rule. The Irish refused, took up arms in acts of guerrilla resistance and the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) cracked down. It was at this time that his rift with Michael Collins began. Lloyd George met de Valera in London and later, offered "a Conference to ascertain how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British Empire can best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations." In a decision that has been criticized for a century, de Valera left himself off the negotiating team and sent Collins as the leader. Their instructions were to refer terms back to Dublin, although de Valera gave them no direction, and in particular was silent on the question of Ulster. Worn out, exhausted, frustrated by the lack of assistance from Dublin and threatened with war, the delegates signed Lloyd George's proffered treaty on Dec. 6, 1921. The Irish Free State, the seventeen counties in the south, would be part of the Commonwealth.
The Irish Parliament (the Dail) and the Cabinet approved the treaty. Most historians feel that de Valera's opposition was not to the substance of the treaty, but to the process - they signed without his approval. In a huff, he resigned from the Cabinet and the Dail. Many in the country, particularly the IRA, were opposed to the treaty and de Valera fanned the flames of violence with a series of incendiary and provocative speeches around the country. The Irish Civil War soon broke out. Michael Collins was the most prominent casualty. The Republicans continually were outmanned and out-gunned by the Provisional Government, and after two years, in May of 1923, the civil war was over. That summer, de Valera took command of Sinn Fein again and was elected to a seat in the Dail. His plan was to participate in the government of the Irish Free State, but he would not take an oath to the King and would ignore the London-appointed Governor General. He did not want Ireland to be part of the Commonwealth. He left Sinn Fein, created Fianna Fail (the Republican party), won an election in 1932 and formed his first government in March. His objective was complete independence. A revised Constitution in 1937 accomplished his goal of further separation from Great Britain. A 1938 treaty with the UK eliminated Britain's right to use certain naval facilities in Ireland. The right to conduct one's foreign policy was de Valera's definition of independence, and he asserted independence by maintaining neutrality during WW2. It was, however, a benign neutrality, notwithstanding Churchill's bitter comments, and one in which Ireland secretly cooperated with both the US and the UK. In 1948, he was maneuvered out of the Prime Ministership and resigned from the Dail. He made a comeback in the 1950's and was later president of Ireland. However, matters of economic development were not his concern. He had achieved Ireland's independence and nothing later in life ever engaged him as much.
This is an extremely well-written and informative book. The author, an Irishman, asserts that only de Valera had the strength of will to exact the total freedom from the UK that he and many others craved. Yet, he lays the civil war at his feet and paints a picture of a very difficult and thin-skinned leader. He lived until 1975 and saw Ireland and Great Britain join the EU.
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