A Formative Decade

Overview

In the aftermath of World War I, Europe's empires crumbled and a patchwork of new nation states emerged across the continent. As the map of Europe was being redrawn after 1918, Ireland too stood on the threshold of great change. The 1920s were a formative decade for Ireland, both north and south of the border, but this is all too often dismissed as a decade of stagnation. In contrast to this belief, the contributions in this book provide a refreshingly alternative view of this significant decade, all serving to reignite the debate about how modern Ireland was defined and how statehood collided with national identities and allegiances. The relationship between government policy and the emerging state is explored in chapters focusing on Free State election posters, loyalty and treason, the 1923 Land Act, the Irish Farmers' Party, and parliamentary democracy. Additional chapters look at how economic policy shaped the lives of ordinary Irish citizens and continue to have an impact today, long after Ireland's struggle for independence. The book overturns traditional thinking on the formation of the Irish state, the birth of democracy, and national identity in modern Ireland. *** "...informative contribution to 20th Century History that is very highly recommended...." -- Midwest Book Review, MBR Bookwatch: December 2015, Vogel's Bookshelf [Subject: History, Irish Studies, Politics]