But at early stages of the war, after the Nazi-Soviet treaty they would side with Germany!!
See France and the commies cooperating with the nazis at the beginning
Fascist Ireland
- Thread starter Tom_B
- Start date
But at early stages of the war, after the Nazi-Soviet treaty they would side with Germany!!
See France and the commies cooperating with the nazis at the beginning
67th Tigers
Banned
No, a lot of the Anglophobia associated with Ireland comes specifically from Irish emigrants to the USA.
The government of the time walked a fine line between trying not to appear to pro-UK (which would upset the remaining anti-treaty elements) and anti-UK (which would upset the larger chunk of society who never really wanted to fully sever ties with the UK, and the population of the Republic who wanted the UK to reannex the Republic).
Overall, the interim governments of the day did a good job, and did steer the Republic to a fairly reasonable place.
Yup, that seems very true to this day. Rather tragic as well, really.
As stated, Irish Citizens enjoy a unique status, in that they can freely join the British Armed Forces notwithstanding independence, unlike other EU citizens, or even Commonwealth subjects, who often have to fulfill residency requirements. Only a far more thorough security check is required - can take as long as 6months - as a result of PIRA activities and the danger of infiltration.
We also have a heck of a lot of Fijiians and South Africans in the Army.
As for Ireland in WW2: did read somewhere that a small number of politicians were in favour of allowing U-boats access to Irish ports during the Battle of the Atlantic. Most of their defence force was kept busy with burying the remains of British sailors washed up after their ships had been sunk. Pretty grim, as a lot of them had been in the water for weeks.
67th Tigers
Banned
Firstly, Bomber Command is going have a field day, then a couple of Divisions are going to be busy installing a new government.
Thande
Donor
Not to mention the Brazilians. Until I read up on the subject I had no idea that they'd joined the war in 1942 and sent troops to fight in Italy.
Depends entirely on how it was done, O Sudanases one.
Obviously, doing it publicly would have been a complete no-no to the vast bulk of the Irish population and Establishment and invited bombing by the RAF and/or invasion from NI.
What was most likely - although unlikely - was the use of the wild and craggy west coast of Ireland as a refuelling and re-arming point for U-boats; perhaps with a support vessel or else reliant on depots created ashore, perhaps created by other U-boats depositing fuel, certain spares and torpedoes: certainly no dockyard facilities as such. (AFAIK, the Germans could well have used a similar tactic to rest and resupply in between patrols, albeit without the knowledge of the Irish Govt.)
This would have greatly assisted turnaround time for subs in between patrols, as they would not have had to go back to France, Norway or Germany; especially as they would be proximate to the concentrated shipping routes that terminated in Belfast and Liverpool.
FEB (Braz. Exped. Force.) I think.
Equipped and trained by the US, btw. Their Navy had a far greater impact in patrolling the Atlantic than their army contingent had ashore, although they did fight in one or two actions.
Thande
Donor
No - got a link?
Mind you, in the 30s the US seems to have had plans to invade just about everywhere
No - got a link?
Mind you, in the 30s the US seems to have had plans to invade just about everywhere
It's a pity a couple of those were never used...
Operation Greenish Purple: The US plan for the invasion and annexation of Andorra....No - got a link?
Mind you, in the 30s the US seems to have had plans to invade just about everywhere
That's too late. You guys are missing the obvious fact here. If Ireland declares for the Axis after the fighting starts, it's sure to get clobbered by Britain.
A better POD would be in the 1930s. Say anti-English sentiment is re-ignited by some incident, this causes Irish leaders to contact the Germans and ask for support. At which point Ireland is declared a republic and thousands of Germans "advisors" arrive to bolster Ireland's defences and so prevent a British invasion. Then later on, when the war breaks out, the Ireland can be a pro-German neutral, which will draw British troops to patroling the border between Ulster and the Republic. Maybe fighting actually breaks out on the Island.
PaleHorseRiding
Banned
The really interesting thing with the scenario of the irish being friendly with the Nazi's during the 30's is the luftwaffe with bases in Ireland would be a big problem I think. What could the UK do if they are not at war
There's 1 of the Axis wins WWII AH books which has Eire opnely joining Hitler after the fall of Malta and many other reverses against the British.
I doubt it very much, Ireland would probably be occupied like Germany and Italy.
Max Sinister
Banned
Ireland is too weak to hurt the UK, and as we know, a conquest of Britain is quite out of question.
I once thought up a "Hitler wins" TL where Hitler gives Ireland to the Brits, since the Irish are Celts and the English are Germanics.
I once thought up a "Hitler wins" TL where Hitler gives Ireland to the Brits, since the Irish are Celts and the English are Germanics.