The European Youth Campaign in Ireland: Neutrality, Americanization, and the Cold War 1950 to 1959

Abstract

The European Youth Campaign was a youth group covertly funded by the Central Intelligence Agency to promote European unification and security arrangements. It was created in response to the Soviet sponsored 1951 World Festival of Youth and Students held in Berlin. The Irish branch, which was active until 1958, offers a useful case study to examine the intersection of international Cold War politics and domestic concerns about youth deviance and the impact of American mass culture. Irish organizers hosted conferences and engaged in a broad publicity campaign. The European Youth Campaign also illustrates aspects of Americanization. Irish delegates stressed the contribution Ireland could make to the moral rearmament of Europe while at the same time debating the impact of productivity and materialism on Irish society. This study thus expands our understanding of Irish-European integration debates and shows how a small, neutral country participated in the cultural Cold War.