The World in Paris and Ireland too: The French Diplomacy of Sinn Féin, 1919-1921

Abstract

In a Europe traumatised by four years of slaughter, Ireland began its war of independence, a conflict whose fate was to be decided within as much as outside of the country. In fact, while the belligerents at rest redrew parts of the map of the world, Ireland looked for international recognition and the development of a diplomacy, in the heart of the negotiations of the peace treaties. France, the host of the Peace Conference but placed in a difficult situation by Great Britain, focused a lot of the Sinn Fein envoys’ attention, sent to Paris to represent the changing Ireland. Consequently, a considerable challenge awaited those men: the implementation of a pragmatic Irish diplomatic policy faced with the realities of the raison d’Etat.