Anglo-Irish trade war

The Anglo-Irish Trade War was a retaliation by the Irish Free State against the United Kingdom from 1933 to 1938 .

Points of contention of the dispute were u. a. the Free State's refusal to make annual payments as a kind of "lease of land" (a clause in the Anglo-Irish Treaty ); and the arbitrary UK imposition of 20% import tax on Irish agricultural products.

The Irish Free State countered this with a tax on coal imports from the British mainland - but since the kingdom exported no less coal to Ireland despite the tax, this tax ruined the economic situation in Ireland, which led to a flight of capital and brisk bartering.

In 1934 the so-called "coal Cattle pact" calmed ( Coal-Cattle-Pact ) the situation somewhat, but only by the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Agreement 1938, the dispute was settled. That contract ended the annual payments with a one-time payment of £ 10 million. Furthermore, the treaty ports (ports on Irish territory that remained under British rule) were "returned" to the Free State through this treaty .

literature

• Mary E. Daly: Industrial Development and Irish National Identity, 1922-1939 , Syracuse University Press, New York, 1992. (Google-Books Link, accessed February 15, 2016)