ABSTRACT
The first 25 years of independence divide readily into three subperiods. In the first decade the primary emphasis was on establishing and consolidating the new state, free trade with the United Kingdom continued, and economic policy concentrated chiefly on raising efficiency in agriculture. From 1932 to 1938, Ireland and Britain were engaged in an economic conflict which came to be known as the ‘Economic War’. Its immediate effect was to reduce trade between the two countries at a time when trade was already hit by the world-wide economic depression, but it also contributed to the switch from a long established position of free trade to a radical experiment in protectionism and economic nationalism. No sooner was the Economic War brought to an end than the Second World War supervened. Although Ireland remained neutral, the shortage of import supplies dispelled all notions of economic development and the paramount need was to secure basic necessities.
