The Sacred Egoism of Sinn Féin

The author critiques the rhetoric of international altruism that purported to champion small nations while excluding one close to the imperial power, tracing how wartime politics, shifting foreign sympathies, and bureaucratic control frustrated nationalist demands for recognition. He surveys cultural and scholarly affinities abroad, critiques liberal and imperial inconsistencies, and argues that neglected national identity and thwarted hopes for political autonomy converted political agitation into armed insurrection; the essay contends that official handling of loyalty and sacrifice created the conditions for radical assertion.