Speaker: Dr Barry Whelan (DCU, author of a biography of Leopold Kerney, Ireland’s Revolutionary Diplomat with Notre Dame University Press http://amzn.eu/d/d75f6wb )
Synopsis
In the summer of 1942 the most destructive war in history stood in the balance. Across the globe, two warring power blocs – the Axis and the Allies – waged a war of attrition on land, sea and air to secure victory and the establishment of a world order based on their respective ideologies. That summer, Adolf Hitler and the German General Staff were planning Operation Blue – the advance of Army Group South to the Volga River and down into the rich oilfields of the Caucasus. Hitler believed that the Soviet Union was finally on the point of collapse and had used up all its manpower reserves. Sweeping advances in July and early August appeared to confirm this viewpoint. With total victory in the East almost achieved, the Nazi hierarchy was already turning its eyes West and to the last remaining obstacle to German dominance in Europe – Great Britain. Could an unlikely Irish diplomat hold the key to German military victory there? Hitler certainly thought so and set in motion an extraordinary encounter.