Editing Irish Free State (section)

== Foreign policy ==
Ireland joined the League of Nations on 10 September 1923.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Commemoration Programme |url=https://www.nationalarchives.ie/2021commemorationprogramme/ireland-at-the-league-of-nations/#:~:text=Ireland%20joined%20the%20League%20on,steps%20on%20the%20international%20stage. |access-date=October 13, 2024 |website=National Archives}}</ref> It would also participate in the Olympics sending its first team to the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Hanlon |first=Oliver |date=22 July 2024 |title=How did the first Irish Olympics team fare in Paris 100 years ago? |url=https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/0722/1461120-ireland-olympic-games-1924-paris/ |access-date=October 13, 2024 |work=RTE.ie}}</ref> They would send further teams to the [[1928 Summer Olympics]] and the [[1932 Summer Olympics]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ireland (IRL) |url=https://www.olympedia.org/countries/IRL |access-date=October 13, 2024 |website=Olympedia}}</ref>
According to Gerard Keown, by 1932 much had been achieved in the quest for an independent foreign policy.<ref> Gerard Keown, ''First of the Small Nations: The Beginnings of Irish Foreign Policy in the Interwar Years, 1919–1932'' (Oxford UP, 2016) p. 243 [https://academic.oup.com/book/11490 online].</ref><blockquote> The Irish Free State was an established element in the European system and a member of the League of Nations. It had blazed a trail in asserting the rights of the dominions to their own foreign policy, in the process establishing full diplomatic relations with the United States, France, Belgium, Germany, and the Holy See. It was concluding its own political and commercial treaties and using the apparatus of international relations to pursue its interests. It had received the accolade of election to a non-permanent seat on the council of the League of Nations and asserted its full equality with Britain and the other dominions within the Commonwealth.</blockquote>

By contrast, the military was drastically reduced in size and scope, with its budget cut by 82% from 1924 to 1929. The active duty forces were reduced from 28,000 men to 7,000. Cooperation with London was minimal.<ref> Eunan O'Halpin, ''Defending Ireland: The Irish State and Its Enemies since 1922'' (2000) pp.87, 92-93. </ref><ref>Denis Gwynn,''The Irish Free State, 1922-1927'' (Macmillan 1928);.  pp.176–190 [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.81696/page/n195/mode/1up?view=theater online].</ref>