Six years after it was founded Fianna Fáil won 72 seats in the 1932 general election, and had a "plurality" in the Dáil. That is, it was the largest party but had less than half of all of the seats, which would be a "majority". On 9 March Governor-General James McNeill appointed de Valera President of the Executive Council . He abolished the oath and stopped paying money owed to Britain.
De Valera called a general election in January 1933 and won 77 seats, giving him an overall majority. Under his leadership, Fianna Fáil won further general elections in 1937, 1938, 1943 and 1944.
De Valera was his own Minister for External Affairs. He attended meetings of the League of Nations, and was president of the Council of the League on his first appearance at Geneva in 1932. In 1934, he supported the admission of the Soviet Union into the League. In September 1938 he was elected nineteenth president of the Assembly of the League, a tribute to the international recognition he had won by his independent stance on world questions.
During the 1930s, de Valera changed a lot of the Irish Free State constitution.
The Governor-General of the Irish Free State could "reserve" or "deny" the Royal Assent to any changes after being advised (ordered) by "His Majesty's Government in London". After a legal argument with the British Government the power this was changed to "His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State"
That meant that de Valera was the only person who could stop a bill becoming law.
De Valera abolished:
When King Edward VIII abdicted (resigned) as "King of Ireland" de Valera passed two Bills;
In July 1936, de Valera wrote to King Edward in London saying that he planned to introduce a new constitution. This was only a little different from the "Bunreacht na hÉireann" (meaning literally the Constitution of Ireland).
The new constitution was not an act of the Dáil but was voted for in a referendum, because de Valera wanted a new start for the new country he was setting up.
Ireland stayed neutral in World War II, which was called The Emergency in Ireland. Both the possibility of a German invasion and a British invasion were discussed in the Dáil.
But even though de Valera hated Britain, Irish neutrality often favoured the allies:
In May 1945, de Valera visited the German minister in Dublin, to express sympathy over the death of the Führer. Along with President Douglas Hyde, de Valera was the only head of government to do this. De Valera did not visit the American embassy following the death of Roosevelt, as David Gray, the American Ambassador said he would not receive de Valera. All flags were flown at half-mast on Roosevelt's death on de Valera's instructions
After sixteen years in power, Fianna Fáil lost the 1948 election. John A. Costello was Taoiseach of a coalition Government. It was Costello who declared Ireland a republic, making de Valera's friend President Ó Ceallaigh Ireland's head of state. In 1951 de Valera was returned to power but without an overall majority. Many people thought this was his worst government. He spent several months in the Netherlands where he had six operations on his eyes.
Fianna Fáil was defeated again in the 1954 general election, but in 1957 de Valera, won a majority of nine seats. This was the beginning of another sixteen year period in office for Fianna Fáil. But de Valera was only Taoiseach for two years.
In 1959 he was elected President of Ireland, as which he served until 1973. At his retirement at the age of 90, he was the oldest Head of State in the world.
Éamon de Valera died in Linden Convalescent Home, Blackrock, County Dublin on 29 August 1975 aged 92. His wife, Sinéad de Valera, four years his senior, had died the previous January, on the eve of their 65th wedding anniversary. He is buried in Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery.
In his recent controversial biography by Tim Pat Coogan says that his failures are more than his achievements, and that de Valera's popularity fell as Michael Collins's rose.
Garret Fitzgerald summarised his last term as Taoiseach;
"Total economic stagnation marked de Valera's last seven years as leader of his party - because all of the chickens of his disastrous commitment to an inward-looking policy of self sufficiency were coming home to roost."
Operetta
Operetta is a term which started to be used in the 19th century to describe an opera that was not too serious and often full of fun. It is often described as “light opera” (“light” meaning “not serious“). In an opera everything is usually sung. In an operetta there is a lot of spoken dialogue, and songs and dances are added to this. Similar traditions already existed in other countries, e.g. in Germany where the Singspiel tradition was popular (e.g. Mozart’s "The Magic Flute)".
The operetta tradition started in France and soon spread to Austria and other countries. It remained popular until the mid-20th century, when it gradually turned into musical comedy.
The composer Jacques Offenbach can be thought of as the creator of the operetta tradition. It grew out of the opéra comique which had become quite long and serious. There was a need for shorter, more humorous musical entertainments. Offenbach was composing operettas in the 1850s in Paris. In England such works were often called “comic operas” or “opera comedies”. Then Johann Strauss became very popular in Vienna. He was already very well known in the ballroom, but when he started to write for the theatre he soon became a rival to Offenbach, whose operettas had become very popular in Vienna. Strauss’s operetta "Die Fledermaus" (“The Bat”) has been performed more than any other operetta. In Spain the Zarzuela was a kind of operetta.
Many people were involved in the creating and performing of operettas. The performers often had to both sing and act very well. Bizet, Chabrier and Delibes all wrote operettas as well as operas and other types of music. In England the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan were a kind of English form of operetta.
One of the most popular of all operettas was "Die Lustige Witwe" ("The Merry Widow") by Franz Léhar. It was produced in 1905 in Vienna. Léhar wrote many other operettas as well. Franz von Suppé is another composer who wrote operettas in the Austrian tradition. The most known Romanian operetta is "Crai nou" ("New moon") by Ciprian Porumbescu.
In the early 20th century the French operetta became less popular as there was more interest in the Viennese operetta. After World War I Berlin was the centre of German operetta. By the middle of the 20th century many composers were writing light operas which were based on American dance band music. These were no longer called “operettas”. The word “operetta” continued to be used for light operas which were more in the style of traditional central European music.
Investiture
Investiture means the formal installation of somebody (heir, elect of nominee) in public office by formally giving him the "insignia". The term is normally reserved for formal offices of state, aristocracy and church.
In the Middle Ages investiture was the ceremonial transfer of a fief by an overlord to a vassal. The lord "invested" the vassal with a fiefdom, by giving a symbol of the land or office. From feudal times up to the present, the term has been used in canon law to refer to a cleric receiving the symbols of spiritual office, such as the pastoral ring, mitre and staff, signifying transfer of the office.
In the United Kingdom, around 2,600 people are invested personally by The Queen or a member of the Royal Family. A list of those to be honoured is published twice a year, in either the New Year's Honours List or The Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Approximately 22 Investitures are held annually in Buckingham Palace, one or two at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and one in Cardiff.