Why did Eamon de Valera stop paying land annuities to Britain?

Eamon de Valera stopped the transfer of land annuities to the British treasury as part of his broader effort to dismantle the 1921 treaty and assert Irish sovereignty. These annuities were repayments for loans originally advanced to Irish tenant farmers to purchase their land under the Land Acts of 1891–1909.1

By withholding these payments, de Valera triggered an "economic war" with Britain, which responded in July 1932 by imposing import duties on Irish goods, leading to reciprocal tariffs from Ireland. While the conflict deepened the economic recession, it served de Valera’s political agenda by allowing his government to frame protectionist policies in patriotic terms and blame Britain for the financial hardship. The dispute was eventually settled through a finance agreement in April 1938, which was negotiated alongside a trade agreement and a defense agreement that secured the return of Irish naval bases.1