Immediate Context
In the context of Irish Republicanism and German relations, there had been one previous attempt to raise a group of soldiers from nationalist-minded Irishmen serving in the British Army. These attempts took place during World War I in the POW camp at Limburg an der Lahn. However, despite the best efforts of Roger Casement and the Imperial German Army the attempt failed due to the fact that only fifty-two Irishmen volunteered for the duty in the "Irish Brigade".
During World War II the German intelligence service (Abwehr), and the German Foreign Ministry of Nazi Germany had developed an interest in operations on the island of Ireland as part of its operations against the British military. A number of abortive and some successful attempts were made to insert Abwehr agents into Ireland with a view to intelligence gathering and assisting the Irish Republican Army. That Germany might expect assistance from Irish nationalists in their fight against Britain is understandable. A common theme in Irish Republican thinking prior to, and during, World War I and World War II, is that:
"England's difficulty is Ireland's opportunity."
Read more about this topic: Friesack Camp
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