Exploring Why the British Troops Were Sent into Northern Ireland in 1969
1371 Words6 Pages
Exploring Why the British Troops Were Sent into Northern Ireland in 1969
Ireland was once a Nation they claimed a moral right to live in
Ireland. Before 1500 the Gaelic lived in Ireland, they shared a
language and political structure. They were separated into smaller
groups. In the 5th century the Gaelic were converted to Christianity
by missionaries. After 1500 the English took control for the first
time by way of force due to the Irish being loyal to Catholicism and
the English were strong protestants. The soldiers drove farmers off
their land. The protestants were strongest in Northern Ireland,
Ulster. The Irish made a rebellion but this was crushed at the battle
of Boyne, many laws were passed to keep the Catholics quiet. Even up
to 1914 the Irish were unwilling to accept English domination. They
were completely against it. They called themselves Nationalists as
they were opponents to English rule. There are two types of
Nationalists, Revolutionary Nationalists and Parliamentary
Nationalists. The former believing that English rule could only be
removed through violence. They had many failed rebellions through
violent attempts. By 1914 the idea of an armed resistance was
abandoned. Parliamentary Nationalists believed that the English
protestants could be persuaded to give Ireland home rule without
violence but through discussion. By giving Ireland home rule they
were allowed control over their religion, education, health,
employment policies etc … In 1914 the British agreed to home rule.
The Ulster Unionists (protestants) didn’t want home rule as they
viewed themselves as separate to the Irish nation and thought th...
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...lice had gone on the rampage,
and in April when the Bogsiders had barricaded themselves to stop
another police invasion. Even though it may not seem to be, the
Catholics feared violence from the police. The police also feared
violence as they thought the Catholics would attack the Protestants
ghettos of the city.
For the first time to try and control the situation, the police fired
CS gas into the Bogside, the gas had been used on several other
occasions, but this was the first time it had been used in the UK. By
the next day the Battle had settled into an almost ritualistic pattern
of fighting. This parade turned out to be the turning point in
Northern Irish history. On the 14th August the Irish government sort
help from England. British troops were sent in as a temporary measure
to resolve the situation.