Why the British Troops Were Sent into Northern Ireland in 1969

It seems that all, throughout history, Protestants and Catholics are always butting heads. Tensions were particularly high between Ireland and Britain with Ireland being Catholic and Britain Protestant. This religious discrepancy had a real effect on the Irish people, interfering with their Catholic tradition. The Irish people had longed for independence from the British for a long time; but, Britain really managed to agitate the Irish when they sent settlers from Britain and Scotland to settle in Northern Ireland. This agitation eventually grew into the Northern Ireland War, as the Protestants began to take control.

British Government's Sending of Troops into Northern Ireland in 1969 The troubles in Ireland go as far back as 1169 when the British first went over there under the command of Henry II. Henry II got permission from the Pope to invade Ireland because he believed that Ireland was developing its own form of Roman Catholicism. Since then British people have been living in Ireland, and this has caused conflict between the British and the Irish because the Irish Catholics didn’t like living under Protestant rule. The Protestants often treated the Catholics very unfairly. One example of this is a policy called plantation.

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.

Northern Ireland has been plagued by bloody and virtually ceaseless violence for the better part of the last hundred years. The conflict in Northern Ireland is a combination of religious strife between Catholics and Protestants, nationalism versus colonialism and a search for a true Irish identity that has been elusive since the colonization of Ireland in 1603. Republicans in Ireland seek a unified Ireland, one that is free from the imperialistic hands of the British crown. In hopes of achieving this goal, the Irish Republican Army has waged a violent and bloody campaign against both Protestant unionists in the North and the English themselves. From 1920 until 1998 the IRA methods of terror instilled fear in the people of Northern Ireland while the division within its population grew deeper.

After Partition, Catholics found that they were in the minority in the Protestant controlled North. From 1922 Catholics were on the receiving end of discrimination against them, increasing numbers of civil rights marches. By 1960s tension is on both sides, violence escalated, leading to the British Troops being sent in. The reason in why the British got involved is due to a long-term history as well as short term. Ireland has always been a catholic country, but Henry 8th, Elizabeth 1 and James 1, sent Protestant settlers to Ireland, Plantation.

Both sides had reasons to hate the other and it would have been understandable if either of the sides shot first, when in operation in Ireland the army must have been constantly attacked making the army want to get their own back, but it was their job and this was something they should not have done. The Catholics saw the army as a force that oppressed them and they wanted freedom from that, feeling bitter about those years they also had plenty of reason to shoot. After so many years of conflict in Northern Ireland both sides can not listen to the other, they are so adamant that their own beliefs are correct. The Saville inquiries' conclusions will probably never be acceptable to either the army or the original marchers and their relatives.

Shortly after the formation of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland hostilities pushed these two countries to the brink of civil war. This was prevented by the start of World War I. English persecution of the Irish people is one cause of the tensions in Northern Ireland. Before 1793 Irish Catholics were persecuted by British law. Catholics were not allowed to buy and sell land, get proper education, marry Protestants or vote. This fueled problems in Ireland.

The Unionists are mostly protestant want to remain part of Britain. The Nationalists are mostly Catholic and want Ireland to govern itself, many want Ireland to be ... ... middle of paper ... ...walking through a Protestant playing field because they may fight each other. Another key problem that needs to be put out of the way in order for peace to be achieved is the past. Both sides need to stop bringing up past hurts and looking to the future without the conflict. Marches such as the Orange Order need to be phased out, as this is just aggrivating the Catholics and rubbing the past in their faces.

They were fed up because they wanted their own government and when William Gladstone became Prime Minister of England he made sure of it. Gladstone wanted to give the whole of Ireland a Government and Parliament set up in Dublin; this meant they would control all Irish MP's in Westminster. This caused a big impact on Northern Ireland because most of the population were Protestant which meant that a lot of the Government would be Catholic. The Protestants felt like they were being ruled by Catholics and didn't like it. However, the first Home Rule Bill was defeated in 1886

This was worrying to the English rulers. So instead of sending in soldiers to defeat the Irish before a war had even started and destroying Ireland, he decided to send English Protestants over to Ireland. Land was still the main source of power, so by sending people over who were loyal to the English crown, he was gaining more power. The lands in which he sent his people over to were owned by Catholics. This process was called the 'Ulster plantations'.