Why were British troops sent into Northern Ireland in 1969? (15 Marks)
There has been a history of violence between Catholics and Protestants over a long period of time. These being long, short and medium term causes. Historical events in Irish history have played a big part in Ireland today creating difficulties and increased tension. These difficulties increased in the period between 1968-69.
The problems in Ireland between Catholics and Protestants stem back from the late 700s onwards. Irish people fought against Viking invaders, and in the twelfth century, Irish chieftains fought against Norman adventurers looking to carve out estates for themselves in Ireland. From the middle Ages, the English monarch governed Ireland but its authority wasn’t great. In the sixteenth and seventieth centuries, there were major conflicts between Irish lords and English monarchs trying to gain more control of Ireland. Critics (Protestants) said that the church was out of touch with the lives of ordinary people. At this time Ireland was strongly Catholic and England was Protestant as King Henry 8th broke away from the pope. In 1602 the English Queen Elizabeth 1st brought Ireland under English control. But was succeeded by James 1st in 1603 and to keep control of Ireland he began the ‘Plantation’ of Ulster. This involved planting Protestants from England and Scotland, loyal to the English crown to Catholics lands where people were opponents to the crown. A rebellion broke out in Ulster in 1641, killing many Protestants. Irish rebels controlled fro 1642-49 as England were distracted by the English civil war. Oliver Cromwell, the English protestant leader restored English control of Ireland in 1649-50. His troops massacred soldiers and civilians in Wexford and Drogheda. Catholics who were involved in the rebellion were forced to emigrate, had their land confiscated. Many died from hunger and disease. The battle of the Boyne in 1690 saw Sir. Cloudsley shovels squadron of warships escorting Williams’s fleet of 300 vessels across the Irish Sea into Belfast Lough on 14th June 1690. The battle began on Tuesday 1st July. In the end William triumphed by superior firepower and weight of numbers. In 1916 there were two major events in Irish history. The Easter uprising was when a small group of farmers organised a rebellion in Dublin on Easter Monday. They took over the General post office and proclaimed Ireland an independent republic. Sinn Fein however had nothing to do with it. The other event was the battle of the Somme, during the First World War. Some Irish Catholics decided to help England as the wages were good and many Ulster Protestants felt this act was traitorous. In 1921, Sinn Fein went to a talk in London and in December that year Ireland signed a treaty with England agreeing the division of Ireland. 26 counties in south and Ireland became known as Irish Free State. It was still part of the British Commonwealth and this was called the partition. All these events led to the events, which happened later on and still today and are an important part in Irish history.