"Why were British Troops sent into Northern Ireland in 1969?"

"Why were British Troops sent into Northern Ireland in 1969?" "It is evident that the Stormont Government is no longer in control of the situation. Indeed the present situation is the inevitable outcome of the policies pursued for decades by successive Stormont Governments. It is clear that the Irish Government can no longer stand by and see innocent injured and perhaps worse." (Jack Lynch, 13th August 1969) An explanation of troops being sent into Northern Ireland in August 1969 is a combination of short-term, long-term causes and a trigger. In this piece of coursework I will state the 3 things above that and look at the origins and the history of the conflict. But the overall explanation is that British troops were sent into Northern Ireland in August 1969 because of the long hatred between Catholics and Protestants which has now lasted over 3 Centuries. The most obvious reasons we think of are the riots that started to break out in which the Northern Ireland police lost control, this was because from the beginning, Catholics in Northern Ireland were a disadvantaged minority in matters of employment, housing, education, cultural and political participation. In 1968 a civil rights movement emerged to protest against discrimination, often provoking violent reactions within the protestant community. One of the main problems which they had to face up to was the

  • Word count: 1359
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why Were British Troops Sent into Northern Ireland in 1969?

Why Were British Troops Sent into Northern Ireland in 1969? To answer the question I am going to look at the short term factors, then the long term factor. Then look at the importance of individuals, and followed by a hierarchy of these factors. Catholics played a large part in sparking off anger which fuelled the events in 1969. It began in October 1968, with the forming of a civil rights movement, trying to follow the success of black people in America. At a march on October 5th 1968, peaceful marchers were met with violence from R.U.C.s; this was broadcast on national television, and gained a lot of support from Catholics. In January 1969, The People's Democracy organised a march from Belfast to Derry. Catholics and Protestants met at Burntollet Bridge. Despite warnings of danger, the marchers walked into an ambush from Protestants, although nobody died, the marchers walked into Derry blooded and bruised, causing Catholics to riot in Derry, this led to the Siege of the Bogside, Catholics built barricades to protect themselves from police and Protestants. The British Troops were sent in to keep the peace, but troops being there protected the Catholics, they were sent in because of the increasing violence directed to the Catholics. Protestants are certainly not blameless in sparking of violence. The events at Burntollet Bridge were caused by them; they beat innocent

  • Word count: 1436
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why were British troops sent into Northern Ireland in 1969?

Hari Sukarjo 5572 44115 Why were British troops sent into Northern Ireland in 1969? There were many reasons in why British troops were sent in. Some of these reasons are short-term, such as the failure of partition and civil rights. As well as short term factors there was long-term factors, such as plantation, William of Orange. The combined ingredients of both give reasons in why the British Army was sent in. The causes in why British troops were sent in can be put into an order of importance, Partition being one of the most important causes, followed by plantation then Easter Rising. The Easter rising led partition, this brewed troubles on both catholic and protestant side, as neither side can forget the past, showing the failure of partition. Both Irish Catholics and Protestants cannot forget the history as they outline the importance of this for them. 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

  • Word count: 1847
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why were British troops sent into Northern Ireland in 1969?

Why were British troops sent into Northern Ireland in 1969? Jack Rankin In 1969, British troops were sent into Northern Ireland to curb the ongoing violence between the two rival communities; on one hand the Protestants, who wanted to remain part of Britain (Unionists), and on the other hand the Catholics, who wanted to join the Republic of Ireland (Nationalists). There were both long term causes, which led to a lack of trust and initial separation, and short term causes, which triggered the British Government to act, that caused 'The Troubles' in Northern Ireland. The segregation stems back to Henry VIII's Reformation in the 1530's, causing the initial divide. The British troops were just a temporary force to restore peace and stability, by maintaining law and order. The British government wanted to prevent further rebellion, destruction and violence. They expected to tackle the problem in a matter of weeks, but British troops are still present today, nearly forty years later... English involvement in Ireland began in 1155 when, ironically, the Pope gave dispensation to Henry II to bring the Irish Church into line. This was because the Irish Church had consistently declined to follow the doctrines of the Church of Rome. In 1171, Henry II accepted the submission of his nobles in Ireland and the Irish Kings and bishops. This marked the beginning of more than seven

  • Word count: 2039
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why were British troops sent into Northern Ireland in 1969

Why were British troops 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

  • Word count: 1723
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why were British troops sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969?

Question: Why were British troops sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969? During the early 60's, Roman Catholics were discriminated against by the Protestant majority in Northern Ireland since partition in 1920. RC's experienced discrimination in housing, politics etc. Protestants saw RC's as enemies of NI. RC's lived tough lives which were made more miserable due to injustice by the RUC and B specials. These two forces were both Protestant dominated and abused their powers against RC's. In the middle of the 1960's, Terrence O'Neill, the Prime Minister of NI elected in 1963, saw the need for reform throughout NI. He wished to improve conditions for RC's and to negotiate with RC politicians. Despite reforms, RC's didn't benefit much but still expected change which led to a crisis of rising expectations. Civil rights groups like the campaign for social justice protested peacefully for an end to discrimination. In 1964, The UK Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, was aware of the situation RC's faced in NI by seeing RC protests and pressurized O'Neill to grant civil rights otherwise funds to NI would decrease. O'Neill was unable to act due to internal pressure from his own party which was against the idea. This led to polarization on both sides. More RC's turned republican while Protestants founded the UVF, an extremist paramilitary organization. The crisis of rising expectations

  • Word count: 647
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why Were British Troops Sent To Northern Ireland In August 1969?

Question 3 Why Were British Troops Sent To Northern Ireland In August 1969? British Troops were sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969 in order to stop the violence between Catholics, Nationalist, Republican, Protestant, Loyalist and Unionists. The tensions in Northern Ireland were escalating as the riots broke out between Catholics and protestant. Although the violence was already existed, it was not at the brink of turning into a civil war till the civil war act of 1968, which set up to gain equal right for Northern Ireland. The civil right act was mainly for Catholics as they faced a vast majority of the discrimination, although some Protestants who faced disadvantages supported it. The civil right movement used marches to protest this discrimination and a lot of them used to end in violence. Many Catholics faced numerous disadvantages such as social, economical, political and legal disadvantages. These entire disadvantages one may say triggered the brink of turning to civil war. It was not just the civil right movements who were against discrimination so too were the Mps. Austin Currie was one of the Mps who decided to protest against discrimination. She decided to protest due to the fact 19-year-old women (Miss Emily Beattie a Secretary to the Ulster Unionist Party) was given more priority over housing rather than a catholic mother with children. Many

  • Word count: 948
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why were British troops sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969?

Northern Ireland Coursework 3. Why were British troops sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969? British troops were sent into Northern Ireland in order to prevent the violence between the Catholics and Protestants. The most obvious reasons we think of are that riots started to break out and the Northern Ireland police lost control, this was because from the beginning, Catholics in Northern Ireland were a disadvantaged minority in matters of employment, housing, education, cultural and political participation. In 1968 a civil rights movement emerged to protest against this discrimination, often provoking violent reactions within the Protestant community. The Catholics were greatly influenced by Dr Martin Luther King, and the American Civil Rights Movements, which were going on at about the same time. Protestants also had fears, they would have to share their economy with the rest of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church would interfere in the running of the country. Also they maybe threatened with violence by the IRA to become a part of the republic of Ireland. The build up of violence started with the Civil Rights Movement, which was formed in 1968. The aim of the Civil Rights Movement was simple. The members wanted all the citizens of Northern Ireland to have equal civil rights. They wanted to end the discrimination against the Catholics ion education, housing, employment

  • Word count: 1989
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay

Why were British troops sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969?

Why were British troops sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969? British troops were sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969 in an attempt to control the violence spreading through the province. The RUC had admitted that they could not control it, and both Protestants and Catholics welcomed the troops. The international media coverage also put pressure on the British government to act, because it portrayed Britain negatively. The troubles had been brewing since the early 1960s. Economic problems, caused by Northern Irish industries relocating to Scandinavia and the Far East, caused unemployment for Catholics and Protestants; resulting in discontent amongst both communities. This dissatisfaction over living standards, in addition to anger concerning the biased voting system in Northern Ireland, led to the emergence of NICRA, a largely Catholic civil rights group, aiming for equality. However, in 1968, the RUC prevented many of their demonstrations, adding to the discontent of the Catholics. This restlessness caused a re-emergence of sectarian tension, which had eased during the prosperity of the 1940s and 1950s. The tension prompted the British government to push Terrence O'Neill to pass anti-discrimination laws, which he proposed in October 1968. The reforms had been widely anticipated by NICRA, who had hoped that he might reform the biased voting system in Northern

  • Word count: 622
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: History
Access this essay