The events that occurred in Derry on 30 January 1972 became known as Bloody Sunday. Why have these events produced such different historical interpretations?

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The events that occurred in Derry on 30 January 1972 became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’. Why have these events produced such different historical interpretations? Refer to sources A, B and C and other interpretations of events from your studies to help you in your answer. 

 British troops were sent to Northern Ireland in 1969 due to genuine concerns about the possibility of civil war in the province.  Loyalist and Nationalist attitudes had hardened still further by 1972.  The Nationalists saw their cause as a political struggle for independence, with the Army a part of the British state and thus upholding the Unionist cause.  As a result, the Army became an object of Nationalist aggression.

 The emergence of a provisional IRA that believed in violence directed at the army and unionist paramilitaries, and the aggressive response of the Loyalist paramilitary UVF and UDA, led to the introduction of internment in 1971, which meant the arrest and detention of those suspected of sectarian conflict.  However, no loyalist paramilitaries were arrested under internment, whereas 1600 nationalists were.  This inflamed the nationalist sense of injustice and generated even more hostility between the communities.

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 A civil rights protest march took place on 30th January 1972, though the marchers were confined by the authorities to the Bogside and Creggan areas of Londonderry to prevent possible hooliganism or riot damage taking place in the city centre.  The Army was on its guard about the marchers intentions and had erected barriers to confine them.  Stones were thrown and insults directed at the soldiers.  The Army gave orders to arrest troublemakers and then shots were fired which resulted in the death of 13 Catholic men and the wounding of 13 more. 

The Army was blamed for these killings, ...

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