Why Were the British Troops Sent Into Ireland in August 1969?.
This essay is about why the British troops were sent into Northern Ireland on 14th August 1969. .
The Catholics started a civil rights movement and tried to get noticed without force. They tried to get the world to notice that they were getting treated unfairly. The way the Catholics tried to get noticed was to march and protest. The Ireland government banned the civil rights march in October 1968 and the Royal Ulster Constabulary was told to attack anyone who defied this ban with batons. The Burntollet Bridge was another attempt by the Catholics at a peaceful march, which turned into a riot. The Protestants may have been provoked but they also fear them so this may be another reason for the Protestants to riot. This may have led to the British troops being sent in. .
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was supposed to be fair to Catholics and Protestants, but most of this police force was Protestants. In the Burntollet disaster, the Royal Ulster Constabulary was supposed to be protecting Catholics but there were reports of them joining in the rioting with the Protestants as well as the B specials. This may have made the conflict between the two even worse. The disintegration of the Royal Ulster Constabulary by August turned them into a mob. Their actions became more extreme and this lead to loss of law and order. The Battle of Bogside was the first example of this when they tried to stop rioting but were followed by a loyalist crowd. When the rioting didn't calm down the government requested that British troops be deployed on the streets of Northern Ireland. This may have caused more bad feeling between the Catholics and Protestants.
The Protestants feared that if the Catholics got more power that they would take all the best jobs which they had done to the Catholics and that they would make Northern Ireland part of the whole country again.