Why Were Troops Sent into Ireland in 1969? - page 1
Keywords: Modern History Northern Island British Troops Religion
By Jenny on 02/07/2009
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 1 of 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
History Coursework
Why Were Troops Sent into Ireland in 1969?
In this essay I am going to discuss why British troops were sent into Northern Ireland in 1969. I will be looking at how social, political, economic and religious factors lead to it and the short-term and long-term reasons for each of them.
To find out why it was British troops that were sent in, we have to go back in time to see how England first got involved in Ireland. It started in the 12th century when in 1172 Henry II received submission from most of the regional Irish Kings in return for protection. Ireland and England were both Catholic so this worked until the 10th century and the Reformation when in 1534 Henry VIII removed England from the Catholic church in Rome and made himself Head of the Church of England. This meant that while England was Protestant, Ireland was still Catholic and as any invasion of England by Catholic Spain or France would be officially sanctioned by the Pope. It was feared that they would use Ireland to help them attack England.
To show that he was in charge, Henry VIII took the title “King of Ireland” and took the land then gave it back to its owners to remind them that they only lived there with his permission.
However, in 1595 the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell rebelled as they resented being ruled by a Protestant country. They lost and their lands were confiscated and given to thousands of younger sons of Scottish Lords who would not have inherited any land otherwise and were also extreme Protestants. This meant that if anyone attempted to use Ireland as a base to attack England, there would be a standing army already there. The lands were in the North of Ireland and became known as the Plantation of Ulster – modern day Northern Ireland. This is the reason there are lots of Protestants loyal to England in Northern Ireland and hardly any in the rest of it and why these are two opposing sides; one Protestant – one Catholic.
Part of the reason why the Catholics tend to be poorer and discriminated against is because in several wars the Protestants and Catholics backed different sides and the Catholic side lost every time.
To start with, in the Civil War the Irish Catholics supported Charles I while the Protestants supported Cromwell. When Cromwell won he punished
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