TheTroubles” is the name given to a dark 30-year period that left its mark on Northern Ireland. The conflict, which began in 1969 and ended in 1998, was a time of great tension between the Northern Irish and the English, who constantly confronted each other through terrible attacks and other acts of violence that caused the death of over 3,480 people.
It all began on December 21, 1921, when Ireland ratified a Treaty with England, formalizing the creation of the Irish Free State.
This state, essentially made up of the south of Ireland, was cut off from Northern Ireland, which was still considered a Dominion under the United Kingdom.
Tensions soon rose throughout Ireland, with demands that the North of Ireland should also be freed from British rule. Despite this, the geopolitical situation remains unchanged to this day, creating a latent conflict that only exploded in the late 1960s.
The Troubles in Northern Ireland proper began in the late 1960s, when a handful of Catholics decided to demonstrate against the anti-Catholic discrimination then in force in Northern Ireland. The latter take a pacifist approach, organizing marches and sit-ins in protest.
In August 1968, events escalated when a march was violently suppressed by the Royal Ulster Force or RUC, a British army composed of over 90% Protestants. Despite the pacifist status of their gatherings, the Northern Irish Catholics were beaten and assaulted, even though they had no weapons and no intention of causing harm.
In autumn ’68, Catholics redoubled their efforts, still demonstrating peacefully in the name of eliminating social discrimination against them. But the Orangemen’s Order and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) continued their repression, attacking the demonstrators ever more violently.
Tensions grew as a result, and 1969 saw the first terrorist attacks in Northern Ireland. The UVF is behind these first attacks, and intends to terrorize Catholics and put an end to their demands.
Unfortunately, the attacks did nothing to stop the Catholics, who stepped up their attempts to hold peaceful rallies. On August 12 1969, another demonstration was literally crushed by the RUC in Londonderry. There were 8 deaths and hundreds of injuries, all on the Catholic side. Faced with this deeply murderous event, the Catholic districts rose up, and it was on August 16, 1969 in Belfast that the Protestants responded by burning down over 160 Catholic houses, murdering 8 Northern Irishmen and injuring 300 others.
On January 30, 1972, the tragically famous Bloody Sunday took place, when the British army opened fire on a Catholic pacifist demonstration. With a death toll of 14 and a hundred or so injured, this tragedy awakened international opinion, as well as the IRA, a paramilitary army in Ireland that was dormant at the time.
The situation became tense, and the escalation into violence continued.
The IRA retaliated with a “Bloody Friday”: 22 bombs exploded in Belfast, killing 16 Protestants.
Before long, some Catholic republicans (IRA….etc.) were caught by the British, who locked them up without trial in Maze Prison, a penitentiary where inmates were abused and crammed into cells known as H-Blocks. Some of the inmates organized hygiene strikes: they refused to wear the prisoners’ uniforms, and lived naked, wrapped in a blanket, in filthy cells overrun with their own excrement.
Unfortunately, the pressure of international opinion, coupled with the actions of the Republicans, seems insufficient to pacify the situation. That’s why, from 1980 onwards, new attempts were made to make the world aware of the Northern Irish cause. Hunger strikes were organized in prisons by the IRA.
Unfortunately, all failed, including that of IRA activist Bobby Sands, who decided to go on hunger strike and fast until the end. A true symbol of the cause, he died on May 5 1981 as a result of his strike, without Margaret Thatcher reacting. The scandal became international, and pressure from other countries failed to defuse the situation.
In the 90s, Northern Ireland and England reached an agreement to pacify the situation. On August 10, 1998, the latter signed the Good Friday Accords, setting in motion a genuine peace process and forcing the paramilitary militias to gradually lay down their arms. This marked the official end of what was modestly called“the Troubles“…
In 30 years, the Troubles were terribly destructive. These include :
The Bogside Attacks in Northern Ireland 
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