Abstract
Were the troubles inevitable? Were they engrained in the Northern Irish system which emerged after the government act in 1920?
There is plenty of material about this period. Memoirs were published in the last few years. Interviews were undertaken about this period but they had a very political dimension (about what Northern Ireland currently is, about the past of the interviewers…).
The notion of ‘Troubles' underlines the inevitability of these events. Is it abrogating responsibility to consider the Troubles as inevitable?
Why did it begin in the 1960s? Why did the Troubles happen the way they did when they did? What was their initial form?
What happened was probably less coherent than the notion of ‘the Troubles' suggests. Does this notion cloud the complexity of this period?
Alvin Jackson speaks about “a compressed version of the story of Ireland”. It means that we need to question the timing of these events. What conditions are inherent in the 1960s? Are there long-term causes to explain the ‘Troubles'?
Northern Ireland was characterized by a conservative polity. James Craig had been in power for almost 20 years (Prime Minister between 1921 and 1940). Violent methods of putting down the opposition were continuously used. The government of Northern Ireland had created the Ulster Special Constabulary in 1920 to combat IRA secessionist fighters, who were opposed to Partition.
