{"id":1709,"date":"2019-09-30T02:38:09","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T06:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=1709"},"modified":"2022-03-08T10:19:24","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T14:19:24","slug":"the-troubles-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-troubles-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"The Troubles: How a Small Protest Became 30 Years of Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What were the Troubles? What caused the situation to escalate so quickly? What actions and attitudes could have changed its course?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Troubles was a time of violence in Northern Ireland rooted in ethnic, political, and religious conflict. During the Troubles, the Catholics were the Davids (underdogs) and the British Army was the Goliath (the powerful giant). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll discuss two aspects of Goliath\u2019s power that actually make him less powerful: the limits of authority and the negative effects of the overuse of power.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Troubles: Davids v. Goliath<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What Goliaths, people with overt power, tend to misunderstand about power is that it has limitations. The traditional hallmarks of power\u2014massive weapons, years of experience, society\u2019s blessing\u2014can only take you so far. The degree to which you are powerful depends, in part, on how much power your \u201csubjects\u201d are willing to give you. This was painfully apparent during the Troubles.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Principle of Legitimacy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before we look at the Troubles specifically, we need to understand the Principle of Legitimacy<\/a>. An authority figure\u2019s power over the rest of us is especially limited if we don\u2019t perceive him and his power as being \u201clegitimate.\u201d An authority\u2019s legitimacy is based on three things<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. We, the subjects, need to have a voice.<\/strong> And we need to believe that those in power care about what we have to say.<\/li>
  2. We need to feel that the law we\u2019re being asked to abide by is predictable<\/strong>.<\/li>
  3. We need to feel that the law and the people enforcing it are fair<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    As we’ll see in the example of the Troubles, if people don’t think your rule is legitimate, they become defiant, rather than submissive, when they don\u2019t view the authority as legitimate. Authorities may make the rules, but they have trouble enforcing them without legitimacy. In fact, if you aren\u2019t \u201clegitimate\u201d and you exert your power, you may get the opposite of your intended effect.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Troubles<\/strong> and the Principle of Legitimacy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    In the late 1960s, antagonism between Northern Ireland\u2019s Catholic minority and Protestant majority came to a head. The UK government called in the British (mostly Protestant) Army to keep the peace.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ian Freeland was the general in charge in Northern Ireland. He believed in ruling by force. He intended to meet any resistance with immediate and brutal punishment and didn\u2019t care what anyone, particularly Catholics, thought about it.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Aiming to scare the rioters on both sides, Freeland threatened to shoot anyone caught throwing gasoline bombs. This backfired. The more Freeland threatened, the more violence occurred.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n