‘A Whipping Boy If Ever There was One’? The British Army and the Politics of Civil–Military Relations in Northern Ireland, 1969–79

Abstract

In almost every ‘small war’ in which they have fought against irregular opponents since 1945, senior British soldiers have complained about the political constraints imposed on military operations. Nowhere has this been more apposite than in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1979, when the British Army was deployed onto the streets to provide Military Aid to the Civil Power. Yet, there has been little analysis of these claims, with most accounts overlooking the bargaining between the Northern Ireland Office and the British Army. This article focuses on the years 1969–79 when, arguably, civil–military relations were at their most strained. It details the process by which security policy was gradually ceded to the military between 1971 and 1976 and how it was finally wrested back by civilians with the return to power of the Conservative government in 1979.