From Direct Rule to Motorman
Adjusting British Military Strategy for Northern Ireland in 1972
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8072687 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Huw Bennett (0000-0002-3325-3077, King's College London, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 511-532 |
| Publication date | 2010-05-13 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1057-610X • E-ISSN: 1521-0731 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10576101003752648 |
| OpenAlex | W1978958368 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
The British campaign in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s is often portrayed as consistent in its repressive character and its failure to successfully relate military means to political ends. This article argues that British military strategy was adaptable, alternating between defensive and offensive means depending on the changing political context. The low profile policy allowed the army to consolidate a firm basis for later offensive operations against the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA). This proved successful because it contrasted with Republican violence and was contextualized within the government's willingness to negotiate and compromise when necessary
Character (mathematics · Compromise · Context (archaeology · Ethnology · Government (linguistics · Irish · Military strategy · Negotiation · Northern ireland · Offensive · Operations research · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Engineering · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
‘A deep aversion to democracy’
Democratic Policing in Times of Trouble? Police Responses to Security Reforms and Transitional Justice in Northern Ireland
Who Were the Military Reaction Force? Undercover British Army Shootings on the Streets of Belfast, 1971 to 1973
Invisible bodies of war
Voting for Violence
A Whipping Boy If Ever There was One’? The British Army and the Politics of Civil–Military Relations in Northern Ireland, 1969–79
Defeated by Popular Demand
Evaluating militant decision-making with information science
Principles of Minimum Force and the Parachute Regiment in Northern Ireland, 1969–1972
Guerrillas in our midst
Police fire on rioters
Attempting to deal with the past
British counter-insurgency
Operation Motorman (1972) and the search for a coherent British counterinsurgency strategy in Northern Ireland
| Unique citing works | 14 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2026 (15) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 14 |