英语国家概况Unit2.ppt

Northern Ireland,Northern Ireland: Ulster Smallest in area and population Capital: Belfast, a relatively small town of around 483 000 people, but is much the biggest city in the province. Why is it significant?,Physical Features,What are the physical features? What is the most famous land mark?,Though the political problem is best known, It is a place where ordinary life continues, to which the troubles are an addition, rather than the main preoccupation of everyday life. Active cultural life with many theatres, restaurants, pubs and museums. Why does the economy have its problems? partly as a result of the troubles discouraging investment, partly as a result of is peripherality in relation to the UK.,History,What is the result of conflict? It can be described as the result of Irelands colonial history. The result has been a systematic and ingrained resentment of the British which is almost endemic in the native Irish culture which is evident even today. “Great hatred, little room”,The Process of Partition of Ireland,The name of “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” used since 1801 until 1921,I. Home Rule The Third Home Rule Bill was finally passed in 1914, but was suspended for the duration for the WWI.,II. Along with the political campaign for home-rule there were groups who followed a more direct method of pursuing Irish independence, engaging in guerrilla or terrorist activities against British institutions and the British military forces.,1. The Easter Rising of 1916 In order to gain independence, different Irish groups had been fighting against the British institutions and the British military forces. One such activity was the Easter Rising which took place in 1916. the rebels occupied Dublins Post Office and forced the British to take it back by military force. The leaders of the rebellion were executed by the British authorities.,2. IRA: in 1919 a group calling itself IRA (Irish Republican Army) expanded the fighting for the freedom and independence. 3. Sinn Fein party who were supporters of the Irish terrorists (or freedom-fighters, depending on your point of view), gained most of the Irish seats in the British parliament, Irish independence became inevitable.,III. The problem of independence The majority of Irish people were descendants of the original Celtic people. And they were ethnically distinct from the majority of British people. Adding to this difference was religion: most Irish people remained Catholics, while most British people had become Protestants. In the northeaster part of Ireland, the people there were immigration of protestants from Scotland and Northern England, so they thought of themselves as British, and wished to remain a part of the British state.,IV. Partition of Ireland The southern 26 counties would form an independent “free state”, while the 6 north-eastern counties would remain a part of the UK, which happened in 1921.,V. The religious conflicts between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. In the 6 northern counties the population was not purely “Loyalist” or “Unionist”, and a third of the population was Roman Catholic, many of whom resented the Norths separation from the south and identifical with the nationalist cause.,Protestants: To worsen the situation, the protestants, being the majority, controlled the local democratically-elected parliament, and used that power to support their own economic and social dominance in the province. Catholics: they found it harder to get jobs, or to benefit form social programmes such as public housing. And they were regularly harassed by a Protestant Policeforce and any indication of nationalist sentiment was ruthlessly repressed.,VI. Understandably resentment grew, and the armed conflict known as the “troubles” developed.,The Troubles,I. Catholics Civil Rights Movement in 1960s -70s The result of the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland was a vigorous, but originally pacifist, campaign to regain civil rights for those roman Catholics, conducted by means of marches, speeches, and sit-ins. Groups of Protestants began to organize counter-demonstrations and rioting broke out. Protestant mobs attacked Catholic areas.,II. The British soldiers stationed in NI In 1969, the first British solders were seen on Northern Irish streets to protect the Catholic people. However, the longer they stayed, the more they were seen as the symbol of British rule in Northern Ireland.,III. The split of IRA Official IRA Provisional IRA felt that armed force was the only way to get the British out and has continued the conflict for the last 30 years. In the early 1970s the IRA carried out a campaign of bombing and shooting, usually targeting the security forces, but often bombing city centers. The British Security forces were strengthened and they were forced to patrol, but always being under threat of the IRAs activities.,IV. IRAs Violence In the early 1970s the IRA carried out a campaign of bombing and shooting, usually targeting the security forces, but often bombing city centers. The British Security forces were strengthened and they were forced to patrol, but always being under threat of the IRAs activities. The Protestants formed their own illegal “paramilitary” groups and took revenge on Catholics, often murdering individuals at random.,The result is that now Northern Irish cities are “ghettoised into exclusively Protestant and exclusively Catholic areas.,V. The Policy of Internment In 1971 the Northern Irish government took the desperate step of imprisoning terrorist suspects from both sides without trial, a policy known as “internment”. This suspension of civil rights caused anger on both sides, and intensified the conflict. It was ended in 1975.,VI. Bloody Sunday In 1972, these included 13 Catholics who had been taking part in a peaceful civil rights march, and they were shot dead by British soldiers. This was a key event in strengthening Catholic opposition to the British presence. This day has now been mythologised as “Bloody Sunday”, an important symbol of British oppression.,VII. Fueled by centuries of sectarian distrust and downright hatred, the armed conflict was bloody, chaotic, and, ultimately, disastrous for all concerned.,VIII. The government looked for political solutions to troubles. Power-Sharing mechanism: in 1973, the Power-Sharing mechanism allowed the minority Catholic population political influence, but outraged the Protestant majority, and eventually collapsed. The Northern Irish parliament replaced by “direct rule” from London. The IRAs bombing campaign extended down to a lower level of semi-acceptability.,It didnt get worse, but neither could anyone see an end to it. But the life went on.,Towards a Solution,About The Hunger-Strikers In the 1980s, the hunger-strikers campaigned for the status of being political prisoners by starving themselves. Margret Thatchers government did not give in and 11 prisoners starved to death. Sinn Fein spoke of a twin campaign for union of Ireland: “The Bullet and the Ballot Box”.,The Right Way to Proceed the Peace The British government still felt that involving the Southern Irish In Northern Irish affairs was the right way to proceed despite the disaster of power-sharing in the 1970s. The IRA is illegal organisation in Ireland, and the British and Irish governments work together on a range of security matters.,The Anglo-Irish Agreement In 1985 the Anglo-Irish agreement was singed between the two governments, giving the Irish a right to consultation on Northern Irish matters. Again, huge Protestant protest followed with the “Ulster says No” campaign. This time the government did not give in and the Anglo-Irish agreement is still in effect.,The Downing-Street Declaration In 1993, John Major and the Prime Minister jointly to produce the Downing-Street Declaration which said that Britain had “no selfish or strategic interest” in Northern Ireland, and that “it is fro the people of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts” to decide its future, “to bring about a united Ireland if that is their wish”.,all parties which established “a commitment to exclusively peaceful methods” were invited to join talks about the future.,Ceasefire The leader of the SDLP, and the leader of Sinn Fein, the IRA declared a ceasefire in August 1994. Protestant paramilitary groups did the same.,The Good Friday Agreement,Three attempts were made to draft an agreement bet