History

• When Terence O'Neill replaced Basil Brooke as NI Prime Minister in March 1963, he promised to introduce economic reforms which would "change the face of Ulster"
• O'Neill's Economic Successes


  • Multinational firms opened factories in NI
  • 1963-69 the government gave money to H&W to keep it open
  • New motorways were constructed
  • Unemployed averaged between 7-8%
  • Oil refinery in Belfast opened
  • New airport was under development
  • 35,000 new jobs created
• O'Neill's Economic Failures


  • Several companies refused government grants to open factories west of the River Bann
  • Unemployment west of the River Bann was over 12.5%
  • 20,000 jobs were lost in traditional industries – shipbuilding and linen
• O'Neill's Economic Policies and Actions


  • £900 million of investment and creation of five (5) economic zones to update existing industries and attract new ones
  • Modernisation of the road and railway network – including the closure of unprofitable railway lines
  • Co-operation with the Dublin-based Irish Trades Union Congress, whose support was important for economic development
  • Establishment of an economic council under the leadership of Brian Faulkner to modernise NI's economy
  • Creation of a Ministry of Development to drive economic revival and modernisation
  • Establishment of a new city – Craigavon (Named after James Craig, NI's first Prime Minister 1921)
  • Development of a new university in the market town of Coleraine to help develop a skilled workforce
• O'Neill's Cross-Community Actions


  • Visiting Cardinal William Conway, Archbishop of Armagh, and spiritual leader of Ireland's Catholics
  • Offering his condolences to the Catholic Church when Pope John Paul XXIII's death in June 1963
  • Visiting Catholic schools and hospitals run by the Catholic Church
  • Increasing financial support for Catholic schools and hospitals. For example, the Mater Hospital in Belfast
• On 14 January 1965, the first face-to-face meeting of Ireland's main leaders since 1925 took place at Stormont when O' Neill met with the Taoiseach Sean Lemass
• In 1967, O'Neill met Jack Lynch, the new Irish Taoiseach, at Stormont
• How Hitler consolidated his power after becoming Chancellor


  1. Feb 1933 - SA given status of police to arrest and intimidate opponents

  2. Feb 1933 - Reichstag fire led to Decree for Protection of People and State allowing arrests without trial and seizing local government

  3. March 1933 - Nazis used intimidation and fraud to increase vote in election, gaining majority with Nationalist Party

  4. March 1933 - Hitler persuaded Reichstag to pass Enabling Act allowing cabinet to pass laws without Reichstag approval

  5. March 1933 - Local government leaders replaced by Nazis, regional parliaments closed down

  6. April 1933 - Jews and anti-Nazis sacked from Civil Service

  7. May 1933 - All trade unions abolished

  8. July 1933 - Law against formation of new parties, all except Nazi party banned

  9. June 1934 - Night of Long Knives, Hitler assassinated opponents within Nazi party and SA

  10. August 1934 - Hitler became Fuhrer, head of state with supreme power

  11. August 1934 - Armed forces swore oath of unconditional loyalty to Hitler
• Why Hitler consolidated power


  • Hated Weimar Constitution and wanted to destroy it
  • Wanted to establish a dictatorship and remove all other sources of power
• Nationalist Reactions to O'Neill's Cross-Community Actions


  • Sean Lemass' visit to Stormont led to the Nationalist Party taking up the role of official opposition in Stormont for the first time ever
  • Anger was shown at the naming of the new city, "Craigavon"
  • Anger was shown as the decision to open the new university in Coleraine, rather than Derry
  • Nationalists believed O'Neill's economic policies favoured the Protestant East of NI rather than the Catholic West of NI. The evidence was the higher unemployment rate West of the River Bann and 4/5 economic zones were in Protestant areas
• Unionist Reactions to O'Neill's Cross-Community Actions

  • Ian Paisley opposed visits of Irish Taoiseach's, Lemass ('65) & Lynch ('67). Paisley was concerned about the influence of the Catholic Church and Articles 2 & 3 of the Irish Constitution. "O'Neill the Lundy"
  • The 1965 election was a success for O'Neill – the OUP won 38/52 seats
  • UVF re-emerged in 1966. O'Neill bans "evil" organisation
  • 1966-67 rumours of plots and opposition to O'Neill within OUP
  • The 1969 "Crossroads" election was a failure for O'Neill – he didn't get cross-community support and narrowly defeated Paisley in his constituency
• The NI Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was established in 1967
• NICRA Influences


  • Martin Luther King Jr's non-violent civil rights protests in USA
  • Irish-American President John F. Kennedy (1961-63)
  • Student protests in Paris & the "Prague Spring" in 1968
• NICRA Aims


  • One Man One Vote
  • Jobs on merit
  • End Gerrymandering
  • Free speech
  • Houses on need
  • Repeal of the Special Powers Act (1922)
• Nationalist Attitudes towards NICRA

  • Supported it as they hoped to have better life (housing, jobs, no discrimination in policing)
  • The Nationalist Party supported NICRA – wanted to end partition in Ireland
  • Supported NICRA as they were inspired by JFK in USA
  • Supported NICRA as they benefited from free education Welfare State Act in 1940s
• Unionist Attitudes towards NICRA

  • Supported by liberal Protestants who believed if NICRA achieved their aims then it would remove aim of a United Ireland
  • Opposed by Ian Paisley and William Craig who believed it was a front for the IRA
  • Opposed by some who thought the main aim was a United Ireland and threatened NI
  • Opposed by some who thought it would threaten the position of Protestants in NI as it was only interested in Catholic rights
• NICRA Methods, Marches & Responses


  • 24th Aug. 1968 Coalisland to Dungannon - Caledon housing allocation. Council house given to 19-year-old Protestant woman over a Catholic family. Austin Currie MP squatted in council house in protest
  • 5th Oct. 1968 Derry - Inequalities in Derry Corporation housing policy. NI government banned march after Apprentice Boys threaten holding rival march
  • 9th Oct. 1968 Belfast city centre (Belfast City Hall) - Heavy handed RUC tactics in Derry sparked 2,000 students to march from Queen's University
  • 1st-4th Jan. 1969. (People's Democracy) Belfast to Derry - Anger at the violence NICRA faced in Derry. They desired to disrupt the Stormont government
• Five-Point Reform Programme (5PRP)


  • Allocation of council housing on a points system
  • Derry Corporation replaced by a "Development Commission"
  • Removal of parts of the Special Parts Act
  • Removal of extra votes for business owners
  • Ombudsman to be invest complaints of discrimination
• November 1968 – after NICRA marches in Derry & Belfast, the British PM (Harold Wilson) called O'Neill, Faulkner & Craig to Westminster. Wilson threatens to cut off funding to NI if reforms weren't introduced. The reform programme proposals were to be in place by end of 1971
• O'Neill believes 5PRP was too timid
• NICRA protests and counter-protests continued until O'Neill appeared on TV in December 1968 to make his "Ulster at the crossroads" speech
• In response, NICRA call off protests
• Unionists feared the 5PRP and felt NI was under threat
• Craig condemned O'Neill's "Crossroads speech". O'Neill sacks Craig
• Threats to Hitler's power


  • President could fire him
  • Reichstag could refuse to pass laws he wanted
  • Communists could overthrow him in revolution
  • Other parties could defeat him in future election
  • Trade Unions could organise strikes to topple government
  • Army could remove him in coup
  • SA could replace him with Ernst Rohm
• Crossroads Election (Feb 69) results: Reduced support from Unionists, Division within OUP, Little support from the Catholic community, O'Neill only received 1,400 votes more than Ian Paisley
• O'Neill resigned in April 1969 due to OUP divisions
• O'Neill was replaced by James Chichester-Clarke
• July 1969 – violence breaks out in Belfast & Derry
• Police State


  • Security forces used to intimidate German people and prevent opposition
  • Decree for Protection of People and State gave security forces unlimited power
  • SS led by Himmler, 250,000 members trained to be ruthless
  • Gestapo had network of informers, tapped phones, used torture, sent people to concentration camps without trial
  • SS ran concentration camps with brutal conditions and forced labour
  • SD investigated plots, resistance, foreign spies, had power to kill or send to camps
  • Nazi People's Courts tried political opponents with no juries and power to give death sentences
• August 1969 - Derry – violence began after the Apprentice Boys parade on 12 August, which commemorates the Siege of Derry in 1689. The violence resulted in rioting and violence which is known as the "Battle of the Bogside"
• Propaganda and Censorship


  1. Newspapers - Publishers, editors, journalists forced to join Nazi organisations, Jews/socialists sacked, Nazi-approved stories provided, critical stories censored, Nazi newspapers and publishing firm bought up most companies

  2. Radio - Göbbels boasted radio belonged to Nazis, 'undesirables' kept out, cheap 'People's Radios' mass produced, became crime to listen to foreign radio

  3. Cinema - KDF built new cinemas, Reich Film Chamber withdrew funding from non-Nazi films, propaganda movies made but unpopular, Göbbels encouraged feature films glorifying German history, propaganda newsreels shown before movies

  4. Others - Books by Jews/anti-Nazis banned and burnt, massive rallies and 1936 Olympics used for propaganda, Ministry of Propaganda controlled all cultural life
• As a consequence, the Irish Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, moved Irish troops and filed hospitals to Donegal/Derry border
• Opposition 1933-1939


  1. Churches - Hitler signed Concordat with Catholic Church but broke promise, removed crucifixes from classrooms, Protestant German Christian Movement tried to Nazify Christianity, 200 ministers formed Confessional Church opposing Nazis, Pope condemned regime

  2. Ministers who opposed Nazis publicly were arrested, Martin Niemöller and Dietrich Bonhöffer sent to concentration camps

  3. Nazis wanted to replace Christianity with new paganism, German Faith Movement set up but attracted few members, most Germans remained attached to Christianity
• Belfast – violence erupts in all areas of Belfast – it had become a war zone. Seven people died and hundreds were wounded. Bombay Street was burnt by loyalists and Nationalists were left to live in refugee camps in church halls and community centres
• The Nazis wanted to dismiss Jewish converts to Christianity from the Church
• As a consequence, British army troops were sent to NI. They were initially welcomed by Nationalists. However, the IRA did re-emerge in Nationalist areas
• The Nazis wanted to remove the Old Testament from the Bible
• August 1969 – Chichester-Clarke went to London to meet British PM Harold Wilson. Outcome was the "Downing Street Declaration"
• The Nazis wanted to add a new Volkstestament (filled with Nazi ideas) to the Bible