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- Title
Unintended Consequences: Baton Rounds, Riots, and Counterinsurgency in Northern Ireland, 1970-1981.
- Authors
Drohan, Brian
- Abstract
By analyzing the use of baton rounds as riot control weapons during the Northern Ireland "Troubles," this article explores the British Army's difficult transition from colonial counterinsurgency to a war in which the army faced greater public sensitivity and scrutiny than before. British forces tried to minimize the use of force against rioters by introducing new non-lethal baton rounds. But soldiers often disregarded the rules of engagement by firing the weapons excessively and at unsafe distances, which resulted in injuries and deaths that infuriated the local population. The technological innovation of baton rounds thus undermined British counterinsurgency efforts.
- Subjects
NORTHERN Ireland; HISTORY of Northern Ireland, 1968-1998; NONLETHAL weapons; COUNTERINSURGENCY; NORTHERN Ireland Riots, 1969; REGIME change; LEGITIMACY of governments; WAR wounds; GREAT Britain. Army; TWENTIETH century; HISTORY
- Publication
Journal of Military History, 2018, Vol 82, Issue 2, p491
- ISSN
0899-3718
- Publication type
Article