The Year of Chaos

In the 11 months between August 1971 and July 1972, Northern Ireland experienced its worst year of violence on record. The 'year of chaos' came between of two major military operations, namely the introduction of internment of IRA suspects, without trial, and Operation Motorman, the invasion of barricaded no-go areas in Belfast and Derry.The internment raids created huge disaffection in the Catholic communities and provoked an escalation of violence. This led to the British government taking ful