Abstract
In the beginning of the 1960s, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) found itself out of breath. Armed campaigns for a united Ireland had ended unsuccessfully and without broader response from the people, and IRA, therefore, sought salvation in Marxism and political agitation.
Many of its members, however, disagreed with the new direction, and waited for an opportunity to renew the traditional armed struggle. The ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland represented such opportunity.
After violent clashes between Catholic Nationalists and Protestant Unionists in summer 1969, the Provisional IRA (PIRA) broke away from the completely politicised main body. PIRA devoted itself to traditional Republican militarism, and after quick arming, it entered the Troubles as a "protector" of Catholic Nationalists.
Its sudden rise was caused primarily by able exploitation of the Northern Ireland situation, but also by ill-considered actions of the British army, deployed in the province to maintain order. The Brits were, naturally, the arch enemy of Irish Republicanism, and PIRA gradually transformed the original ethno-political "Troubles" between two parts of divided society into a three-sided conflict among the British army, PIRA and Protestant Loyalists.
Within only three years, PIRA found itself at the peak of its strength, new volunteers steadily flocked into the organisation, and Republican hopes for united Ireland without British presence appeared brighter than ever before.