During 12–16 August 1969, there was an outbreak of political and sectarian
violence throughout Northern Ireland, which is often seen as the beginning of
the thirty-year conflict known as the Troubles. There had been sporadic
violence throughout the year arising out of the Northern Ireland civil rights
campaign, which demanded an end to discrimination against Catholics and Irish
nationalists. Civil rights marches had been attacked by Protestant loyalists,
and protesters often clashed with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the
overwhelmingly Protestant police force.
On 12 August, the Battle of the Bogside erupted in Derry: three days of fierce
clashes between the RUC and thousands of Catholic/nationalist residents of the
Bogside district.