Londonderry
Londonderry
This chapter examines the massacre in Londonderry, in which twenty experienced soldiers from an elite regiment of the British Army shot thirteen unarmed British citizens dead and wounded fourteen others. The case suggests that other democratic leaders have been willing to kill civilians. Political analyst Alexander Downes emphasizes that, while killing civilians is antithetical to democratic norms and is often considered a poor strategic move because it hardens resistance, democracies do target civilians in war. They do so for two major reasons: because they are out of options and are desperate to finish a costly war or because they wish to change the demography of a territory and drive out an unwanted or suspect population.
Keywords: Londonderry, democratic leaders, democratic norms, war, demography, population, civilians
NYU Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.